Pontefract Collieries’ Chairman Guy Nottingham has broken the club’s public silence on the club’s resignation from the Lancashire Football League.

Questioned on the reasons behind the decision to withdraw the reserves side for the remainder of the 2010-11 season, Nottingham made the following statement:

“ It was with great regret that our committee took the decision to resign from the Lancashire Football League, and to inform the league of that decision last week. Clearly, this was a decision that nobody within the club took lightly, as we recognise the value that a functioning reserve team can bring to a club. Additionally, we were aware of our responsibilities to The Lancashire Football League and to other clubs within the league.

However, despite these factors, our committee bravely reached the decision to withdraw our reserve team for the remainder of the season, as we felt it was in the best interests of the club.

Since we first muted the likelihood of pulling out of the league in late October, we have battled on and tried to fulfil all our fixtures, with the manager and players from our U19 Academy side to complete fixtures, topped up with first team squad players. However, the poor weather and the shocking state of our pitch have resulted in many cancellations of games at all levels. Our first team have just gone over two months without a league fixture, and have played a total of two games in ten weeks. Consequently, we are facing massive fixture congestion on a pitch that is already, quite frankly, close to being unplayable. We needed to relieve the pressure on the pitch, and the reserve team fixtures were the unfortunate casualties.

On top of this, with first team players being unavailable due to the frequency of fixtures over the coming months, we are unable to raise a viable side for many fixtures without bringing new players into the club, which would limit the future opportunities available to our talented group of U19 players, and work against the ethos of what we are trying to achieve at Ponte Colls. The purpose of a reserve team should be to prepare players for first team football, whilst allowing first team squad players games to keep up their match fitness. Clearly, the reserve team would not have met either of these aims for the remainder of this season: the first team squad need fewer games, not more; while the U19s players development needs are being served best within the Northern U19 Alliance. 

Additionally, the intense congestion of fixtures which will arise over the next few months will stretch our people to the limit. Withdrawing from the reserve league allows us to focus on the first team promotion push, and on developing the U19 Academy side.

The club would like to pass on our thanks to all at The Lancashire Football League for their understanding and assistance throughout this period, and wish the remaining teams in the league all the best for the remainder of the season. We would also like to thank John Redford for his sterling work as “Interim Manager” of the Reserve team from October last year.”

It seems clear that all concerned at the club still believe that a reserve side should be run at the club. However, the pressure put on the facilities – the pitch, the players, the people - at the club by the prolonged cold snap have led the club to take this decision.