'Turmoil' at Horwich St Mary's Victoria sparks resignation

In a letter to the league, a club spokesman said: "The past couple of seasons have seen a lot of turmoil for our club and between seasons this year has unfortunately been no different with the loss of our reserve team manager, a large number of players from both teams and as of yesterday, our first team manager.

"We apologise for the timing of this just two weeks before the season, we have been exploring all options in order to continue in the league but to no avail.

"We have thoroughly enjoyed our time playing in the West Lancashire League and would like to sincerely thank you for the way in which the league is run and the quality of football that creates, however we do not feel that we are currently in a position to compete within the competition."

It means Division One will run with 14 teams and Division 2 Reserve will have 12 teams for the 2023/24 season.

Only one team will be relegated from Division One now rather than two. There will be two vacancies in Division 2 for 2024/25, subject to external promotions/relegations.

Fixtures for August have been revised and sent to club secretaries.