RS BASINGSTOKE have played their final game, after resigning from the Wessex League last Sunday.

It was a sad day for local football as another senior side have decided they have no choice but to call it a day.

Mick Davis, chairman of the club, said: "It was not a decision that we took lightly, but we spoke to the players and they agreed that was the right action to take.

"We could not see a light at the end of the tunnel, with no new players on the horizon.

"We have 48 players signed, but only a small core who are prepared to turn out for the team. At least five players have long-term injuries and, with others unavailable in the coming weeks, we would have struggled to put out 11 players."

For pulling out of the league in mid-season, there is a maximum fine of £750. However, Salisbury team DCA Sports quit earlier in the campaign and were not fined the full amount.

RS will not know their punishment until after a Wessex League meeting next month.

The final game for RS was a 7-2 defeat at high-flying Otterbourne last Saturday and twice as many goals could have been conceded but for the heroics of stand-in goalkeeper Bruce Davis.

The visitors were 4-0 down at half-time and Otterbourne added a fifth before Dale Bristow and Stuart Bye found the back of the net.

The defeat ended a 34-year history for a side who were formed in 1971 as pub side Soldiers Return FC. They started in the Basingstoke Sunday League, but a Saturday side soon followed.

After success in both the Basingstoke and North Hants leagues, the side became founder members of the Chiltonian League in season 1984-85.

They returned to the North Hants League two years later and celebrated an unbeaten season by winning the league and promotion to Hampshire League division two, along with capturing the North Hants Senior and Basingstoke Senior cups.

The team name was changed to SR Basingstoke and they won promotion at the first attempt and then finished runners-up in Hampshire League division one in season 1990-91.

Another name change saw the team called DCA Basingstoke and, after another season in the Hampshire League, the team switched to the Combined Counties League where they finished sixth in season 1993-94.

Due to new ground gradings in the Combined Counties League, DCA were forced out and returned to the Chiltonian League for season 1996-97.

For the next campaign, the team took on its present name of RS Basingstoke and, in the next four seasons, they reached four cup finals, winning the Bon Accord Trophy and the Brian Wells Memorial Cup in 2000.

One season later, the Chiltonian and Hellenic Leagues merged and RS played in the newly-formed division one east, finishing runners-up in their first season. But the standard of their ground prevented promotion to the top flight.

Last season, RS lost many players to the newly-formed Basingstoke League side R and B Sports, but that still did not stop them making an excellent return to the Hampshire League.

They narrowly missed runners-up spot in division two and were beaten semi-finalists in the Hampshire Intermediate Cup.

After a promising start in Wessex League division three, RS have followed other local teams Basing Rovers, AFC Basingstoke and Hadleigh to the graveyard.