SUPPORTERS and former players of Southern League Andover FC are still struggling to come to terms with the news that there will be no town club for the first time since 1883.

While it was widely known that the club had been struggling in recent times the closure has sent shockwaves through the sporting community.

The Portway now lies empty and boarded up following the resignation of all board members in the wake of the departure of newly appointed chairman Martin Moody, who resigned last Wednesday.

The Lions had only recently celebrated their 125th anniversary but apart from a brief spell when they blew away all before them, backed by a wealthy benefactor, it has been an uphill struggle since the Walled Meadow was lost in the late 1980s.

The current home, the Portway Stadium, is owned by Test Valley Borough Council but the upkeep and pitch maintenance was the responsibility of the football club which means that within weeks it could become unusable and it too could have a less than secure future.

Dave Tasker, head of leisure and wellbeing at Test Valley Borough Council, said: “The council has again taken ownership of the ground and the keys have been returned and the venue boarded up until we can assess its safety with a view to making it available to interested parties once again.

“Naturally we would like to restore senior football there at the highest level as soon as possible.”

There are sure to be overtures made for it to be used on a temporary basis by other clubs, with neighbours Andover New Street FC, who run more than a dozen senior and junior sides each week, possibly interested in using it as a second base.

* For more on how it happened and what now for football in the town, see this week’s sport section in the Andover Advertiser.