Spartans Rugby Football Club are planning to come back bigger and stronger next season.

That’s the upbeat message from their chairman Neil Brinkworth following the club’s decision, taken at the weekend, to withdraw from this season’s Counties 2 Gloucestershire North due to a shortage of players.

The club were unable to field a side against league leaders Gordon League on Saturday – the fourth time they have conceded a game this campaign – but Brinkworth declared: “We will regroup and rebuild in Counties 3 Gloucestershire North next season, that is very much the intention.”

And Brinkworth has been encouraged by the number of people, including former players saying they want to play again, who have come forward with messages of support since the club released a statement saying they were dropping out of the league for the remainder of the season.

“We are not folding, we’ve no intention of that,” continued Brinkworth, who first played for the club almost 40 years ago as an 18-year-old.

“We’ve had an unprecedented number of injuries, four players have had season-ending injuries while another couple of players stopped playing because they changed their jobs.

“But next season we will have more players available. Last season we ran an under-16 side and a core of those players have said they want to play adult rugby for Spartans next season, they have close ties with the club.”

And while there is optimism about the 2024/25 campaign, there will still be some rugby played at Spartans’ ground in Sebert Street, Kingsholm, this season because the club are currently running under-15 and under-13 teams.

Spartans, of course, have a long and proud history having been formed way back in 1927.

Brinkworth’s two grandfathers – William Brinkworth and William Cambridge – played in those early years and some stellar names have worn the club’s red shirts and black shorts in seasons gone by including the likes of Phil Greening, Kevin Dunn, Simon Devereux, Ryan Lamb, Tony Windo and Dan Norton.

“It’s our centenary in three years’ time and that is a big target,” said Brinkworth, who is in his second year as chairman. “We want to get to 100 and celebrate that achievement.”

Brinkworth admitted that it wasn’t an easy decision to withdraw  from the league.

“No club wants to be in the position where they can’t fulfil fixtures, and pulling out of the league was not one that we made lightly,” said Brinkworth.

“We knew we didn’t have a large enough squad to fulfil all our fixtures and it wasn’t fair on the other clubs in the league, we wanted to maintain the integrity of the division.”

The decision was all the more difficult to make because the club have enjoyed such success over the years.

They are past winners of the North Gloucestershire Combination Senior Cup, were county champions as recently as 1998 and reached the third round of the Pilkington Cup in 1990, when they played Orrell.

They’ve also known good times in recent years, including a trip to Twickenham in 2017 in the RFU Junior Vase.

They were playing in the old Western Counties North in 2019/20, having been crowned Gloucestershire Premier champions the season before – their second promotion in three years – and in the current campaign, despite all their problems, they have still managed to win two league games. 

“An awful lot of people from all over the county have come forward and wished us well for the future since we put out our club statement that we were withdrawing from the league,” said Brinkworth. “We appreciate everyone’s support.”

Spartans RFC committee’s statement which was  issued in full on Saturday

“Since returning to playing rugby after the Covid lockdown the number of senior players playing 1st and 2nd XV rugby has been on the decline which has caused us to cancel our last few games, the most recent being against Gordon League RFC this afternoon.

“Additionally, several key members of our first team have sustained long-term injuries ruling them out for several months or the remainder of the season.

“Some players have also retired due to injury or family and work commitments.

“At the beginning of the season we had a squad of 18-20 players to choose from but this afternoon we only had six players available.

“A players’ meeting was held this afternoon and after lots of discussion the committee have made the decision to withdraw Spartans RFC from Counties 2 Tribute Gloucestershire North league as we are not in a position to fulfil the remainder of our league fixtures due to not having enough players.

“Whilst this is a sad day for Spartans RFC the committee and players would like to make it clear that this isn't the end and we are definitely NOT folding as preparations are already underway for the 2024-2025 season.

“We are continuously on the lookout for new players, if anyone is interested in joining our great club please send us a message.”

Anyone who wishes to support Spartans or get in touch with the club should email spartans.rugbyclub@outlook.com