UPWEY & Broadwey stalwart Steve Reynolds has spoken out about the club’s recent demise.

The Weymouth outfit, who finished sixth in the Dorset Senior League last season, will not feature in any league this term.

But Reynolds, who has been involved in football at Upwey for more than 35 years, is determined not to let the club fizzle out into insignificance.

“People had said about the club going flat and that we needed new players, and we did” he told Echo-sport.

“I had four good youngsters ready to come in, secured two new sponsorship deals and we were going to go back training at Whitcombe Stables where we used to train.

“The fact of the matter is my partner and my mum both died within a week in June, I couldn’t get my head around it to get the football organised.

“Simon Ansell (former club secretary) had done a great job behind the scenes but he didn’t want to take it on. I just wanted someone to take it off me for a year so I could get my head around things.

“I missed the entry date for the league and, fair play to them, they gave me a couple of weeks compensation but I couldn't get my head around running the football, that is the sole reason why the club went down.”

But although former players have moved to pastures new, the most notable being Charlie May's switch to Dorset Premier League champions Portland United, Reynolds believes he still has the desire to put together a competitive squad for the club next term.

He added: “There is every scope to get it going again next season. I have spoken to the sponsors we had lined up and they understand why I need to take a year out.

“It would be a lot less pressure in a lower league and we can start again and have a bit of fun.

“I don't see any reason why we can't get the club to where it was, it's my second stint with Upwey and we have gone straight through the leagues both times, so I don't see why we can't do it again.”