COUNTY DURHAM no longer has an adult grassroots Saturday football league after the Crook and District League was disbanded at this week’s AGM.

Having been formed in 1956, the league has folded after 68 years of existence due to a lack of clubs wanting to take part.

In its heyday, the Crook and District League boasted more than 30 teams, but last season it was forced to survive with just six.

The situation was deemed to be unsustainable, but an appeal for more teams in the last few months failed to generate any additional interest.

As a result, a motion to disband the league was tabled at this week’s AGM, and the decision to fold was agreed upon.

The league was the last remaining adult grassroots football league in County Durham, with a number of other leagues also having folded in the last couple of decades.

Clement O’Donovan, who was the league’s vice-chairman and treasurer, and who attended his first league meeting in the mid-1970s, said: “It is so sad to see the demise of local grassroots football.

“We have tried hard to keep it going, but without new teams it became a meaningless task. In making the decision now, it allows for those teams who intend to carry on to apply to other leagues within the rules of our sanctioning authority, Durham FA.”

The Crook and District League’s first champions, in 1957, were Bankfoot Sports Club from Crook, while the final champions, who were crowned earlier this month, were Middlestone Moor.