FOR the first time in over 60 years, Ruislip Manor FC will not take to the football field in August 2008.
The club's troubles have been well documented both locally and nationally and, perhaps with inevitable consequence,the nadir has finally been reached.
Ostensibly,this much loved club, an integral facet of the local community,is no more.
Moved from its Grosvenor Vale headquarters at the end of last season, the club has been transformed beyond recognition in the summer months.
Most unsettling for the majority of the club's followers is the name change, forced through with minimal consultation and to take effect immediately this season.
It was widely agreed that, in order to reflect the community that had effectively rescued the club in February,there should be some alteration or addition to the name of Ruislip Manor FC.
Two possible alternatives - Ruislip Manor and Brent FC - and Ruislip Manor and Tokyngton FC were endorsed at separate meetings.
However, both options were suddenly shelved by the powers that be,and we were merely informed that Tokyngton Manor FC was to be the new name.
The omission of the geographical location of Ruislip Manor is deeply upsetting, with the small Wembley district of Tokyngton instead granted undue prominence at the front of the name.
One cannot help but feel that Ruislip Manor FC's position in the pyramid has been usurped, and its
history treated disdainfully by the creation of a club that bears little resemblance to the one that has existed since 1938.
Tokyngton Manor will be based at the Viking ground in 2008/09 and will play at Step Six of the non-league pyramid.
The club has experienced its umpteenth managerial change and probable influx of brand new playing staff.
It would seem that most supporters of Ruislip Manor FC - the same ones that rejoiced when their club won the league cup in 2006 - have little incentive to become involved with a new club that they hold no fundamental attachment towards.
CHRIS THOMAS
