Dartmouth AFC chairman Gary Lobb has sought to clarify the club's position following their decision to pull out of the premier division of the Carlsberg South West Peninsula League, writes sports editor Tim Leigh.

With rumours abounding in the town about the club's financial state, Lobb is keen to quash any talk of difficulty, insisting the club is on a sound footing.

Following the withdrawal of the first team from the Premier Division of the CSWPL, the club's first team will now play in division one of the South Devon Football League, where their reserves were due to play this season before the withdrawal.

Their reserves will now play in division three of the SDFL, where they will be run by Alan Greeno, Russell Lyddon and Lance Worthington, who ran the first team last year.

Lobb says: 'We have to ask ourselves what the football club's role within the community is, and to me, it's to provide the best coaching and the best facilities for the young men of Dartmouth to play their football. It is also to create a quality environment for football to be played within the town.

'If all of this is in place, then there is no reason why we can't find ourselves challenging for top honours once again, and I firmly believe we will.

'Sometimes you have to take a step back to take a step forward, we've done this before. In the seventies we took a step back and pulled out of the Plymouth and District League, we regrouped and continued to win major honours in the Devon League and built on that success, it goes in cycles.'

The Peninsula League Board released the following statement on the news: 'League officers were deeply saddened to hear that Dartmouth AFC have tendered their withdrawal from the league with immediate effect.

'While this is a clear breach of rule, and will be dealt with as such, the long standing membership of this club and the fact that it is another club to the East of the geographical area leaving the Premier Division is an obvious concern to us all.'

Lobb emphasised that finances were not the main issue here. He said:'I am keen to make clear that the decision wasn't taken primarily for financial reasons – the club's finances are healthy and could have maintained a team in the peninsula league again.

'However, other sides within that league have huge financial "clout" and although Dartmouth couldn't question the loyalty of its players, if any single players shone in a particular game, he would be offered attractive incentives to play elsewhere, which becomes hard to compete with at times.'

However, critics point out that withdrawal from the league brings financial sanctions itself, as the League statement makes clear, so is the club not running the risk of jumping out of the frying pan into the fire?

When asked about this, Lobb said: 'Handbook rules state that any club that withdraws from the league will incur a £1,000 penalty. However, due to an early settlement with the league, the club ended up paying a reduced fine.'

What about those questioning whether it would not have been better for the club to take the hit of one bad season, resulting in relegation to Division 1 East of the Carlsberg South West Peninsula League? This would still be a higher level than even promotion would bring them after this season.

Lobb had this answer: 'We toyed with the idea, but how do you go about preparing a team to lose? Would it be fair to the paying spectators?

'We felt that in the end it would do more damage to the club as a whole, players, officials and spectators, to try and do that.' Lobb cited the fear that constant losses could demoralise team spirit, leading to pull outs given the distances involved in Peninsula League football. If this happened, the club could then be forced to draw on players from reserves and below, running the risk of damaging all three teams.

He went on to add: 'We have an excellent youth policy at DAFC, many of Alan Greeno's youth team members are ready to play men's football, and thanks to the hard work put in by former players Paul Smith, Paul Morallee and Simon Webb, we have some excellent young talent coming through.'

'We are promoting DAFC as a family club and would welcome anyone young or old who wants to be involved with Dartmouth AFC to call Me on 07896 557662.'