A YORK amateur football club helping bridge the gap between grassroots football and the semi-professional arena is calling time on its successful under-19 team.

New Earswick Football Club has announced that its teenage squad, which has competed successfully in the highly competitive Northern Alliance League for the past two seasons, will be taken over by Pickering Town.

Club spokesman Andy Snell said the announcement was disappointing for New Earswick but had been done in mutual agreement with the NAL, formerly the Northern Youth Academy.

"One of the things we will certainly miss is seeing the programmes printed with the likes of 'New Earswick v Doncaster Rovers'," he said.

"We were very proud of our record and it is a great shame for us because we were very proud to represent York in the league."

With teams in the NAL drawn from either the Northern Counties East League or the UniBond League, New Earswick had always stood alone as the only team borne out of a strictly amateur club.

However, Snell explained the NAL's organisers were now keen to set more stringent ground standards for participating clubs, standards New Earswick could not currently hope to meet.

Snell explained that when New Earswick first joined the league the club was in the process of submitting an ultimately unsuccessful Lottery application to help finance ground improvements.

"We have had to review our capabilities to enhance our ground and it seems unlikely in the short term we will be able to make any notable improvements.

"We have to accept that in the current climate of finance and the move to make a distinction between grassroots football and semi-professional football we would need to go some to bridge that gap.

"We have a good relationship with the league and understand what they are trying to do.

"We also have a good relationship with Pickering Town and we know the people that would be coaching and managing the team and so there is no concern about the quality."

Snell said such was New Earswick's relationship with the NAL it could not close the door on a future return.

"Obviously, it is disappointing but we have to recognise the need for ground improvements and this move is an acknowledgement of that.

"It doesn't close the door on future membership in our own right but that will be very much subject to being able to finance the necessary ground improvements."

In their first season in the NYA, as it was then called, New Earswick, who were at that time managed by current Pickering Town boss Jimmy Reid, were runners-up in the League Cup. Last season they lifted the trophy and finished second in the league.

Reid said he was disappointed for New Earswick although admitted the switch was good news for the Pikes.

"It is sad because I had two great years running the under-19s. We built loads of bridges and acquitted ourselves well but a lot of things come to an end quicker than you would like," he said.

"On the positive side, it can only help Pickering get bigger and stronger and will help the kids come through perhaps that bit quicker."

Under-19s manager Gary Farthing will remain in charge.