THE historic Selby RSSC name will live on despite the demise of the York Minster Engineering Football League club.

That was the pledge made by secretary/chairman Steve O’Mahoney in the wake of the heartbreaking decision to withdraw from division one midway through the campaign.

The Denison Road club experienced difficulties on and off the field, with committee members standing down and players defecting.

However, O’Mahoney, who has been with the club as player and administrator for 16 years, declared he was in talks with another Selby club interested in competing under the RSSC banner.

Although he declined to name the prospective partner club, plans are already being made to apply for a return to the York Minster Engineering League next season.

“The club are so close to their 50th anniversary and it is a massive shame,” he said. “But there are plans in the pipeline to resurrect it.

“Hopefully, we will reapply to start from scratch in division four of the York league.

“It would be a shame if it ends. I don’t want that to happen on my watch. The club I am talking to would bring in all their backroom people and their team under our name. It feels positive.

“They will become the railway club and I will probably stay on as chairman to help make it successful.”

Selby RSSC were formed in 1967 and were known as Selby BRSA until 1991.

The club are credited with helping to launch the career of Selby-born goalkeeper Steve Sherwood, who signed for Chelsea from RSSC as a teenager before going on to star in the top flight with Watford.

The club’s roll of honour includes back-to-back York FA Saturday Junior Cup triumphs in 2009 and 2010, plus three Barkston Ash FA Temple Newsam Cup wins and a Barkston Ash FA Challenge Cup success.

The club were crowned Selby & District League champions after going through the 1967/68 campaign unbeaten.

RSSC won promotion to the York Minster Engineering League premier division for last term and avoided relegation, but asked to be demoted to division one at the end of the campaign.

Now, only four games into their current campaign, O’Mahoney has been forced to withdraw the club from the league.

O’Mahoney said: “We’d had a good run. We got ourselves into the premier division, but we almost fell apart in the summer when the first team and reserve team managers left.

“A lot of players saw things were not right, but Stu Briggs took over as manager and we managed to keep it going.

“However, the treasurer was struggling with time and the manager has a child on the way and decided his time was better spent with his family.

“That left me as chairman and secretary battling to keep the club afloat, but without support around me I can’t do it.

“It takes a lot to run a club these days and we were missing some enthusiasm within the structure.”

York Minster Engineering League fixture secretary Colin Atkinson said: “They lost players and their facilities were not up to premier division standard, so they asked to drop down a division.

“We agreed to put them into division one. Their reserves then resigned, but they managed to get a team at the start of the season.

“They played a couple of weeks ago against Church Fenton White Horse, but then I got an email saying they couldn’t carry on.

“They want to combine with another club in Selby and come back next season. They have been going for 50 years, so there is a long tradition there.”

Meanwhile, the demise of the RSSC club was lamented by Northern Counties East League neighbours Selby Town.

Secretary Tommy Arkley said it was “sad news”, adding: “This long-established club is steeped in local history. It is a sad loss to local football. This perhaps shows up the lack of volunteers and helpers needed to organise everything that a club at any level needs, both on and off the field of play.”