A long-running football team has been kicked out of a Bristol five-a-side league because opponents think they are 'too good' and do not want to face them.
The Three Crowns, formed of players who used to play at a semi-professional level, took part in their first match in the Goals Bristol North league 20 years ago and have won a staggering 57 titles from a possible 60.
This season they are top of the Thursday Premier Division after 13 wins from 13 games with one left to play, but after their next game they will lift the trophy for the final time.
James Potts, who used to play for Mangotsfield United FC, said he and his team-mates could not believe it when they were asked to retire once the current season has finshed.
"It's such a shame to be honest," said the 38-year-old. "We can't really get our heads around it.
"We know it's only 5-a-side but it's been our hobby every Thursday for the past 20 years so we don't want to stop.
"They've offered us the chance to play in a different league on a different weeknight but a few of us can only do Thursdays due to other commitments, so that's not possible.
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"Considering we've never missed a game, we always turn up on time and we've never owed money, we feel quite hard done by and want to make a point of that.
"We're competitive and we take it seriously whenever we play, but we're not a nasty team."
The sports therapist said five of The Three Crown's games this season have been walkovers as their would-be opponents did not want to play them, allegedly because they did not want to be on the receiving end of a thrashing.
He thinks the reason they have been asked to call it a day is because the league manager is worried about losing money due to teams dropping out.
"It should really be about good quality football and not the business side of things," he added.
"It's a kick in the teeth, especially as we must have contributed about £50,000 to the league over the past 20 years.
"Thursday evening games gave us all something to look forward to when we were at work, but this will be the end of the Three Crowns and it's a shame."
'We hope to see the Three Crowns playing again soon'
A spokesperson for Goals Bristol North said: "We want to thank the Three Crowns for playing in our leagues, but we have had to make the hard decision to remove them from their current division as their ability level is of such that doesn’t make the league competitive at this time.
"We have an obligation to all our teams to ensure the safeguarding of all players.
"We have offered the team to play in other more suitable leagues that meet their standard of play which unfortunately have been declined.
"We hope to see the Three Crowns playing again soon at our Bristol club in a suitable competitive league."
