We began with a 5-team league, in an unbalanced structure without equal home and away fixtures. And because there weren’t enough qualified referees, we’d need to officiate games ourselves. So not really much of a competition, but a competition nonetheless.

Then one of those teams (Southend) had an internal dispute and disbanded before the league began, and while a new team immediately formed in their place consisting of largely the same players, they were refused entry to the league. Which, in a struggling region and league where participation and competition should be encouraged, left us with just 4 teams in our division.

The original structure of the 4-team league we all embarked upon at the start of the season meant we played each team home and away, plus a “bonus” weekend of an additional fixture – the so-called “Magic Weekend”. Just like in the sport’s elite league structure – Super League. Except, unlike Super League, where Magic fixtures are agreed in advance, this would be 1st v 2nd, and 3rd v 4th, depending on the previous weekend’s league table.

And then, at the end of the season, the team that finished top of the table would get a bye to the Play-Off Final (a fair reward for the most consistent side over the season), while 2nd would host 3rd in a Play-Off semi-final

The issue (although we were never informed it was an issue at the time) is apparently that Magic Weekend.

We were hosting Magic this year, on 1st July. We were 1st in the table (and would play 2nd placed Kings Lynn, and Luton were 3rd (and would play 4th placed Cambridge). But two of the teams couldn’t field a team – Kings Lynn and Cambridge (Cambridge subsequently folded two weeks later).

In the absence of opposition to play, the two teams that did attend (ourselves and Luton) played each other in what both teams believed would be a competitive “Magic Weekend” bonus match. This was communicated to the League, no objection was raised and, as the East RL table showed, the result stood.

Two weeks later, we were due to host Luton in our scheduled home league game against them. The day before the game, Luton told us they couldn’t make it. We subsequently discovered they were playing a curtain-raiser at semi-pro side Coventry Bears the next day. This raised suspicions that they had called off our scheduled league game in order to play in a friendly instead, and we raised a formal complaint with the league. This was upheld, and we were awarded the walkover victory (and Luton were to be deducted a point).

By the end of the season, with one game to go, (and with Cambridge’s results nullified after their withdrawal) we, according to the table on the East RL’s own website, which tallied with our own records, had 3 wins and 6 points, Kings Lynn had 4pts and Luton had 2. And we were to play Luton away in the last fixture of the regular season. We, as far as we knew going into that game, had already secured top spot. So we travelled, albeit with a smaller squad, to fulfill our final away league fixture.

However, at the end of that final game of the season, Luton were celebrating as though they’d won the league. So we asked for clarification.

We were told that our Magic match didn’t count as a “Magic” match, but was actually being considered as our “league” match against Luton (the game that was scheduled for 2 weeks after Magic that Luton didn’t turn up for). This was a decision seemingly made more than a month after the Magic Weekend, and never communicated to us. It also meant that Luton’s no-show for our scheduled league game (usually awarded as a 24-0 walkover victory to the non-cancelling team) wouldn’t now be punished.

It also meant that Kings Lynn somehow finished top of the table and thereby secured a bye to the Play-Off Final, and we (apparently now 2nd) would have to host Luton in the play-off Semi-Final.

This decision effectively means that Kings Lynn were rewarded, not punished, for missing their Magic Weekend commitment. It also means that, despite fulfilling more fixtures and winning more games than our opponents, we somehow don’t finish top of the table.

We raised several objections:

1) If the League objected to us playing Luton (in the absence of any other opposition) as our competitive Magic Weekend “bonus” fixture, why was no objection raised at the time?
2) How can a result that both teams believed was a competitive match be downgraded and results expunged five weeks after the fact?
3) If the Magic Result wasn’t a valid result (because the league objects to it not being 1 v 2 and 3 v 4), then why aren’t we awarded a walkover victory over Kings Lynn, and Luton a walkover victory over Cambridge?
4) Why was nothing said before or after our cancelled home league game against Luton to indicate that we’d apparently already played it? Why does communication from East RL around that cancelled league game on 15th July refer to it as a league game if it had apparently already been played on the 1st July?
5) When and how was it decided that Luton’s no-show for our home league game on 15th July didn’t matter?
6) What would have happened had Luton fulfilled their league fixture against us on 15th July? Which result would we count?
7) Why was nothing about the above communicated to us until AFTER the end of the regular season?
8) In what other sport, in what other competition, would players play a match they believed was a full competitive fixture, only to be told weeks later that it wasn’t going to be counted?

Our players, who put their bodies on the line and run their blood to water week in week out; who give up their Saturday jobs and family time; who travel halfway across East Anglia and play through injury; they deserve better. They deserve to be rewarded for being the best side over the course of the season, and shouldn’t have the goalposts moved on them as they have been.

With this in mind, we are withdrawing from this year’s competition. We will not be taking part in the play-offs and we will not be defending our title.

It is difficult enough trying to run a Rugby League team in a non-RL area, especially when Rugby Union offers so much more stability and appeal.

We do want to make this clear: This league is run by a volunteer who, in the absence of professional regional managers from the RFL, gives up an awful lot of his time to the league and to furthering RL in the region. And it is greatly appreciated.

But we’re ALL volunteers. We ALL give up a lot of time for this because we ALL want to further RL in the region. And because of that, it’s not unreasonable for us to expect clarity and consistency.