AFTER much deliberation Bradford Dudley Hill have made the decision to step down as a National Conference League side.

The amateur side finished at the foot of Division Two in the NCL last season and were set for a campaign in Division Three this time around following relegation.

However, the Bradford side will no longer feature in the Conference League and will instead compete in the Yorkshire Men's League (Division Two) starting from this evening when they host local rivals Wyke.

A multitude of reasons contributed to the club making the decision to step away from NCL rugby.

First team manager Steve Wright, said: "The decision was made as a club and it was made with the club's best interests at heart. For that reason, we decided to take a bit of a step back and we are focusing on the junior's section a lot at the minute, and we hope to get them built up and running.

"From our standpoint there was a few teams that missed multiple games in the Conference League last season through not fulfilling their fixtures. We missed one game at the end of last season because we couldn't raise a team but we fulfilled every other fixture. The team who we were meant to be playing, they wouldn't move or rearrange the game. That meant that we got stuck with a £500 fine for not fulfilling the fixture and then a £500 fine for not fulfilling the season, so we had £1000 to pay off come the end of the season."

Wright added: "We did have some availability issues creeping in towards the end of the season too, which is expected in summer rugby because you have players going on holidays, you have weddings and things like a stag-do.

"The decision to drop out came from that really because it took a lot of pressure off the need for coaches and the all extra expenses that come with that. We'll hopefully get some crowds back to Dudley Hill, get the playing numbers back up again and we'll also get to renew some localised derbies in the Yorkshire Men's League, so it's a decision that we are pleased with. We are on the right path to stabilising the club both on the playing and financial side of things."

Being placed in the Yorkshire Men's League was something that Wright and the club were eager to do.

Dudley Hill's manager said: "Joining the Yorkshire Men's League had so many positives for us. We believe that we'll see bigger crowds coming to watch derby games and with that, we hope that'll bring money to the bar for the club. Seeing the team in localised games; that might start encouraging parents to bring their children down to training because the vast amounts of travelling won't be needed. We specifically asked to be placed in Division Two for travelling purposes because Division One does mean you have to travel a lot further to games.

"We certainly won't be ruling out a return to the Conference League, in fact we would like to return there in the future. But right now it's all about doing what's best for this club because it's a great club with a lot of amateur history."

Wright added: "We are extremely excited to get the season underway on Friday evening; it will be nice to meet a local rival in Wyke again."