West of England League season announce 2022 Rugby League season cancelled
It is the third season in succession for Somerset Vikings the West of England Rugby League has been called off. - Credit: Josh Thomas
The West of England League have announced there will be no Rugby League played this season.
This is due to a number of sides failing to get numbers and put together a team.
The 2022 campaign had been due to start in May.
And in a statement published by the Somerset Vikings they said they had “struggled” to bring in players to fill a side and had seen “diminishing” numbers during their training sessions.
“In light of the loss of most of the clubs in the West of England league, there will been no competitive WoE league for 2022,” the club posted on their website.
“The majority of teams in the South West, including Somerset Vikings, have struggled to get enough registered players to constitute a team.
“Our coaching staff have attended every week with training plans but have seen diminishing player numbers month on month.
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“The club thank them for all their efforts. They have without a doubt helped create the strongest Vikings team in recent years.”
It’s been a hard few years for Somerset Vikings and Rugby League in general.
After winning the 2019 final with a 26-18 win against Reading Raiders to claim the title, the Vikings saw the 2020 season cancelled due to Coronavirus pandemic.
The Rugby Football League decided to postpone last year’s campaign, again, due to complications of Covid.
The Nest based side were the only team at the time to complete all of their fixtures and sat top of the league table when the decision was made.
“Running a club is a physical, financial and emotional undertaking and the committee have strived over the years for a balance in all these thing to bring the best experience to players and staff,” the statement continued.
“However, having a monthly financial outlay to train a handful of players to play in a non existent league does not make sense in any form.
“The decision has therefore been taken to suspend any Somerset Vikings activity for 2022 and reconvene in a few months with a revised action plan and (RFL decision pending), a new league.
“We thank our sponsors, players and fans and hope we can pick up where we left off in 2021 as a strong dedicated and winning team.”
