THEY finished on the highest of highs – but after 53 years Otterbourne Football Club has folded after their best ever season.

The Oakwood Park outfit had ambitions of climbing into the Sydenhams League following an impressive second place finish in the Puma Engineering Hampshire Premier League.

But, after numerous requests to Otterbourne Parish Council to upgrade their facilities to the necessary level for promotion were blocked, they took the heart-wrenching decision to call it a day.

Manager Richard Luffman, who officially handed in his resignation on Saturday after a charity match to mark the end of an era, knew of the impending closure, but was set on leading his side to an explosive end.

And he did exactly that.

Not only have Otters recorded their highest ever league finish, they also lifted the Andover Cup and Hampshire Intermediate Cup to go out with a bang.

“The closure has been on the horizon for some time,” said Luffman. “We’ve been ready for three years to be promoted, but always the facilities have held us back.

“We wanted to test ourselves at a higher level, but the parish council blocked the plans to build the facilities.

“It is the third separate occasion that this has happened – it happened to Otterbourne teams under Dave Diaper and Terry Chapman in the past, so we’re not the first ones.

“It’s a huge shame. This is our club. You just have to visit our Facebook group to see how much of a community it is and how much it means to everyone, but there are only so many times you can have the door shut in your face.

“We had to make the decision. We didn’t want to lose all the players and be back to square one again.”

The club wanted to place barriers and floodlights as well as a stand at Oakwood Park. However, at a parish council meeting in November, the plans were unanimously denied, with the council keen to maintain a balance for all users and the ambience to remain as a recreation ground for the village.

Despite the cloud looming overhead, Otters have thrived, recording their best ever points tally, scoring the most goals in a single season as well as bagging a cup double.

Luffman’s side defeated Bournemouth Manor 3-1 at AFC Totton’s Testwood Stadium to lift the Hampshire Intermediate Cup before a 4-0 thrashing of South Wonston Swifts in the Andover Cup final.

Those cup finals were due to be followed by their county top-flight season finale, and last as a club, against Liss Athletic, but the East Hampshire side couldn’t raise a side.

Instead Otters organised a charity match between the first team and an Otterbourne select XI, which more than 200 people descended to Oakwood for.

“It was a shame Liss only gave us three hours notice, but we still managed to get around 45 player as well as all the current team for the occasion,” he said. “It was great to see so many people turn out for it.”