A village football club have pulled out of their league after being told that the team can no longer play on the field that they have called home for 65 years.

Meifod FC made the "extremely difficult" decision to tender their resignation from the MMP Central Wales League North for the rest of the season.

In a statement issued on Saturday, the club said: "After fantastic support previously from the owner, we have been told by new management we no longer have use of their pitch and facilities and are not welcome at what has been our home for countless years.

"Along with the expectation to cover additional rising costs that are just not realistic for a small village club, we don’t have any other choice at this stage of the season.

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"Thank you all for your support. We are absolutely gutted that we find ourselves in this situation. Good luck to all for the remainder of the season."

Meifod Community Council will be allowing residents to share their views given the "serious nature of the situation" at a meeting in the village hall at 7pm on Monday (September 30).

Home games were played on a field behind the Kings Head pub which had undergone drainage works by club volunteers over the summer.

The club said paying in the region of £2,000 per season for food and other costs to the new landlady would be financially "unviable" and therefore "pointless to carry on".

Joint manager Phil Hughes' family has been heavily involved with the club for decades and has played for the club over 16 seasons since he was 15 years old. He told the County Times that the situation came about very suddenly.

"It's really disappointing but we're not here to bad mouth the landlady; she's got a business to run but it's a real shame that it's come about this way," he said.

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"We want to thank everyone for their support. We were really surprised by the response. The local community has been brilliant about it.

"Even though we've had fantastic offers to use other facilities, we've decided to take a break. Trying to set up somewhere else is too much of a task.

"We couldn't imagine playing somewhere else. I just think that Meifod FC should be in Meifod otherwise you lose your identity. It's fantastic having it in the village."

"We wish the landlady all the best of luck."

The new tenant of the Kings Head has been approached for comment.