A NORTH Leigh Ladies player has hit out at a “complete lack of respect” after her side was scrapped at short notice.

The Millers will not field a women’s outfit next season after Thursday’s surprise announcement, which was followed by an extraordinary club statement citing a “collective lack of club commitment from the team”.

Among a “number of reasons” given for the decision were the ladies’ alleged failure to contribute to pitch maintenance and a team environment that “alienated” new recruits.

Read also: North Leigh scrap ladies' side for 'lack of commitment'

But Millers ladies player Zoe Greenway denied the claims and revealed the team received no warning of the move.

She said: “There’s a whole ring of people that weren’t expecting it.

“The courteous thing to do would have been to speak to the team to let them know it might happen.

“There’s plenty of things that could have been done to overcome this, so it’s a complete lack of respect.”

The statement said the club had received “several reports” of new recruits feeling “upset” after joining the team, which had “developed a very poor reputation”.

Greenway, 27, said: “We’ve never had anyone who has left for emotional reasons. We’re a really close team, so there’s no alienation there.

“I can’t think of us as anything but really good friends.”

The Millers’ ladies were established two years ago and enjoyed a promising start to life in the Thames Valley Counties Women’s Football League.

They finished second in Division 2 North in 2018/19 and were fourth in Division 2 before this season’s campaign was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

North Leigh added an Under 12 girls’ side to their set-up last year, which the statement said was evidence that they “hoped to expand” on this area.

Before Thursday’s announcement, the ladies’ team had been planning to start socially-distanced training sessions to prepare for the 2020/21 campaign.

The Millers deny the decision was made to make space for a new men’s team that will play in the Witney & District FA league.

The two sides play on different pitches at Eynsham Park, but Greenway noted that this makes the decision even more puzzling.

On top of these frustrations, the squad now face the prospect of a close-knit squad being broken up for good.

She said: “The problem now is that people have to find new teams.

“People live all over the place and the likelihood of us finding another team that we can all have a place in is slim.

“It’s splitting a team that has worked really hard.

“We were in a really strong position and it’s really disheartening.

“For the older players it’ll be the end of their careers, as it would be a big change.”

The squad have taken heart from a wave of goodwill since publicising their plight, with five men’s clubs from Oxfordshire and beyond offering to let them set up a ladies’ side.

Greenway and her teammates are taking heart from this support as they plot a path forward in an uncertain future.

“We put it out on social media and people were saying to us that this happens a lot,” she said.

“We’re constantly a level down from men’s football, which we accept, but this is too far.

“We’ve been so well supported by local teams, who are saying they would happily take some of our players, if not all.

“We’ve been inundated with people rallying round us.

“We’re angry but so motivated.”

North Leigh have said they will not speak publicly on the matter any further, while chairman Ed Martin failed to respond to a request for comment.