ABINGDON United have resigned from the Evo-Stik Southern League in a surprise move.

The club, who have been in the league since 2007, will drop down into the Uhlsport Hellenic League for next season.

Chair Debbie Blackmore explained in a letter to the Oxford Mail that the decision had been taken for various reasons, chiefly financial ones.

She wrote: “Abingdon United wish to make some investments within the club, both on the playing pitch and the club structure, and to achieve these it was felt that moving to the Hellenic would be a better option.

“With spiralling costs and increasing overheads this movement in the football league will allow Abingdon United to step back and rebuild in a hope to be on a better financial setting to bounce back into the Southern League in the future.

“The overall current financial climate has also reduced local club sponsors and those much-needed club helpers.”

Secretary John Blackmore added that Abingdon had found the travelling in the Southern League financially draining.

He said the club had never made a loss, but they hadn’t had the money to spend on other areas.

“We need to do some things at the football club,” he said. “We need to invest in parts of the ground and the structure of the buildings and it is far easier to do that when we don’t have a big drain on our resources.

“The football club has to make a profit or break even because unlike other football clubs we don’t want a bank overdraft.”

Abingdon have a partnership with Oxford United Ladies, who will play their home games at Northcourt Road in the Women’s Super League, which runs from March to September in 2014.

“It means we will have football at the ground for 12 months a year, so we need to make investments in the pitch,” added Blackmore.

The secretary said that manager Richie Bourne would be staying at the club where he has been manager for three years.

“Obviously the manager will do his bit and recruit players that he thinks will be good enough in the Hellenic League and go from there,” he added. “We are looking for more local players.”

Asked what would happen should they win the Hellenic League next season, Blackmore said: “We would probably go back up.

“We still have an FA grading for our facilities and they are good enough for the Southern League Premier, so there is no hassle about that. The facilities will only improve.”

Abingdon start training on Tuesday, July 2 (7pm).