A WEST FIFE American football club has withdrawn from a British full contact league programme “with a heavy heart”.

Dunfermline Kings, who are based in Duloch, said this week that they would be withdrawing from the BAFA (British American Football Association) set-up due to a lack of players and coaches.

The club, which also operates flag (non-contact) and youth teams, which will be unaffected, have been part of the BAFA adult full-contact league set-up since 2020, after passing the associate process to take their place a year earlier.

The Dunfermline Kings full-contact team was established in 2016, two years after Carnegie American Football Club, which it was part of, was formed.

In 2020, the club’s committee voted unanimously that all teams involved would be rebranded as Dunfermline Kings, but their venture into the BAFA league has proved to be short-lived.

In a statement, Dan Murphy, general manager, explained: “The decision has been made for the Kings to end their short-lived reign in the BAFA leagues.

“At the beginning of the season, we started up a new media and recruitment team whose efforts i can not thank enough. We had a stronger recruitment drive this year but were unable to match the numbers of outgoing players and so due to a lack of numbers both players and coaches and a number of injuries in our first four games the Kings will be unable to commit to the rest of the season.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank our current players, coaches, and staff, who stuck with the club for as long as possible it has been an honour playing alongside all of you.”

He did, however, offer hope that the full-contact team could be revived in the future, commenting: “The Kings adult contact team has been competing in the league since 2020 after passing the associate process in 2019.

“Currently the team’s withdrawal from the league means we will be back to an associate level team again, and we hope to start a revival of our adult contact team as soon as January 2024, when we would normally host our open sessions. “

For more information on the club, who train at Duloch Leisure Centre on Saturdays from 10am-12pm for 8-9 year-olds, and 10am-12pm on Sundays for those aged 16 and over, you can find them on Facebook and Twitter by searching for ‘Dunfermline Kings’.