Southern league Thirds club Sandown Cobras has gone into recess

After various calls to arms throughout this year, a Southern league club with over half a century of history has been forced to shut its doors. Here are the details.

The Cobras have been forced into recess. Picture: AAP/Chris Eastman

Outgoing club president Ricky Logan said it’s been “a long time coming”.

Southern league stand-alone Thirds club Sandown Cobras have made the difficult decision to go into recess for the 2024 season.

The Cobras, formed in 1961, went to a singular side in 2019 and have struggled with numbers and volunteers since.

In August, Logan said his club was “delaying the inevitable”.

It was decided at Wednesday nights Annual General Meeting that the club would close its doors.

“We’ve been hanging on by a thread,” Logan said.

“Just the area we’re in and not having any local players has always made it hard for us.

“Once you start losing some staples of the club, it makes it hard to replace those kinds of people.”

The Cobras have been forced into recess. Picture: AAP/Chris Eastman

Logan said the long meeting was filled with emotion as the club raised ideas to remain open.

“It was very sombre,” he said.

“It was a hard decision to come to, a lot of scenarios were thrown around before we then decided to go into recess.

“Hopefully this keeps the door ajar for someone to come along and do all the things necessary to get the club going again.”

The Cobras shares the facility with the Supers club Eastern Warriors and FIDA club Sandown.

“They’re still going to keep the legacy of the club alive by keeping all the memorabilia on the walls,” he said.

“They’re keen on protecting that and making sure that anyone that comes there that it was still the home of the Cobras.

“I am hoping some players end up going there (Supers) and playing for them but it all depends on the playing group.

“The all abilities team plays out of there as well, they’re a separate identity but they wear the Cobra colours.”