NTFA general manager Robert Anderson yesterday confirmed that the club had notified the association of their decision to go into recess for the season.

The club lost a total of 44 players from last season in the aftermath of a well-publicised brawl.

Despite a desperate plea for more players, time extensions from the NTFA and a special meeting of members and supporters to rally to the cause – the club was forced to go into recess.

The decision marks a sad day for the Fingal Club which was founded in 1886 and is one of the oldest in Tasmania having won 19 premierships and been runners-up in 15 grand finals.

‘‘They rang us last night about 7pm and told us that unfortunately they had to pull the pin,’’ Anderson said yesterday.

‘‘It’s very disappointing that they have had to fold but we gave them every opportunity that we could.

‘‘They said they were going into recess but they would have to reapply to come back in later on if they were in a position to do so.’’

Fingal president Robert Parsons could not be contacted for comment.

Anderson said Fingal’s withdrawal would necessitate the division 2 roster being redrawn.

‘‘St Pats were rostered to have the bye this week but have stepped up and will play Tamar Cats who were supposed to play Fingal,’’ he said.

‘‘We have rewritten the roster – we couldn’t just say that teams who were going to play Fingal had a bye because it would have meant two byes in a round and some clubs would have ended up with more home games than others.’’

Fingal’s late withdrawal and associated roster changes have thrown other clubs’ plans for season functions into disarray.

St Pats did not train this week expecting to have a bye and have a number of players unavailable this weekend to play the Cats.