A non-league club, which took a Reading FC youth star on loan last season, has announced that it is to cease operations.

Walton Casuals, of the Southern League Premier Division South, is to be dissolved after the "process to identify new owners and/or investors has sadly been unsuccessful."

Part of the English football pyramid since 1992, the Casuals achieved its highest finish last season but "current and foreseeable stresses...Β made it clear that despite careful stewardship by the current management the ability to continue operating the Club into next season appears unsustainable."

A statement made on May 17 gave potential investors five days to get in touch, to which nobody suitable has come forward.

Today, Friday, June 10, the club released a letter,Β which said: "Following the announcement by WCFC on the 10th May 2022 that the Club were having to explore the future of the club- the process to identifyΒ new owners and/or investors has sadly been unsuccessful. Therefore, the Club has decided that it will now follow a process of managed closure"

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It went on to say, "During the process the Board were determined to ensure that (at either the point of Acquisition or in the event of closure) the Club would be left in a position with no liabilities or indebtedness. This has been achieved and despite the anguish that closure will inevitably cause- the club leaves wth honour and pride in what it has achieved and with many wonderful memories."

19-year-old goalkeeper Harvey Collins spent a short-term spell with the Casuals in the second half of last season.

The shot stopper appeared in multiple match day squads, as well as a regular for the Under-23s, in Berkshire last campaign.