A village football club who opted out of an alternative ‘Champions League’ competition believes it would have won promotion had the season continued.

Outwell Swifts chose not to play in the Cambridgeshire County League’s cup tournament which starts on April 10, after the 2020-21 campaign was cut short for a second year in a row.

Swifts boasted a perfect record in Division 1B with six wins from as many games, and were on course to challenge for a spot in Kershaw Senior B.

“We really didn’t see the point as we still can’t use changing rooms, no pubs or clubhouses will be fully open and we would rather call the lot off in readiness for August-September time,” Jason Day, manager of Outwell Swifts, said.

“We are a team mostly with families and children and decided we would rather have unrestricted time with our families once restrictions were eased.”

A ‘Champions League’ styled cup competition was discussed after the Cambs League decided to declare the season null and void last month.

If Outwell, who also has a reserve team, opted to play in the competition, they would have perhaps been placed in the Intermediate Cup with the likes of promotion rivals AFC Walpole and Swavesey Institute.

However, Day was unsure whether competing in the cup would give his side a chance of building momentum heading into next season.

“If the season had continued this year, I believe we would have got promoted,” he said.

“The cup could have given us momentum, but we only played six league games, had no pre-season and were unbeaten, so it’s a hard one to answer.

“We just decided that, as a club, to enjoy the time off once restrictions are lifted and see what happens next season.”

Swifts will look to repeat the club’s heroics of yesteryear when they reached the heights of step seven football, before withdrawing from the league in 2017.

Some players from that time have returned to the club, as well as a mix of youth, too.

It is this combination that Day hopes will lead Swifts to glory in its bid to reach the top once again.

“We’ve got a bunch of mates that want to win together and we know how to see games out as we have that experience,” he said.

“I have had interest from other players that would improve the quality and reduce the average age of the squad, which will help us.

“We’ve always had great team spirit, but time will tell.”