Though they have withdrawn from the ranks of the First Division, Social Club are keen to hang onto their young talent in the hope of heralding a new dawn.

The storied side called it quits two weeks ago, citing a player shortage, sparked by off-season transfers, lack of training and what was described as a ?negative element? at the club were blamed for the decision.

The move, announced at an emotional Bermuda Football Association press conference, came days after a 20-0 thrashing at the hands of Somerset Trojans.

?When I was coming up, the older guys used to tell us that you will get no glory without working for it,? said club manager Fred (Pinks) Lewis at the time.

?The club was formed to help young black people to get along and even get their own houses by working together. To see this happen ? where guys just don?t care about all of the hard work which the older guys put in to give the club a good standing and good record ? is really beyond words.

?It hurts deeply and I am almost in tears . . . that?s how much it hurts me.?

Yesterday, however, a reinvigorated Lewis declared his and the club?s determination to get things back on track.

In an effort to achieve this Lewis said the club would be weeding out the undesirables, while seeking to convince those they thought had a future with the team to remain onboard.

?All is certainly not lost at Social Club,? said Lewis. ?It could be looked at as being a temporary setback, but it will be a way for us to regroup and concentrate on coming back better organised and with more of a purpose in the hope of making a greater contribution to the sport of football in the Island.

?We have talked with our players. We are going to continue to train with those the coaches want and those who want to train so that we can be really prepared for next season, the others we are simply letting go.?

Lewis said the squad would probably operate with a nucleus of 16 players.

?We are waiting on the coaches to give us the list of those players they want us to release, as soon as that happens, hopefully within the next two weeks, the BFA can then do what they want with them,? he said.

Lewis said that while there would not be any truly competitive matches for his side, there would be intense training and, hopefully, friendly matches arranged on weekends when some of the other teams had a bye. He cited those knocked out in the early rounds of the FA Cup as potential opponents.

Moves such as these, he said, would hopefully encourage players to remain loyal to the team.

?We want our players, that?s for sure,? said Lewis. ?We try to tell them that in order to progress sometimes you have to sacrifice. As a consequence of the training that they get done now, as a group they can gel together and understand better what the coaches want them to do.

?Our younger players will also be able to get a little more experience at training and playing in the various friendlies and hopefully everybody will be able to play more freely and execute what they are doing in training.

?What I notice is that the players don?t execute what they are learning in training, they are worrying too much about not losing. But what they should do is go ahead and do what they have been asked to do and see how it works out.?

Lewis clearly hopes a defeat the size of the one inflicted by the Trojans can be avoided in the future by increased dedication to the cause.

?I don?t care if you beat me 20-0 if you are out there trying, but if you are standing there and letting players walk past you and the goalkeeper is just letting the ball in, that?s not good enough,? he said.

?If you are a goalkeeper and 20 goals go past you and you come off the field one of the cleanest players, well that proves that something is dead wrong. It means you haven?t tried at all.

?With that sort of attitude in our ranks it proved that it was a waste of time for the coaches and our younger players and it was simply bad for football. We had to do something and we did it, now we are aiming to fix it and return with a structured programme once again like the team of old.?