The Wiltshire Times can today reveal how one of the oldest and most popular football leagues in Wiltshire is under threat over a major row with the county FA.

Bombshells were dropped by the resignation of a long serving top official and the withdrawal of league sponsors.

A presentation night planned for Monday has been cancelled and the league chairman and vice-chairman are threatening to quit.

The hammer blow for the Trowbridge and District League, which has been running for 107 years and has 42 teams and more than 600 players from west and north Wiltshire, comes less than a month before the league season is due to start.

The trouble was sparked by an attempt from the Wiltshire FA to cope with the county's shortage of referees. The new system has taken power away from individual leagues to allocate referees to games and given total control to the FA.

The 2004/05 fixture lists have revealed that the Trowbridge and District League will have a third of their first month's games without a qualified referee.

In the past the league has prided itself on being able to supply every game with a qualified official and those involved fear the league's image could be tarnished irreparably.

Tim Penwell, the league's development officer for six and a half years, has quit, claiming the knock on effects of the plan will have a catastrophic impact.

Chairman Roly Hill and vice- chairman Phil Senior, who have been running the league for the past 40 years, are also threatening to resign citing an expected deterioration in standards and huge financial loss as their reasons.

Several of the league's main sponsors have already indicated they will withdraw their money and it has been estimated the change in system could cost the league £25,000 over the next five years.

A number of clubs have also protested about the change, which will leave many of their matches without a referee.

They believe matches being refereed by someone unqualified could lead to a number of safety issues and fear the league could be ruined.

Shortage of referees in Wiltshire has increasingly become a problem in the past few years and the county FA feel the only way to solve the problem is to re-distribute officials.

The Wiltshire FA incurred the wrath of the Wiltshire footballing community last season when they charged six managers with bringing the game into disrepute after comments made about Trowbridge Town's ground. The managers were later cleared.