RUGBY'S annual league restructuring lottery has returned with Swindon being the latest local club with a hard luck story.
The Greenbridge Road club have been dropped a division following more tinkering by the Rugby Football Union administrators.
They will play in Berks/Bucks & Oxon One having been nudged down from Southern Counties North in the shake-up.
Swindon finished third from bottom last season but in a tight league, they were only two points off fourth spot.
However, league chiefs decided to add their name to those of bottom two Beaconsfield and Wallingford on the way down.
Outgoing skipper Stuart Cock admitted the club were resigned to their fate but vowed they would bounce back at the first attempt.
Cock, who hands over the captaincy to Paul Wakefield for the new campaign, said: "It's disappointing for the club, but there is very little we can do about it.
"We knew there would be two definite relegation spots but, in their wisdom, the league have decided to take us down too as part of the restructuring process.
"It makes a mockery of the whole thing really. In our sister league (Southern Counties South), only one team is going down and yet we won more games than a lot of teams in that division.''
He added: "To be honest, it's quite an annoying situation for us.
"But we are going to make sure we go straight back up again.
"Having seen the teams in our new division, there is Beaconsfield to worry about, but we can be confident against the rest.''
Swindon's can take heart from the fortunes of two neighbouring sides, who were also on the receiving end of the restructuring process last season.
Swindon College and Minety were left crying foul on that occasion although both have regained their former positions.
Minety made their point emphatically, winning Dorset & Wilts Two North with a 100 per cent record to reclaim their spot in Dorset & Wilts One.
And College finished second behind Trowbridge in Dorset & Wilts One to reclaim the spot in Southern Counties South they had taken away last summer.
In other developments in the league system, Supermarine and Minety have both had their second strings accepted into the structure.
Both will play in Dorset & Wilts Two North, joining Wootton Bassett's and Devizes' third teams.
DIVISION LINE-UPS (Local teams in capitals), South West Two East: Chippenham, High Wycombe, Maidenhead, Marlow , Oakmedians, Reading Abbey, Salisbury, Stow-on-the-Wold, Swanage & Wareham, Wimborne, Windsor.
Southern Counties South: Bournemouth, Devizes, Dorchester , Ivel Barbarians, Redingensians, Swindon College, Tadley, Trowbridge, Westbury, Wootton Bassett.
Berks/Bucks/Oxon One: Aldermaston, Beaconsfield, Bletchley, Chesham, Chipping Norton, Milton Keynes, Oxford, Swindon, Thatcham, Wallingford.
Dorset & Wilts One: Blandford, Bradford on Avon, Calne, Cooper Avon Tyres, Corsham, Minety, North Dorset, Sherborne, Supermarine, Weymouth.
Gloucester Premier: Aretians, Avonmouth OB, Cheltenham North, Chipping Sodbury, Chosen Hill FP, Cirencester, Longlevens, North Bristol, Old Bristolians, Painswick.
Dorset & Wilts Two North: Colerne, Cricklade, Devizes 3rd, Hungerford, Marlborough, Minety 3rd, Pewsey Vale, Salisbury 3rd, Supermarine 3rd, Wootton Bassett 3rd.
Gloucester Three North: Cainscross, Fairford, Gloucester All Blues, Gloucester Civil Service, Newent, Ross on Wye, Tredworth
Gloucester Three South: Bristol Aeroplanes, Bristol Telephones, Cotham Park, Kingswood, Pilning, St Brendans OB, Tetbury, Wotton.
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