MALDON Town boss Colin Wallington says it is “sad but a necessity” for his club to merge with Tiptree United.

The Jam-makers have informed the Essex Senior League they may be withdrawing from it next year – prompting speculation of an amalgamation between the mid-Essex neighbours.

Nothing is certain yet because such a move would have to be ratified by the FA.

But Tiptree secretary John Wisbey has confirmed that the clubs are looking to merge and Wallington, who enjoyed great success as Jam-makers boss, told the Standard: “It’s sad but a necessity.

“These clubs each have their own tradition and history.

“But in this day and age, it’s just not economically viable to have three sides in such close proximity (Maldon, Tiptree and Heybridge Swifts). There isn’t enough support in this part of the world so a possible merger would probably be very sensible.

“Ideally, it would be good to have three thriving teams but when you think about all the basic overheads it’s just not realistic.

“People don’t realise how much money has to be spent on things like having fully-qualified physiotherapists, powering floodlights for midweek matches and paying the match officials. It all adds up.”

The Jam-makers’ future is far from a foregone conclusion.

Since Tiptree sold their Chapel Road ground and headed to Maldon in a ground-sharing venture last October, there has been speculation over the future of both clubs and whether they would amalgamate or continue as separate entities at Park Drive.

Wisbey confirmed that the Essex Senior League, where the team has been playing this year, had been told there was a possibility they wouldn’t be involved next season, but added that the move was just a “paper exercise”.

Wisbey said there was an on-going appraisal by the FA about whether Tiptree and Maldon could join in a formal merger and until the findings of that come back, there is a question mark over what will happen next year.

Should the FA sanction a full merger, with both teams playing under a new single name, a decision will be taken about what sides to field and what leagues they will play in.

If the authorities turn down the application, then alternative arrangements will have to be made.

Wisbey said one option would be to maintain the status quo, with Tiptree staying where they are in the Essex Senior League.

However, if that isn’t financially viable, they may go through with withdrawing from the league.

He added that the league had already been informed of that possibility because if they hadn’t said so and the deadline for withdrawals passed, then the club would be hit with a £1,000 fine for pulling out too late.

“Tiptree and Maldon are looking to amalgamate as one club, but that has to be sanctioned by the fooballing authorities and until the position is secured anything else is just speculation,” said Wisbey.

“We’re not sure it is something they (the FA) are 100 per cent keen on, but in this day and age ideals are changing.

“Both clubs have benefited from the ground share through cost savings.

“It is a path we have gone down and we have asked the FA to sanction it so they have a working party looking at it.

“It isn’t an unusual thing and other clubs are looking at it.

“The simple reason for telling the Essex Senior League was if we did not do it in a time frame, then we could get a £1,000 fine.

“It is a paper exercise to save money if a decision was made, but a decision hasn’t been made yet.

“There is the potential that we could withdraw, but it is not at all the case that we will actually withdraw.

“If there is no merger sanctioned, we would carry on as we have this season.”