An urgent meeting has been called for later this month as Mitcham and Carshalton Rugby Club is now in ‘terminal decline’.

A crisis talk on the team’s future will be held on March 27, in Peterborough Road, to discover ways of saving it from potential closure.

The club is desperate for new, regular volunteers as many current staff members are set to leave at the end of the year.

Sam Bardwell, chair of Mitcham and Carshalton, said: “The situation is now so serious that the committee will be considering closing the club as soon as this year’s AGM despite the juniors’ desire to continue.

“The is a reversible position in which Surrey [Rugby] and the RFU [Rugby Football Union] are prepared to support the club, but they cannot do it for us and it cannot be achieved with the current group of volunteers alone.

“The club is in terminal decline. We are struggling to raise a first XV, many committee positions are vacant, and while the juniors [sides] have started to rebuild, several experienced committee members will be stepping down at the end of the year.

“Although we have been granted planning permission for a new clubhouse, this has not reversed our recent fortunes.”

He urged for people, either past or present, with a link to the team to get involved.

The meeting will take place at Mitcham and Carshalton's clubhouse, in Peterborough Road, at 7.30pm on March 27.