WORCESTER City have been rocked by the news that club captain Tom Thorley has quit the club to join Hednesford Town.

The Aggborough-based club received an official approach the Pitmen, who are currently top of Worcester’s Skrill North division, but hoped their skipper would reject the move in favour of remaining with City.

However, the lure of the table-toppers was too strong for Thorley and a City club statement said: “We received an official approach from Hednesford expressing their interest in the player and it is with deep regret that we have to announce the departure of Tom.

“After speaking with Tom on Sunday afternoon, we were hoping to hear him say that he was committed to staying with the club. This was not the case and he advised that he would like the opportunity to talk to them.

“It became apparent over the last 24 hours that there was nothing we could do to convince him to stay with Worcester City, so the paperwork has been completed to allow the transfer to go through.”

City manager Carl Heeley added: ”Tom has been a fantastic servant to the football club and it is a real body blow to lose a player of his calibre and he will be very difficult to replace, but replace him we must.

“We all knew it was going to be a challenging season and without doubt we need every player fully committed to the cause.

“Tom told me that combining his day job as a school teacher and travelling to and from Worcestershire was affecting his work-life balance and that he felt the time was right to move on.”

Heeley continued: “We would all like to wish Tom the very best for the future and sincerely thank him for his time with the club as he has been an absolute pleasure to work with.

“The search goes on for potential replacements and we are hopeful of doing some business prior to the weekend game away at Harrogate Town.”