Joe Vines admits he fears for the future of Tooting & Mitcham after signalling his intention to quit the Terrors last week.

The former Tooting skipper looks set to follow the management duo of Billy Smith and George Wakeling out of the exit door after the club announced plans to slash funding for next season.

And defender Vines feels he was given no choice but to leave.

He said: “It is a real shame as I was happy at Tooting and it is a fantastic club.

“But I am 29 and I am still ambitious and I do not think Tooting is the place for me any more.

“To be honest I could not go through another season like the one we just had.

“We had some really good players and real potential but when the time came to bring in a few new faces to get us over the line we were not able to do it.

“I understand football is a business and you have to keep a tight ship but there has to be a balance.

“It is great putting money into an academy but if the first team are not performing the club will not move forward.

“Unless you have a winning team you will not get people going to watch and you will not get sponsors.

“I still want to win things and unfortunately I cannot see that happening at Tooting.”

Vines is not likely to be the only departee, with brother Paul attracting interest and defender Mitchell Nelson on trial with Reading.

The former captain added: “I have had a few clubs contact me and I know Paul’s phone has been ringing a lot.

“It is still very early and I have not made any sort of decision, but I will probably end up a bit closer to my home in Sidcup.

“I would like to say a big thank you to all the Tooting fans for all the support they gave me and I hope to catch up with them again in the future.”