FOR decades Sunday league football has been thriving - but there are now signs of it crumb- ling.

Teams are suffering a dramatic exodus as growing numbers of players opt out of the on-pitch action and decide to tune in rather than turn out.

Leagues are vanishing, up to half of all clubs in some areas are folding, and almost a million men nationwide have given up the game since 1997.

More than 2,000 stalwarts each week are seeking gentler pastimes.

And Sunday League football in Oxfordshire is no stranger to this trend.

The Morrells of Oxford Sunday Football League (MOSFL) has gone from having eight divisions in its heyday, to just four divisions this season.

And three of the 46 teams which started in the league this year have withdrawn mid-season due to lack of players.

AFC Rileys, AFC Vikings and Bellyings have ducked out of the Premier Division, Division 1 and Division 3 respectively.

Geoff Bower, press liaison officer of the MOSFL, has been involved with the league for more than 30 years and has witnessed the decline of the game firsthand.

"Six years ago we had twice the number of teams in the league than we do now," says Bower. "We had as many as 84 teams at one point, but we're down to four divisions now."

Bower blames the demise on a number of factors, most notably the lack of commitment from players who often fail to show on a Sunday morning because they've had too many beers the night before."

"There is definitely a problem with commitment," says Bower. "This comes from both the players, who can't be bothered to turn up, and also the lack of people prepared to volunteer to help run and manage the sides.

"The sides that have succeeded are the ones run by people committed to their team."

Bower also points to the appeal of other pastimes and hobbies as distractions from Sunday league.

"There is so much more for people to do nowadays, and people just want to do things, but not get too involved," he says.

"They don't want to have to organise anything, they just want things done for them. They just think they can come along for a game or two, but by not committing on a regular basis they are affecting the league."

The Autotype Upper Thames Valley League has also shrunk to four divis- ions.

League spokesman Tim Siret said: "There has definitely been a noticeable change and I have seen a downward trend developing.

"I think there's been a change in culture and attitude. Sunday league used to be a real social thing, but these days it's not quite the same. It continues to slim down and I would hope it won't be phased out over the years.

"Things are different to 20 years ago. I used to play and manage a Sunday league team and everyone knew each other and socialised together. We never used to lose players the way we do now. It seems it's slowly slipping away.

The Football Association admit that 100,000 men - 20 per cent of the country's registered players - stopped playing Sunday league football during last season.

Officials have blamed decrepit changing rooms, the trend towards weekend working, saturation coverage of games on TV and the rise in the number of separated parents who are busy with visits to their children.