Medway Rugby club will be relegated from London 1 South after the RFU found them guilty of incorrectly registering a number of players.

The club will also be docked 25 points from the start of next season.

The Rugby Football Union disciplined the club on a number of offences, relating to their registration of overseas players as amateurs.

But the RFU found the club guilty of issuing the players with “material benefits” that included flights to and from the UK, free accommodation and expenses that weren’t properly recorded.

As such the players were unable to be classed as amateurs. The club has also used an agent not registered with the RFU – even though the company Inside Running were – which was also against the regulations.

Because the player registration forms were inaccurate and the agent not registered, they were rendered invalid from competitive action. Medway Rugby Club admitted they were guilty of “poor administration” and that they had been “naive.”

Club secretary Peter Rann accepted his failings in the matter, which was in relation to the players Fred Tila, Matthew Gardner, James Rutherford and Meto Mataapa.

Over the last two seasons, up to November 16 when the four players were suspended, they had featured in 46 league games and 12 cup games. The RFU stated that they “could reasonably have been deducted a total of not less than 140 points” for the offences.

Medway were promoted last season and sit fourth in London 1 South at present, with a total of 57 points already. Their efforts this season will count for nothing.

The club have also been disqualified from this season’s Kent Cup.

The RFU were alerted to the matter after Medway went to the game’s governing body after one of the players concerned was being targeted by a rival club.

In reaching its decision, the RFU said: “The panel had no hesitation in concluding that the scale and seriousness of the offending required the relegation of the club.”

In deducting points from next season, it added: “The scale of the club’s offending was such as to also require the imposition of an additional points deduction...appropriate to underscore the seriousness of the offending.”

All four players, New Zealanders Mataapa, Gardner and Rutherford, along with Australian Tila are free to resume playing after being sidelined for nine weeks during the disciplinary process.

Medway’s club secretary Mr Rann was described as “cavalier” by the disciplinary panel in his responsibilities regards player registrations and has been banned from any administration of the game until the start of the 2016-17 season.

Mr Rann, a volunteer at the club, issued a sincere apology for his actions and the panel made clear his integrity could not be called into question.

Medway have a right to appeal and head coach Taff Gwilliam said: “This matter is in the hands of our legal team and we will be seeking advice before deciding on our next course of action.”