FORMER West Ham captain Stacey Little hit out at the club on Tuesday after walking out for being “treated disgustingly” by the board.

Little was suspended for a week for “having an opinion” and was joined by Emma Sherwood, Kerry Stimson, Lily Mellors, Kelly Blanchflower and Kayleigh Xidhas in leaving the East London side.

Little voiced her outrage in a series of tweets late on Tuesday, saying: “After being suspended this week for having an opinion as captain I have decided to leave @westhamladies after being left no choice & being treated disgustingly by the club. @Sherwood9Emma @kerrystimson_ @Lilymellors @K_Blanchflower and @KXidhas have joined me.

“Tonight I am absolutely devastated & heartbroken to be leaving the club I love & have done so much for. When they say blood, sweat & tears that’s exactly what I have given and so much more! I was the proudest captain & would have run through brick walls for my team.

“It was a very hard decision to make but there’s only so much you can take. I have been driven out of this club by two individuals for having a voice.”

However, the club dispute the claim that Little walked out and told BBC Sport that manager Marc Nurse deemed the six “surplus to requirements.”

Chairman Stephen Hunt said: “A meeting was called by the manager for Tuesday evening to announce his decision to release a number of senior players, including Stacey Little, whom he deemed surplus to requirements.”

It is believed that Little and Nurse fell out at a team meeting in which the ex-captain called for the manager to quit with the club sitting one place off the bottom in the Premier League South — one tier below the Women’s Super League Two.