Andy Scott has spoken out about his decision to step down as Macclesfield Town vice-chairman.
Steve King was this week appointed the new Town boss and differing opinions between board members and the owners over the appointment have contributed to Mr Scott tendering his resignation.
He favoured bringing Steve Burr back to the club he graced with distinction as a player.
Mr Scott will, in the near future, be followed out of Moss Rose by chairman Mike Rance and directors Barrie Darcey and Jeremy Turner.
The vice chairman freely admits it wasn’t his decision to recruit King as he was in favour of the fans’ near-unanimous backing for Burr, or Moss Rose legend John Askey.
It was an appointment made by the club’s owners Amar and Bashar Alkadhi.
But his resignation, prompted in part by a matter of principle, doesn’t mean there’s been an irreparable rift in relations between the Macc board and the owners, merely vastly opposing views.
"They are both good people who have the club at heart, they genuinely want to bring success to Macclesfield," he said of the Iraqi brothers, whose investment in 2003 saved the Silkmen from the threat of extinction and who own around 80 per cent of the club.
"Their commitment has never been in doubt and, while I’ve disagreed with the appointment, Amar just felt that the club needed a completely fresh start.
"Time will tell if it turns out to be the right decision.
"Myself and Mike (Rance) have always run a steady ship, we’ve been frugal and handled the club properly, Amar and Bashar could leave it alone, knowing it was in safe hands.
"We’ve had to work hard to keep us on a firm and level footing and we’re proud that we achieved that.
"I have always been happy to donate my time and effort to the club, because I do love Macc, but we do need to be involved in the decisions such as this that are so important.
"I admit I didn’t agree with Amar that Brian Horton was the right man to bring in as manager when we sacked Gary (Simpson), but there was no negotiating on that decision, and as in any successful business we should be involved in the important decisions."
Mr Scott continued: "I talked to Steve (Burr) a while ago, as I often do, we’ve always been in regular contact.
"He remains enthusiastic about Macclesfield Town and I talked to him about the chance of him taking up the challenge.
"He would definitely have brought the ‘feel-good factor’ back to Macc and we felt he would have been the best option to give us a realistic chance of getting back into the Football League.
"His record in managing in the Conference is excellent and for me he would have been the ideal choice."
While his resignation is partly on principle with regard to the managerial decision, Mr Scott said business interests also played a part in his decision to step down.
These means he will no longer be involved in the day-to-day running of the club although he will still have a role to play in attracting potential business partners and sponsors – and, of course, as a Macc fan.
"I would hate it if people thought I was simply jumping ship," he continued. "Because it breaks my heart to leave.
"Yes, I am starting a new business and I need to donate a hell of a lot of time to that. There are lots of issues that I need to attend to on a daily basis.
"But even though I’m stepping down as vice-chairman I’ll still be keeping in regular contact behind the scenes and continuing my working relationship with commercial partners I’ve previously brought to the club."
With the ink now dried on King’s two-year contract, Mr Scott – desperate for the Silkmen to win promotion and start a new chapter back in the Football League – says he hopes that the Alkadhis’ judgement proves the right move for Macc.
"Nothing would give me greater pleasure than to be sat in my seat in the stands in October and we’re top of the table, or top five and in good shape for the play-offs at least," he maintained. "I have nothing against Steve King, I just feel there were better candidates for the job.
"But Amar was adamant that Steve plays attractive, attacking football with two wingers.
"Mike and I went through each and every CV we received and narrowed it down to a shortlist – and Steve was on that.
"We decided who we wanted to bring in and Mike actually said to me ‘I feel excited and re-energised about the potential of some of these candidates.’ Together we had a plan for getting back into League Two which we were going to work towards.
"I know fans don’t want to hear this but Macclesfield has to be a selling club.
"We had a great cup run that netted us a lot of money last season but without cup runs or the sale of some of our top players we run at a substantial loss every season."
And with supporters’ interests in mind, Mr Scott paid tribute to the die-hard fans and hopes that the new era won’t prompt them to vote against the King regime with their feet.
"I am backing Steve King, I sincerely hope he brings success to the club," he insisted. "But even before we were in a relegation battle, which I admit we never envisaged before the turn of the year, we had a solid fanbase backing the team to the hilt.
"We’ve worked hard to get people, especially the kids, through the turnstiles. Our commercial side of things was strong and that softens the blow financially. We’ve always had the interests of the community at the heart of our football club.
"I feel like we’ve missed the opportunity to restore a lot of positivity to the club I’d hate for us to lose that."
* Mike Rance and Amar and Bashar Alkadhi were unavailable for comment as the Express went to press.
