The Board of Trust In Yellow acknowledge the statement released by Charlie Clapham MBE on Southportfc.net and would like to put on record our appreciation and thanks for the many years of hard work and financial commitment that he has given to Southport FC since the early 1980s.

The same applies to the other departing Directors particularly Sam Shrouder who has been a loyal and supportive Vice-Chairman to Mr Clapham and has himself shown great commitment to the club over many years. Haydn Preece has shown great enthusiasm and has worked extremely hard to create some very positive community and business links over a number of years for the Club and Dave Barron, in his short time as a Director has introduced some excellent initiatives that have been very valuable to the Club.

The Board wish all departing Directors and their families well in the future and it is our hope that the service of Charlie Clapham MBE should be honoured in a major way by the club and his experience in football should continue to be used in his in his role with the Vanarama National League and on the FA Council.

The Trust never wished for the discussions on the club’s future to include any personal abuse and have been meticulous in trying to ensure that our official statements and discussions at the open meeting have been conducted in a way that respected individuals. We are sorry if any of the directors felt that a section of the supporters went too far which is something we would never condone.

As discussed in the statement the Trust Board will look to work with and support the Club Board over the coming weeks to find an outcome that will ensure the security and sustainability of the football club. Alongside this statement is a copy of the open letter the Trust Board wrote to the club before hearing of Mr Clapham’s resignation.

The Trust Board will meet over the next few days and issue a further statement next week.