CHESTER FC has announced director Bill Smith has resigned from the board with immediate effect.
City Fans United (CFU), the supporters group who own the Exacta Stadium outfit, accepted the resignation of Mr Smith on Friday, two days after he had described the attendance for the clubs Cheshire Senior Cup victory over Tranmere Rovers as ‘disgusting’.
Smith contacted the Leader to express his disappointment at the quarter-final tie attendance of 820, going on to state the club needed attendances of at least 3,000 to be able to survive in the Blue Square Premier.
A CFU statement on Friday read: “City Fans United board of directors have this evening received and accepted the resignation of CFU and Chester FC board member Bill Smith, and will step down with immediate effect.
“The board would like to thank Bill for efforts during his time as a director, after being elected to the board in 2011.”
Smith, who runs Bill Smith Motors on Tarvin Road, angered Blues fans after stating that he was “pretty hacked off” that attendances for the club’s Blue Square North campaign were down on last season.
The comments forced Blues officials into releasing a statement on Thursday, rejecting Smith’s claims that the club would be unable to cope in the Blue Square Premier without attendances of 3,000 plus.
The club statement read: “The Chester FC board of directors would like to thank all fans for their continued excellent support this season.
“This was epitomised by a strong turnout for the Cheshire Cup competition earlier in the week, surpassing estimations of the vast majority of the board.
“We would like to clarify that the club does not require gates of 3,000 to survive in the Conference, as recently reported.”
The club’s next home games are the Cheshire Senior Cup semi-final against Witton Albion on Wednesday and the league match with Gloucester City on Saturday, March 16.