Ilyas Khan has stepped down as chairman of Accrington Stanley - but he won't be disappearing from the Crown Ground altogether.
Khan, who saved the club in 2009 helping to pay off a £306,000 tax bill after the club had been served with a winding up order, made the shock announcement at tonight's AGM at the Crown Ground.
"When I put up the cash then I pledged to give my shares away once the club was financially secure," said Khan who owns between 5,000-6,000 of the 10,400 shares in the club.
"I repeated the pledge last year and now I am doing it tonight (Friday).
"We put some new shares up for sale last year and we have so far exceeded 2000 which is beyond our wildest expectations and this has given the club a degree of financial stability.
"I will give my shares away - I am not selling them - and those with current C shares in the club will benefit. For one C share they will get three of my shares.
"I will step down as chairman and Peter Marsden will be taking over and it's only right and proper that should happen. He has put together a consortium of investors and some of them will come on the board as directors.
"It means the board will be diverse and will be made up of fans as directors, investor directors and all kinds of directors.
"No one will own more than a few per cent of the shares and so no one will have overall control which will help the future of the club.
"The club at the moment has enough money not to worry for the foreseeable future but I am not going away completely. I may not have a role but I will always be around.
"It's a symbolic gesture. Nothing will change in my relationship with the club and I will always be here to help if needed."
