ACCRINGTON Stanley fans have called for the board to quit after the club was minutes from extinction.

Stanley fans, who have raised £100,000 as part of the ‘Save our Stanley’ campaign, protested outside the club demanding the resignations of owner Dave O’Neill and chief executive Rob Heys, who had both stated that the debt would be paid in full as late as last Saturday.

They were furious after learning the club, who were in the High Court on Wednesday facing a winding up order, has only paid off £96,000 of its £308,000 debts and businessman Ilyas Khan had to step in to pay the shortfall to stop the club being wound up for the second time in its history.

Stanley fan Rob Russell said: "The board of directors are a waste of space. Ilyas was there at the eleventh hour and now the only way forward is mass resignations."

Khan claimed there was no Plan B.

"We were minutes away from a repeat of 1962 and I just felt so angry. A winding up order was not an option for me. I love the club and I am willing to pay the shortfall unconditionally. I did this because of the club and not the people there. It means so much to me and to the fans - they have been superb," he said.

Owner O’Neill, who took over the club in July, was unavailable for comment while Heys said: " Of course fans have got a right to be angry, and some are obviously showing that. There is a lot of work to do before any kind of relationship starts to be restored between the club and the supporters."