WORCESTER City chairman Anthony Hampson says the board of directors have been handed a ‘very thorough mandate’ to move the club forward.

Hampson was elected along with the existing regime’s 10 other representatives at an emotionally-charged annual general meeting at County Hall.

The Blue Square South club’s new board will be made up of Hampson, Dave Boddy, Laurie Brown, Jon Prescott, Tony Partridge, Jim Panter, Simon Williams, Alistair Hayward Wright, Keith Stokes-Smith, David Hallmark, Cliff Slade and Supporters Trust chairman Colin Layland.

Shareholders Action Group nominees Barry Ward, Derek Jones, Richard Bentley and Martin Pinches failed to get elected.

Hampson, who has only been in the hot-seat for a matter of weeks, now wants to unite shareholders and supporters alike as the club strives for a move to a new stadium at Nunnery Way.

He said: “I am very proud and pleased to have been elected to represent the club along with the other directors. We did have a very difficult meeting to start with but I think it ended very positively.

“It’s very good news for the project at Nunnery Way, the new stadium and hopefully we can also talk about football more, which is what we haven’t been doing in the past and what we need to do for the future.

“We need to build the team, we need to build the support for the club and we need to move to the new stadium and I think we have had a very thorough mandate to do that.”

He added: “Short-term, it gives us a chance to guarantee football in Worcester. We have a strong rugby side, a strong cricket team and I am convinced Worcester needs a strong football club as well and hopefully this will help to guarantee that future.

“Long-term, it’s the stadium. We need to get planning, we need to hope that the difficulties in the commercial property world aren’t going to put any doubt in that project so we need to work hard to support it and make sure it keeps moving forward.”

However, the result was not welcomed by all and some shareholders left claiming allegations of corruption and vote-rigging. SAG members Ward and Jones left before the extraordinary general meeting and declined to comment.

One long-standing fan, Steve Goode, was dismayed that Pinches, the club’s main shirt sponsor of four seasons, was rejected.

He said: “I cannot believe the vote went against him as he’s the major sponsor of Worcester City Football Club who gives the club £30,000-£40,000 a year.

“Evidently, the only reason he didn’t get on that board was the board voted against him. I want to see the club saved but my advice to him is get your money out of the club now, don’t bother, what’s the use?”

Hampson added: “You are bound to get people who aren’t happy, that’s how a democracy works.

“Frankly, I want to get them back on board, I want them to be constructive if they’ve got criticisms and if they’ve got constructive plans I’m very happy to go along and listen.

“What we really don’t need at the moment is unnecessary criticism because we are trying our best to get the club back on track.”