New Coventry chairman Mike McGinnity tonight insisted that the club's board had acted within it's rights in removing Bryan Richardson as chairman and chief executive. Richardson was ousted by a unanimous vote of no confidence in him at this morning's board meeting.
McGinnity, the club's deputy chairman for the last eight years, agreed to become chairman at the request of the board. Richardson, chairman at Highfield Road since 1993, said defiantly that he had not resigned from either post and was considering his future.
"I must make it clear I did not resign from the club either as chairman or chief executive," said Richardson. "If the board chose to remove me from the position of chairman or chief executive that is something they have to notify me about."
But McGinnity was adamant that the Sky Blues' board had every right to remove Richardson from both his posts. "It is within the articles of our club that if a situation arises where there is a unanimous loss of faith we (the board) have the right to remove him (Richardson)," he told BBC Radio 5 Live.
Asked why Richardson had been removed, McGinnity said: "He's gone because he has lost the board's confidence. You've only got to look at our balance sheet and the demonstrations against him in recent weeks. We felt that if we carried on as we were we would end up in serious financial trouble."
Filed by Sinéad Kissane
