Dorchester Football Club secretary David Martin is one of four long serving directors of the Southern League quitting the board after a row that has split the league.

Mr Martin and fellow directors Barry Hughes, David Nessling and Graham Davison say they are resigning because their position has been made untenable through the "intransigence" of Doug Gillard, chairman of the league's eight-man board of directors.

Today Mr Martin, who is also a director of Dorchester Town and has been an official of the Southern League for nine years, refused to add anything on the dispute to a statement circulated by the four to all member clubs.

It said: "After well over 40 years' continuous combined service our decision to resign has been a tough one to make.

"However as directors of a company we have responsibilities, thus when we considered a problem had arisen in connection with the affairs of the company we acted as responsible directors."

The row has been rumbling on since last summer when the quartet expressed concerns over certain affairs of the league, believed to centre on the efficiency of league secretary Dennis Strudwick.

In their statement they say Mr Gillard chose to ignore their initial approaches so "in frustration", they wrote a joint letter in January highlighting their concerns and asking for a meeting to discuss them.

"To our amazement he responded in writing asking for our resignations as soon as possible within the next seven days," says the statement.

"He did this without, it appears, even considering the issues we had raised. We wrote again re-iterating our desire for a meeting but again it was refused.

"The chairman then instructed the secretary to write a memo to all member clubs... which withdrew any management duties we undertook for the league which were

delegated to us by the full board.

"This action by the chairman was in clear breach of the Articles of Association of the Southern Football League Limited as was his re-allocation of our delegated duties."

The disaffected directors added: "These actions by the chairman have made our positions on the board untenable. The chairman has advised us that he no longer wants us as board members and that he is determined to dispense with our services."

They say they plan to tender their resignations "as soon as we are satisfied that certain conditions in connection with our resignations have been met".

League President Peter Faulkner has countered the criticisms with a statement emphasising, "in the strongest possible terms" that he, the other four directors and life members did not share the views of the resigning directors.

Mr Martin, a group accountant with Weymouth and Portland Borough Council, said the Magpies' league status next season would determine whether or not he sought another role in football administration.

n Weymouth will be at home to Worcester City next Tuesday in the Dr Martens Premier Division and not Grantham as stated in yesterday's Echo.