WEYMOUTH FC sent its long-suffering fans on another rollercoaster of emotions yesterday with boss Martyn Rogers resigning for “personal reasons”, only to change his mind just hours later.

Echosport heard about the Bristolian’s pending exit late on Sunday night and it was confirmed yesterday morning when the 56-year-old explained the reasons behind his decision.

Speaking at around 9am, Rogers said: “I have resigned for personal reasons and I would rather not say any more.

Football is football and sometimes people change. It is the same in all walks of life and I won’t be the first or the last.

“It is very unfortunate but that is just the way it is.”

Assistant-manager Brendon King then expressed his sadness at Rogers’ departure just minutes later.

He added: “Martyn is a decent bloke and a very experienced football man. He has hundreds of contacts in the game and has brought in some good players, so it is a real shame for everyone involved that he is leaving.

“As of yet, I have not spoken to anyone from the club about what is going to happen next, so we will just have to wait and see.”

Associate director Nigel Biddlecombe, who was a huge driving force in bringing the ex-Tiverton Town boss to the Bob Lucas Stadium, was the next to be contacted around 10am.

He said: “I am absolutely devastated. I had a conversation with Martyn on Saturday after the defeat at Chippenham Town and I knew he was bitterly disappointed, not only with the result but also with several other issues. However, I did not see this coming.

“He then rang me as a friend on Sunday to let me know what he was thinking before going the full route of resigning.

“I remain hopeful that he will change his mind but he needs to sit down with George Rolls and explain his reasons.

“George is still the majority shareholder of Weymouth FC and he is still in the position to make decisions. Hopefully, they will talk and find some middle ground, which will keep Martyn at the football club.”

While speaking to Biddlecombe, Terras’ striker Jamie Mudge returned a call made by Echosport last week at 10.08am, knowing nothing of Rogers’ decision.

When asked to comment, Mudge said: “It’s a shame and I am quite shocked. I was with him for six years at Tivvy and he was always as good as gold with me.

“Now he has gone, I don’t really know what to say or do, and I am sure a few others might go as well.

“There seems to be a lot of problems off the pitch. I do not know George Rolls but I know I have not been paid since being at the club.

“It is quite a long way to travel for me and you start to wonder if playing for free is worth it.

“I have always been looked after wherever I have gone but it seems a few of the players haven’t been paid either. Whether I stay or not I don’t know.”

After attempting to contact Rolls, Weymouth Supporters Association chairman Ade MacDonald was the next port of call at 12.11pm.

He said: “We are desperately concerned about the overall state of things.

“It would appear we have no chairman, no visible board and now no manager, which is unbelievable. And although associate directors Nigel Biddlecombe and Mark Coleman have been doing all they can in the circumstances, we need answers on how the club is going to get through to the end of the season.”

Around half an hour later, Rolls then got in contact claiming to be completely unaware of what was going on. He is then understood to have phoned Rogers before eventually calling back around 12.40pm.

He said: “I am no longer on the board so perhaps Martyn did not feel the need to contact me but after having spoken to him, I am hopeful he will stay on.

“At the end of the day, my family are still the club’s majority shareholder and we want what is best for Wey-mouth FC.

“Rightly so, Martyn has been a little concerned about money and whether the lads were going to get paid.

“It is well documented that due to people having not paid their bills, the club has got a small cash-flow problem at the moment and because of that, it has got a bit behind in paying the wages.

“However, it is not a lot of money and if the club wants to borrow it off me, I will loan it to them and everyone will be paid.

“I have given Martyn my word on that and also told him that he would be crazy to leave and that I would like him to stay. The rest is now up to him.”

Eventually the whole debacle was resolved at 1.21pm when Rogers turned full circle and admitted he had indeed withdrawn his resignation.

He said: “I have had the players ringing me up saying they are disappointed that I am going, and George Rolls has been trying to rectify one or two of the things that have been on my mind.

“We had a problem when George reorganised the way the players were getting paid and the reason why I did not want that to get out is because that should be something that is sorted in-house.

“To be fair to George, he has bent over backwards to do that and now I am a lot happier than I was at the weekend.

“The players have said they want me to stay until the end of the season so I have given it some thought and decided to see the job through I have started here.

“I do not want to leave the players in the lurch and although I did not want to go down this route, it is something that had to be resolved.

“Now it has, hopefully we can all pull in the same direction together.

“We have all made mistakes but that should now put the problem to bed, allowing us to fully focus on trying to stay up.”

It is understood that all the players owed money were due to be paid by the close of play yesterday.

A DECADE OF MANAGERS

Oct 1999-May 2002: Andy Mason

May 2002-May 2003: Geoff Butler

June 2003-Oct 2004: Steve Claridge

Nov 2004-Mar 2005: Steve Johnson

Mar 2005-Jan 2007: Garry Hill

Jan 2007-Jan 2008: Jason Tindall

Jan 2008-Dec 2008: John Hollins

Dec 2008-Apr 2009: Alan Lewer

Apr 2009-Apr 2009: Bobby Gould

May 2009-Oct 2009: Matty Hale

Oct 2009-Jan 2010: Ian Hutchinson

Jan 2010-Mar 2010: Jerry Gill

Mar 2010-Apr 2010: Andy Harris (caretaker)

May 2010-Jan 2011: Ian Hutchinson

Jan 2011-: Martyn Rogers

MARTYN ROGERS' TIMELINE WITH TERRAS

Jan 15 – Rogers is installed as the Terras’ new boss, three days after the sacking of Ian Hutchinson.

Jan 18 – Caretaker-boss Brendon King takes charge of the team as Weymouth win 1-0 at Hemel Hempstead Town. Rogers joins him in the dugout.

Jan 21 – King is installed as Rogers’ assistant.

Jan 21 – Rogers finds out that keeper Tom Manley cannot play for the next 10 Saturdays and responds by signing Crawley Town keeper Nick Jordan on loan. He also drafts in his nephew Scott Rogers from Newport County.

Jan 22 – Jamie Hatch becomes Rogers’ third signing.

Jan 24 – Weymouth’s game at Swindon Supermarine is postponed at the last minute to Rogers’ frustration. He told Echosport: “It does make you wonder. I know they had a couple of injuries and with us having won in the week, perhaps it was easier for them for the game to be called off.

Jan 28 – Charlie Clough signs on loan from Bristol Rovers and Nick Jacobs joins from Sherborne Town.

Jan 29 – Clough scores on his debut as the Terras win 3-0 at home against Halesowen in Rogers’ first official game in charge.

Jan 29 – Chairman George Rolls signs a non-profit agreement, which was drawn up by the Weymouth FC Supporters Association.

Jan 31 – The Terras’ clash at Brackley Town is postponed due to a frozen pitch.

Feb 2 – Windsor & Eton fold after receiving a winding-up order, cutting the Terras’ deficit to safety from eight points to just three.

Feb 3 – Rolls puts his future in the hands of the club’s fans by calling a general meeting for February 24 where a confidence vote will be held. The news comes after a row over the changes made to the non-profit document before he signed it.

Feb 5 – Weymouth lose 5-0 at Oxford City with Rogers left bemoaning an administration error that ruled Jordan out of the game.

Feb 9 – Hatch leaves the club to take up an opportunity in Australia.

Feb 11 – Stephen Reed returns for third spell at the club but Rogers fails in his attempts to acquire Andrew Hughes from Newport County. Bradley Magookin and Matt Oldring have their contracts terminated by mutual consent.

Feb 12 – The Terras move out of the relegation zone for the first time this season after claiming a shock 2-0 home victory over high-flying Salisbury City.

Feb 14 – Rolls warns he will walk away from the Terras if the hate campaign from a certain section of fans continues. He also claims that a controversial groundshare with Dorchester Town is being considered in the club’s short-term plans.

Feb 18 – Rolls agrees to meet with key figures at the club to talk about a way forward but insists they will have to drop their “unrealistic demands” after there are further calls for him to put a proportion of his majority shareholding into an independent trust.

Feb 19 – The Terras’ trip to Bedford Town is called off.

Feb 21 – Weyline owner Ian Ferguson, left, expresses an interest in taking over the club.

Feb 23 – Rolls warns fans that they need to turn out in force if they want the current squad to stay together. He also postpones the controversial confidence vote.

Feb 24 – In a meeting with WFCSA board members and other key officials, Rolls reveals he will not recall his loans if an investor comes forward with a sustainable takeover offer and agrees to pay off the CVA. He also admits to having held further talks with Dorchester chairman Shaun Hearn over a possible groundshare.

Feb 24 – Jamie Mudge signs for the club and comes on as a substitute alongside Simon Revell in a disappointing 2-1 defeat against Didcot Town. That was to prove Revell’s only appearance and Rogers was left fuming about the result afterwards, claiming “we were all over the place at times and it was ridiculous”.

Feb 26 – Rogers bemoans the club’s policy of playing Thursday night home games after seeing his jaded side held to a 2-2 draw by Hemel Hempstead Town, which also marked the end of Clough’s loan stay and Ed Palmer’s debut.

Feb 28 – Rolls steps down as chairman and Richard Groves leaves the club and joins Bideford. Dorchester also express an interest in Jamie Beasley.

Mar 4 – Vice-chairman Pranas Preidzius describes Weymouth FC as a “headache” and admits the board is “possibly” ready to sell. Sam Charles also goes out on loan to Bridport with Rogers claiming nothing has changed on the playing side since Rolls’ exit.

Mar 5 – The Terras fall to a 3-0 defeat at Banbury United with King describing his side’s defending as “naïve”.

Mar 7 – Preidzius is given the position of acting chairman and sends out a Save Our Season plea to the club’s fans in a bid to get a big home gate for the game against Stourbridge.

Mar 8 – Rogers’ hopes of signing Beasley on a contract are held up by a dispute over finances.

Mar 11 – Scott Rogers returns to Newport County while Lewis Tasker joins on non-contract terms.

Mar 12 – Weymouth get back to winning ways by beating the Glassboys 3-2 in front of a crowd of 497. Afterwards, Beasley signs a deal until the end of the season with the option of a further year.

Mar 15 – The Terras gain a precious point in the rearranged fixture at Brackley, which ends in a 1-1 draw, thanks to a fine performance from new keeper James Nortei, who comes in as a replacement for Jordan, following his return to Crawley.

Mar 16 – A source tells Echosport “there are ongoing developments taking place that will hopefully secure the long-term future of the club”.

Mar 17 – The club’s board issue a statement quashing rumours of an impending takeover.

Mar 19 – A last-gasp goal in the sixth minute of added time sees the Terras suffer a 1-0 loss at Chippenham Town where Lewis Clarke makes his debut. Rogers claims his side were mugged and also admits that little things are bugging him at the moment after his attempts to sign Mike Fowler ahead of the clash were quashed by a failure to secure international clearance in time.

Mar 21 – Rogers confirms his resignation (9am).

Mar 21 – Rogers changes his mind and carries on as manager (1.21pm).