GRAYS Athletic chairman Mike Woodward has appealed for fans and people of the town to get behind the club in big numbers during difficult times.

The New Rec side, without a match at the weekend, announced that defender Jon Ashton was the latest departure as headed for fellow Blue Square side Stevenage.

“The club, in the coming months finds itself in the most difficult position it has been in for many years having had to release players due to financial constraints,” said Woodward.

“And now, with manager Wayne Burnett leaving, supporters are disillusioned as to why these continuous changes are happening.

“The club wish to reiterate that it is not preparing for demotion to the Conference South and believes that, with the present squad plus the additions that have been made this week, it is securing the future of the club within financial levels it can continue to afford.

“The manager over the past months has made the decisions regarding players that were brought in and those that were let go or placed on the transfer list, but the one constant that remained was those players that were contracted to the club.

“It has now been decided and believed that the contracted players should play a pivotal roll in the club’s survival, having not become bad players overnight.

“Therefore, until the end of the season, Gary Phillips will take control of team matters and will be assisted by two senior players, Jamie Stuart and Stuart Elliot — each of whom have the support of the chairman and the remainder of the squad.

“The chairman, CEO and staff have been working tirelessly behind the scenes to make the future of Grays Athletic more attractive to all supporters.

“But, as everyone will realise, it is difficult during these times and will take longer than initially anticipated because of delays out of our control and those which are in our control have had to be made to stabilise the club for the future.

“One concern to the club is that of the New Recreation Ground and its tenure in terms of continuing to play there for at least one more season, then relying on the local authority to secure land, gaining planning permissions in order to move onto a new stadium.

“The support over the last months by the loyal fans goes unquestioned, but the club now urges all people of Grays to come and support us in an effort to prove to the local authority that the club is alive and kicking.”