Gloucester City AFC has sacked its chairman Patrick Chambers.

Mr Chambers and his wife, Operations Director Nicky Chambers, were asked to leave their roles at the club yesterday.

Mr Chambers confirmed to Punchline-Gloucester.com: "one of the existing owners asked us to step aside yesterday and we have now left - we have no further comment. The only thing I'm prepared to say is that we wish the club the very best for the future."

The Chambers' exit comes amid a difficult 2023-4 season for the Vanarama National League North squad. Eighteen games into their season, the Tigers sit at the bottom of the table with just two wins so far, while a 2-0 defeat in their latest clash against Brackley on Tuesday evening leaves the task of an 11-point climb to escape relegation.

Mr Chambers took over the rains in June this year, and key events during his tenure included an uptick in sales at the bar and per visitor and the launch of a new monster burger. He also hired ex-England goalkeeper Tim Flowers as manager, only to have to drop him a few games in. At the time, Mr Chambers spoke on Punchline Talks!  about his vision for the club and told viewers he was "excited" to have taken over the reins at the end of the 2022/23 season after stepping down as chairman at Hungerford Town FC.

When he took on the chairmanship Mr Chambers said: "We have visited you on several occasions and the opportunity to grow the club, both on and off the pitch was just too tempting to turn down. The facilities are second to none and with some hard work and sound strategic decisions we can make this club huge."

In the wake of the Chambers' exit, manager Mike Cook, who replaced Tim Flowers in September, has stated that Gloucester AFC is now trying to "move forward" - but speculation among fans online reflects the uncertainty over the route ahead.

Before the Chambers arrived, the club went up for sale after co-chairman Eamonn McGurk, who has been involved with the club since 1995 and who played a key role in its return to the city after the 2007 floods, and Alex Petheram stepped back to become major shareholders. Mr Chambers' chair now becomes vacant for the third time in 15 months.

Writing on the Open City Forum, Darren said: "The fan base is split but it was the minority who wanted them to leave," while Tim Webb added, "Very rare for the chairman to take the brunt of it, but then it's very rare for the chairman of a club to sign most of the players. Would be very interesting to hear from TF [Tim Flowers] now. Definitely the wrong appointment but wouldn't surprise me if he was the only applicant prepared to go with Patrick's strategy of signing players in the GL postcode, which seems to have been encouraged by those who had his ear - signings like Felix Miles. TF then ended up as the fall guy when Patrick's Football Manager hobby proved disastrous."