7:32am Tuesday 13th May 2008
By Simon Parker
Jim Brown today announced he is standing down as City's vice-chairman.
The 51-year-old, one of the key members of the steering committee that helped the club back from the financial brink in 2004, feels his position is no longer so relevant with two men at the Valley Parade controls.
"My role has changed in the last 12 months," he said, referring to the arrival of Mark Lawn alongside Julian Rhodes. "When you've two chairmen in charge, it's not that critical.
"We've got new ownership of the football club now and they have their own ideas. It's time to give the new brush a chance and I wish them well.
"I don't leave with any bad feelings and I'm very grateful for the support I've always been given by Julian.
"He deserves so much credit for his self-sacrifice and consistently going above and beyond the call of duty. The club was a mess four or five years ago but we are moving forward slowly and on solid foundations."
Brown, a former chairman at Halifax, was appointed to the City board by Rhodes in January 2005 - six months after that fateful day when the club's future hung by a thread.
He said: "I remember the administrator running round like a lunatic that morning and it didn't look good. He was getting a bit nervous wondering where we were heading.
"When you think about the masses of problems we had in all areas, it was an absolutely dreadful time.
"My biggest fear was not making it to the season. Two weeks before the first game we didn't have anything.
"We didn't have a team; we didn't have a safety certificate so couldn't have played any home games; we hadn't even sorted out a coach to travel away.
"I thought Colin Todd did a great job under difficult circumstances. I don't think people realised just how difficult they were.
"I know we've been disappointed with the results and where we are in the league but when you look at the resources available for teams like Peterborough and Darlington, there is never a level playing field.
"But at least we've got a football club. It's a real testimony to the hard work of so many people that we have got this far.
"If they had told me four years ago the position we'd be in now, then I would have taken it.
"That was such a bleak time that you couldn't look any further than a week on Friday.
"It's going to take some time to start getting back up but hopefully we will have learned lessons from before."
Rhodes said: "I would like to thank Jim for everything he has done. It's a tall order to ask somebody to do things for nothing and we've become very good friends over the years.
"Jim has taken flak at times, as we all do, but it is undeserved flak. In all my dealings with him, I've found Jim to be an honest and honourable gentleman to deal with."
Brown can now concentrate on running his property restoration business and he is also chairman of governors at Buttershaw Business and Enterprise College. But he will still be a regular watcher at Valley Parade.
"I've always been a hands-on individual and always believed in a team effort and people pulling together. There's a new team at the helm, they've put the money in and it's how they see it going forward from here.
"But I've always been a supporter of the club and that won't change. I will be there at home games, whether it's in a box or sitting in the stand."
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