Clubs welcome surprise resignation of Football League's top two executives

The chief executive and the chairman of the Football League resigned yesterday. They were accused of being incapable of "running a kebab shop" after the collapse of the league's television rights deal.

David Burns, the chief executive, had been expected to go but there was shock when Keith Harris, the chairman, also left his post at the end of a meeting of the League's board at a London hotel.

Pressure on the management had increased after the defeat last week of its attempt in the High Court to sue the former owners of ITV Digital for £130m owed on its contract to screen matches.

Before yesterday's meeting, Mr Harris had suggested not only that he would carry on as chairman, but take on the chief executive role too.

He later blamed his resignation on the "petulant, irrational and ill-considered outbursts of a vociferous minority" of club chairmen.

The resignations appeared to leave the league in confusion but angry voices among the clubs welcomed the news.

Simon Jordan, chairman of Crystal Palace, said: "This is overdue. People say we are now rudderless but we were rudderless before, in fact it was probably worse than that. We were paddling upstream."

The League had been forced to sell the rights to televise its games to BSkyB for a knock-down price at the beginning of July, after ITV Digital, owned by Carlton and Granada, reneged on a £315m rights deal. ITV Digital was put into administration earlier this year but the League insisted on taking Carlton and Granada to court, claiming the parent companies had guaranteed the deal. The High Court sided with the TV companies. The cash shortfall has left many clubs facing bankruptcy. The Millwall chairman, Theo Paphitis, later said the two men couldn't run a kebab shop.

Mr Harris arrived for the meeting having already spoken about a possible expansion of his role in a radio interview.

He said later that once the meeting started he realised there would be a big time commitment required to see through the necessary reforms in the League's structure. This would harm his main job, chairing Seymour Pierce, a firm of stockbrokers.

Mr Harris said: "I don't mind taking responsibility for the court case. David and I got it wrong there. But with the Sky deal, we had no other choice. It is a terrific deal for football."

Mr Burns said: "The petty backbiting and division into factions demean both the clubs involved and the game in general ... I hope my departure will help the League make a fresh start at this crucial time in its history and that it will be a catalyst for a new spirit of co-operation, which is so badly needed at present."