Blackpool chairman stands down

Karl Oyston has resigned as chairman and as a director at Blackpool with immediate effect.

The newly-promoted Barclays Premier League club announced this afternoon the 43-year-old had stepped down but will remain as acting chief executive until the end of the season or new appointment is made.

During this time Oyston will continue to work with manager Ian Holloway on the recruitment of players and on the Bloomfield Road stadium redevelopment project.

The bombshell comes just hours after the club announced their seventh signing of the summer transfer window in Israeli defender Dekel Keinan.

A statement from the Tangerines added: "The club would like to emphasise that there will be no interruption in the recruitment of players or the work required on the stadium."

The news takes the gloss of Blackpool's dramatic entrance to the top flight as they thrashed Wigan 4-0 at the DW Stadium on Saturday.

The club, however, have had a difficult time since winning promotion via the Championship play-offs since last May.

They were forced to switch the venue of their opening game from Bloomfield Road to Wigan because work to their ground was not finished.

Blackpool are hastily trying to build a new east stand to take the capacity of the ground up to 16,900. Without it, they will be able to accommodate only around 12,000 and they have had nearly that many season-ticket applications since promotion.

Holloway has also endured a frustrating time in the transfer market due to a strict wage ceiling imposed by Oyston.

Only in the past week has Holloway been able to add to his threadbare squad with the arrivals of Craig Cathcart, Marlon Harewood, Elliot Grandin, Malaury Martin, Ludovic Sylvestre, Chris Basham and now Keinan.

The reasons for Oyston's sudden departure are not clear but he had spoken recently of his disillusionment with the business side of top-flight life, such as dealing with agents.

The club has also been hampered with stories of unrest throughout the summer with reports of bonuses not being paid and that Holloway could quit.