THREATS of a vote of no confidence and a walk-out proved unfounded as the Oxfordshire FA emerged largely unscathed from last night's EGM at Rover Cowley Sports Club.

The OFA Council were prepared for a rough ride as they faced around 200 representatives from their member leagues and clubs.

But as it turned out the meeting - called following the sacking of OFA general secretary Ron Leaver in December - passed by with few fireworks.

Leaver, himself, seemed to have the support of a section of clubs when the meeting started, but as he pursued what seemed to be a personal vendetta against the OFA - and in particular the former chairman Ray Mills - this quickly waned.

Newly-elected chairman David Tutton explained to the meeting that Leaver had been sacked because of his "very disruptive attitude".

"It was a personal thing between himself and the ex-chairman," added Tutton. "We were not allowed to conduct the business as we would like and football has been left behind by this saga."

And he told the meeting: "I want to take us forward with a better future - and that is a future without you Mr Leaver."

However, both Mills, who was forced to resign as chairman when it came to light that as an Oxford City divisional representative he lived outside the 1927 county boundary, and Leaver both denied it was a clash of personalities.

Mills said: "I have never looked at it like that. I looked at it that as chairman I tried to carry out the dictat of the council. I never tried to get it on a personal level."

Leaver claimed that he didn't have an attitude problem, but had been championing the cause of the clubs in a plea for OFA grant aid.

"The OFA turned down requests for financial assistance," he said. "They are sat on £1/4m and they don't know what to do with it. Why not help football by giving the clubs some money?" Mills told Leaver: "The thing you should have done, and done a long time ago, was charge the OFA with wrongful dismissal. If you are so determined then why didn't you?"

Leaver replied: "Because I don't want to waste football money."

Meanwhile, the meeting passed without comment from Witney Town chairman Brian Constable, the leader of a 50-strong band of rebel clubs and leagues, who had led the campaign for change.

Tutton revealed that plans were already in place to elect one extra member from each division to bring the number of elected members on the Council up to 16.

The OFA will be in the spotlight again on July 5 when they hold their AGM at a venue to be arranged.

Story date: Tuesday 21 March

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