LEE Harding says he is prepared to step down as chairman of Braintree Town if it helps the club to move forward from the setback of being relegated from the Vanarama National League.

Harding said the Iron’s board are examining things that they feel need to be changed in order for them to learn lessons from the experience of the 2016/17 season that ended with them bowing out of the top flight of English non-league football after six years at that level.

He admitted that the drop would be financially damaging to Braintree and one of the changes that Harding said may take place was with his own position at the head of the club.

He said he doesn’t want to step down as chairman and even if he does finish in the role, he would continue to be involved as a director on the club’s board.

However, he felt it was right that he allowed his fellow board members to decide whether he was the best person for the chairman’s job.

He said: “I’m already looking to next season with things like where we can get extra income from to give us a competitive budget so we can try to turn it around.

“The concern for me is that we get it right and we don’t face what happened to Altrincham, who went down last year and straight through the league below and will be in the Northern Premier next year.

“We have a lot of work to do to turn it around and everyone at the club needs to take responsibility.

“That includes us on the board and we have to take a long hard look at ourselves.

“There is a board meeting in June when we will be looking to plan for next season, but I will be offering to step down as chairman.

“There has to be a measure of accountability and all I’m trying to do is to be honest.

“So it’s my intention to offer to step down as there needs to be a look at what we have done, at how we do things and if it is the view of my colleagues whether it is better to change the leadership or not.

“I’ve been chairman for 15 years and I’m up for the fight as I want to turn our future around, but it is healthy to say ‘let’s look at the very top and see if changes need to be made’.

“We have made mistakes and we must learn from them, so maybe it will that there should be a change.

“But I’m not going to stand down as a director.

“I will not run away if they decide someone else fancies leading from the front.”

At another meeting in June - the National League AGM - the club will find out which league it is going to be playing in next year and Harding said it may be a close call on whether the Iron are placed in the North or South division. He added: “There are a lot of issues going on with the FA and National League looking at the status of various clubs.

“My view is that it is in the balance whether it is north or south, but I’m hopeful that we will be a southern-based club and it would seem incredible if we were placed in the north.”