I share your pain and I'm not resigning, Bristol Rovers' chairman tells fans after club is relegated

Nick Higgs, the chairman of relegated Bristol Rovers, today told fans he felt their pain and paid tribute to them for their "fantastic" support all season.

He admitted that mistakes had been made during the year and that plans were in place to "make sure that such problems do not occur next season".

He insisted he would not be standing down as chairman: "I am a fan of this club and I will do everything I can to stop the rot and get the club moving back in the right direction."

Higgs told fans: "I am absolutely devastated and share the pain and disappointment that you are all feeling after yesterday's relegation.

"After a hugely disappointing season, we came close to avoiding the drop in the last three games and I am least pleased that went down fighting in the end.

"I would like to pay trinute to all our supporters who have been fantastic all season. You got behind the team and did not deserve to see the club we all love relegated.

"It is obvious that the season was not lost in the last month. Mistakes were made in the early part of the season and the rot had already begun to sink in before Christmas.

"We made a number of appointments to try and change things but unfortunately those decisions did not work out for the best of the club.

"We made a final throw of the dice by appointing Stuart Campbell as manager and I would like to thank him for all his efforts. He should be commended for galvanising the players and getting everyone at the club moving in the right diretion."

Higgs said an announcement would be made in the next couple of weeks about the appointment of a new manager and the list of players that the club would be retaining.

"There will have to be major changes as some of the recruitment over the last two years has not met the necessary standards," he said.

"We know we have to act quikcly to get things moving to make sure we are ready to hit the ground running in League Two next season."

He said it would take a lot of hard work: "But I think if we can stick together as a club we can turn things around and start to achieve the potential we all know this club has."