BURY’S directors have launched a staunch defence of chairman Stewart Day following what they described as a negative campaign against him by “keyboard cowards”.

The board highlighted the problem caused by a “small core” of negative supporters in a club statement issued on Tuesday evening, timed to coincide with the one-year anniversary since Day took over.

In it, they recapped the amazing turnaround that has taken place both on and off the pitch and set out a vision for its future success.

But the statement added: “The fans are the key to this club and the majority of them have been so positive it has helped the club move along in so many ways.

“However, there is a small core that have taken it upon themselves to do as much negative output as they can.

“They think it is beneficial to dig for as much dirt as they can and then border on being slanderous towards the chairman in their comments.

“These are known as keyboard cowards in the industry and many of them are actually fans of other clubs that pretend to be our fans in order to create bad feelings.

“I know that every club has them and it’s a burden that must be endured, but at the same time it’s interesting to point out that at no time have any of them turned up at the club offering thousands of pounds from their own pocket, or offered to work for free to reduce costs or even offered new ideas to make the club financially more secure.”

The club announced on Tuesday that it had withdrawn its fans' message board, although this was due to the termination of the contract with its provider, rather than concerns over content.

The statement released by directors added that much of the concerns raised by these “negative fans” centred around the delay of the club’s annual shareholders meeting.

This was postponed earlier this year, but it was revealed in the statement that it will now be held in September, following the resolution of concerns over the historical issuing of shares.

“The AGM has, of yet, not taken place,” added the statement. “This is not malicious or intended to hide anything but is simply due to the board wanting to make sure that any issues within the club were bottomed out and put right before any such meeting.”

Shareholders have been promised a full update on the club’s accounts as well as the strategic plan for the next three years, which is expected to include details of plans to redevelop the stadium and build a new training complex within the town.

The directors’ statement confirmed that turnover had increased and plans were ongoing to further stabalise the club’s finances while maximising its earning potential, including the launch of an exciting new community training centre.

And it concluded that, after last week making former Bournemouth goalkeeper Shwan Jalal the club’s fifth summer signing, negotiations were ongoing to further improve the squad.

“We really do think that between the chairman and the gaffer (David Flitcroft) they have carefully planned and targeted key players to not only improve on the squad from last year but to also keep within an affordable budget,” the statement added.

“Too many people seem to think we are blowing monies on players when, in reality, we have cut the wages from previous years and improved the quality of the squad.

“We still have one or two individuals to meet but over all we are very excited about next season.”