BURY'S former chief executive Ian Kendall has resigned from his role as a director and will leave Gigg Lane at the end of the month, the club have confirmed.

Kendall initially took up the role as head of youth when he arrived shortly after Stewart Day completed his takeover of the club in 2013.

He went on to replace Glenn Thomas as chief executive for a short time before stepping down following the arrival of Karl Evans.

A statement from the club credited him with playing a key role in restructuring the Shakers, implementing new human resource and safeguarding policies as well as working on the administration to secure EPPP youth status for the Bury academy.

Kendall, who intends to take retirement, said: “I have enjoyed my time at Bury enormously and having been a football fan for many years I have been able to experience the game from the inside.

"It has been a real eye opener to be honest, and I find that the passion and commitment from everyone involved in the club, from the chairman down, is hard to put into words.

"The work the management teams put in behind the scenes is relentless; the Bury staff live and breathe football with the majority working seven days a week from early morning until the wee small hours and I feel I can look back with some pride on the past four years and wish the club all the best for the future."

Chairman Stewart Day added: “On behalf of Bury Football Club and the board, I would like to thank Ian for his support and effort over the past four years. Ian joined us on the first step into an unknown entity and has always endeavoured to do the best for the club.

"During his time, he has addressed many of the red tape issues we faced in securing the EPPP status and, despite him having his head down concentrating on administration matters, he always found time to follow the lads on the pitch and while Ian wasn’t involved in the youth recruitment, he was always there for them if needed.

"On a personal note, Ian is a good friend and I look forward to seeing him at Gigg Lane in-between his many planned trips."