CHAIRMAN Chris Pugsley has reiterated to Terras’ fans that the club is in safe hands and has made them a promise for sustainability in the future.

The accountant was elected the club’s new chairman succeeding Nigel Biddlecombe last weekend and will watch his first home game at the helm when the Terras take on Bideford in the FA Cup this afternoon (3pm).

Some fans have questioned the former Dorchester Town chairman’s appointment, but speaking exclusively to Echosport alongside vice-chairman Tony Greaves, Pugsley has moved to make sure the Weymouth supporters know his vision for the club, which he claims is financially sustainable.

He said: “I can promise you that Tony Greaves and Alan Pepperell (another director on the club’s board) would not let me put this club in any risk.

“If I did anything with the club to do that, and I let a player get signed that we couldn’t afford, you can put on record now that I would pay the club back. I wouldn’t let it sink because I had done something which was wrong.

“Anywhere I have ever been and in anything I have ever done, I won’t lie to anybody and I won’t keep anything from anybody.

“These guys asked me to take the chair for their own reasons, they know how I feel about the football club and they know what my intentions for the football club are, and they are exactly the same as their own, we are all pulling in the same way.

“We are within the budget to get into the next league and maintain that confidently, and that is the intention, we want to be in that next league up next year and remain financially sound.”

Greaves added: “I was here and welcomed Chris when he came on to the board as a director and I am more than happy to welcome him on as the new chairman.

“Chris is now at the helm and we want Nigel (Biddlecombe) to remain on the board, we have told him that and it’s as simple as that really.

“We have still got the same blokes involved and the same amount on the board, let’s just move on and carry on what we have been doing, and there is no reason why we can’t.”

The board are also keen to let all fans that flock to the Bob Lucas Stadium on matchdays to have their say.

“We want to get more interactive with the supporters and one of the first things we are going to do is put a fans’ forum out,” Pugsley added.

“If anyone wants to talk to me, I’m not going to lie to them, I am going to be straight up with them.”

Vice-chairman Greaves added: “Without the supporters we haven’t got a club, we put the team out on the pitch with our efforts and their efforts, and we all want to enjoy it.”

And with the Weymouth Supporters Association eager to secure a formal place on the club’s board as a director, Pugsley also gave his views on the matter.

He added: “That is something that I think will be happening in the future.

“At the moment we have to re-write the articles of association so we can get more directors on that we have at the moment, then we will be looking to take somebody from the Supporters Association on in some shape or form.

“We are going to re-write the articles so we can get up to 10 directors on the board.”