The new owners of St Albans City have confirmed their priority is to appoint a chairman to run the club.

Lawrence Levy and John McGowan took over the relegated Blue Square South club last week, for an undisclosed sum, which brought to an end the troubled nine-year reign of chairman John Gibson.

The pair are both based locally but their lack of experience in football means they have decided to bring in a chairman to run this aspect of the club.

Levy, who went to school in St Albans and is the managing director of an international recruitment and project services organisation, said: “We don’t know who the chairman will be yet because we’ve only just started. It is a priority for us because the sooner we can appoint someone then the better it will be for the football club.

“We have to see who we feel is right for the role and who wants the job. We are not qualifed to run the footballing side so we want to bring in a chairman who has the experience and contacts.”

The new owners also outlined it would not be their decision over the future of manager Steve Castle. Levy has yet to meet the manager but he insists the new chairman will have the final say on who is in charge of the team.

Levy added: “I have not met Steve Castle yet but we have spoken briefly. As far as I’m concerned he is the manager and the chairman’s first job will be to talk to him. He is a long serving manager and is very experienced and has a great relationship with the players.

“We are investing by using our business knowledge. I’m not qualified in football and the chairman will have to meet up with Steve. He’s our manager and we’re not qualified to pick our manager. It isn’t an ego thing for us.”

McGowan, who has built up a chain of themed Irish bars and a major investment group, said: “Lawrence and I are here for the long term and we are investing in the future of the club. We want to work with the supporters and will be talking to them over the coming weeks and months to ensure that they are happy with the changes.

“But we will also be talking to schools and local businesses to get them involved.”

Gibson was an unpopular figure at Clarence Park and his spell in charge culminated with the costly ten point penalty for illegal payments which led to their relegation. But the new owners want to draw a line under the past and look towards the future.

Levy added: “John is a very passionate man and got the club into the Conference. But he has left the club and we are a new broom to take the club forward. I would like to thank him for his time with the club but it was both of our [Gibson] decisions for him to step down.

“I will not be the chairman of the football club because I don’t have the experience. I’m not going to run the club because I don’t have the skills to do that. That is the major difference between us and John and I think that is a positive difference.

“We are going to take the club forward and history will be put to one side. We will have to sit down with the chairman and agree to the budget. The chairman and manager will need to work within that budget.

“The ambition is to rebuild St Albans as a community club. It is a huge opportunity for St Albans to have a a club that is reingaged with their supporters.”