TERRAS chief executive Martyn Harrison is today expected to break his silence following chairman Ian Ridley's resignation on Saturday. So far, Weymouth's majority shareholder, who is believed to have ploughed more than £600,000 into the club this summer, has refused to discuss Mr Ridley's departure in detail. However, the millionaire hotel-chain owner has confirmed he intends to issue a statement to the Dorset Echo this evening. He told Echosport: "The weekend was about Ian Ridley having his say and enjoying his last day as chairman of the club. It would not have been appropriate to say anything at that time, as I didn't want to distract attention away from Ian. "But I will be responding to the supporters very soon and outlining the club's future plans. More will then be revealed at the club's AGM in a couple of weeks time." Speculation suggesting a fall out between the two parties was further fuelled by comments made by Mr Ridley in his resignation statement issued after the Terras 3-2 victory over Bishop's Stortford at the Wessex Stadium. In it, he speaks of his frustration at being frozen out of the club's decision making process following Harrison's arrival. Ridley, who helped bring Harrison to the Wessex Stadium, said that formal arrangements had been "pretty much tied up" to confirm the amount of money to be put in by the new owner of the club, Harrison, and to register that he would not stand to benefit personally from the club's new stadium deal with Asda. He expected his resignation as chairman to take effect from this coming week, "assuming monies are cleared". Ridley added: "I am sad to be going after such an exciting year but the traditional role of chairman of a democratic board of directors was effectively rendered redundant with Martyn taking full control of the club and all its decision-making," Ridley said. "It is his prerogative, but I felt my contribution and value to the club was diminishing in its importance. I understand that success in Football is often about money, but it is also about having the knowledge of how to spend it." Ridley said he departs 'having left a solid legacy in place' which includes brokering a deal with supermarket chain Asda for a new stadium. He added: "I have helped progress the Asda deal to the point where we should be getting an 8,000-capacity state-of-the-art stadium plus a training ground incorporating a speedway track, as well as an indoor sports centre, with the potential also for some money to be left over to provide the club with a future income. "In addition, over the last year gates have gone up more than 100 per cent - from 650 to an average of 1,490 last season - and sponsorship by more than 600 per cent. The club also finished runners-up in the Dr Martens Premier Division last season having been 17th the year before. I hope I also helped put the club and the town on the map by securing a slot, and a facility fee, for the BBC2 series Football Diaries."
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