MATTHEW McGowan is back on the board of directors at the Wessex Stadium.

The former Terras player and manager returned to the club last night as vice-chairman to Ian Ridley.

McGowan's appointment follows the resignations of Dave Higson, Mick Archer, Terry Bennett and Peter Shaw who were all directors when he was unceremoniously voted off the board in 1998.

A delighted Ridley: "It's no secret that I've long been an admirer of Matthew McGowan. He's endured some rough times at this football club in the past and I wanted him to come back and enjoy the good times ahead.

"He's a wise head who knows everything about the workings of Weymouth and I'm delighted to say that he's agreed to rejoin the board as my vice-chairman.

"He was treated badly in the past and I think he lost a lot of love for the club because of that. But deep down I knew he still cared deeply about the Terras and it's great to have him back, albeit after a lot of persuading.

"Matthews has so much to offer having served the club as a player, manager, director of football and chairman. There's not much he doesn't know about running a football club and he will prove a wonderful asset."

When Ridley first proposed his Terras Rescue Plan back in January his proposals were thrown out by the board after it was revealed McGowan was to be one of his backers.

The club's directors at the time said they were unwilling to work with the retired hotelier who recently had a spell managing Portland United.

But Ridley said that the resignations of Higson, Archer, Bennett and Shaw last week had nothing to do with McGowan's appointment.

"It's not like I was having an affair that ended a marriage," explained Ridley. "In Matthew's case I met someone else after the marriage ended.

"I didn't approach Matthew about returning to the club until after the four other gentlemen resigned and so his appointment and their departures have nothing to do with each other."

Meanwhile McGowan is one of three new directors who joined the board last night with self-employed electrician Tristan Murless and Broadwey Scaffolding owner Jamie Lyons having been recruited.

"Tristan is well known in the community, he has fantastic experience in organising Weymouth Carnival and he's a very important addition to the board," said Ridley. "His knowledge of the town and the business community is second to none and he's just the sort of local man I've been looking for.

"Jamie also fits into that category. He's young, enthusiastic and a very successful self-made man who brings some great qualities to the club. He'll be very involved in commercial activities and I welcome both men to the club.

"On top of that, Steve Claridge has also taken a seat on the board because I think it's important that he has a say in the running the club. He had a bad time as

manager at Portsmouth where he was never consulted about decisions and I don't want the same scenario occurring here."

He added: "With a couple of days to go to the start of the new season I'm confident we have built strong teams both on and off the park and we can now look forward to some exciting times ahead."