Bashley are in the hunt for a new chairman following confirmation that Gary Parsons will not be seeking re-election this summer.

Parsons, who runs a busy haulage business in nearby Barton-on-Sea, says he no longer has the time to devote to the job.

As if taking over as chairman when Ray Pinney stepped down towards the end of last season wasn't enough to cope with, Parsons has been acting secretary for much of the current campaign.

Juggling both jobs has eaten heavily into his outside work commitments and he admitted: "Purely on a business front, I can't devote enough time to it any more. "I could spend all week working at Bashley and still not get everything done."

After 18 years involved with the New Forest club, Parsons has no intention of abandoning them completely, but he is unsure whether he will remain on the committee.

"I've not made a decision on that yet," he said. "We'll have to wait and see how the work situation goes. But I'm not leaving Bashley. I shall stay and support the club and help in any way I can."

Parsons wouldn't be drawn on rumours that vice-chairman Derek Binns and executive committee member Richard Millbery are also stepping down, but he is optimistic a new chairman will be in place by the summer annual meeting.

He said: "I think there's someone on the horizon but I can't say at the moment whether it's someone from inside or outside the club.

"Bashley are a nice club with a lot of good people and it needs someone enthusiastic to carry on the good work this season when we've tried hard to get our house in order."

Bash finish their Ryman 1 season at Tooting & Mitcham tomorrow.