LEON Crouch will come face-to-face with the men who sacked him as acting chairman of the Saints football board on Friday.

Crouch was yesterday removed from his position on the football board at a PLC board meeting specially arranged to facilitate his sacking.

But he still sits on the PLC board who will meet on Friday afternoon for a scheduled meeting with one of the items on the agenda the on-going discussion over investment in the club.

Crouch and fellow non-executive director Patrick Trant went to St Mary's for the showdown meeting yesterday - but were on their own as a telephone conference had been arranged to take the vote that led to Crouch's dismissal.

The executives who voted for his dismissal are PLC chairman Ken Dulieu, chief executive Jim Hone, operations manager Lee Hoos, finance director David Jones and commercial director Andy Oldknow.

Upon leaving St Mary's, Crouch, who owns just short of ten per cent of Saints' shareholding, and Trant both issued statements criticising the executives who have control of the PLC board and therefore run the club.

And in another remarkable twist in the amazing story of off-the-field conflicts at Saints the Daily Echo understands that Rupert Lowe was happy to support the men who ousted him last summer in their treatment of Crouch.

Well-placed sources have told the Echo that both Lowe and another former Saints chairman, Michael Wilde, were well aware last week that moves were afoot to kick Crouch off the PLC board.

Full story in today's Daily Echo