Saints have today confirmed they will hold an EGM called by former chairmen Michael Wilde and Rupert Lowe.

The two ex-bosses want the removal of all the current PLC board, aside from finance director David Jones, and for them to be replaced by Lowe, Wilde and Andrew Cowen.

Lowe and Wilde offered the board a deal to stay in power until the end of the season and to avoid an EGM if they agreed to an orderly handover of power on May 6.

However, despite Lowe and Wilde being backed by 46 per cent of the club's shareholding, the current board have called an EGM for Friday, May 16.

Their statement this afternoon to the stock exchange read:

Southampton Leisure Holdings PLC (the "Company") today announces that an extraordinary general meeting has been convened for Friday, 16 May 2008 at 11.30am for the purposes of considering resolutions to remove each of Leon Adrian Crouch, Charles Leo Hoos, Patrick Murray Trant and Keith St John Wiseman as directors of the Company and to appoint each of Andrew Edward Cowen, Rupert James Graham Lowe and Michael Gordon Wilde as directors of the Company. The convening of this meeting is in accordance with the requisition for a general meeting received by the Company from Rupert Lowe, Michael Wilde and Merlion Equities (UK) Limited and as announced by the Company on 1 April 2008. The extraordinary general meeting will be held at St Mary's Stadium, Britannia Road, Southampton SO14 5FP and a notice of the meeting will be sent to shareholders accordingly.