DAVE O’Neill has vowed to bring stability back to Accrington Stanley after Eric Whalley’s 14-year reign as chairman came to an end yesterday.

O’Neill is not expected to complete his takeover of the club until the end of the week but has now assumed control of day-to-day affairs at Stanley after Whalley officially stepped down.

The 52-year-old, who was previously the Reds’ general manager and invested £150,000 in the club a year ago, does not yet have an official title but has already put plans in place to help the club move forward after its recent financial crisis.

Stanley were issued with winding up proceedings last month over an unpaid £300,000 tax bill and, although they have since secured an adjournment, they must now maintain the agreed monthly payments to HM Revenue and Customs.

O’Neill has also declared his intention to get all parties interesting in investing in the club together for talks - including the newly formed Accrington Stanley Supporters’ Fund, which has not yet tabled its own anticipated £250,000 bid for a controlling share..

O’Neill said: “It all seems to have gone a little bit quiet on the supporters’ front, even though I believe they’re setting up a company, but nobody has approached us with anything.

“From the club’s point of view we’ve just got to get the finances right within the club. We can’t be looking for outside help coming in.

“If it comes in, then all well and good, but we’ve got to manage things from within.

“The business side of it needs pulling together and we have worked on that for the last 12 months really.

“Actually running the club, Rob Heys (Stanley’s chief executive) and myself have been an integral part of that. Even though it seems like Eric standing down, the three of us have worked together for the last 12 months anyway so it should be a smooth transition.

“It will be a big challenge. We’ve got to work closely to the budget. We FROM BACK PAGE cannot stray at all from that for obvious reasons.

“I need help now, that’s the crux of it. I’ve come in and stuck my neck on the line and said, ‘Yes, I can help the club and I can point it in the right direction’. But we very much need help now.

“But what I felt, at least a couple of weeks ago, was that we finished with three different factions - there was Eric, the club and the supporters.

“At this crucial time we need to bring everybody back together.”

Whalley, who was away on holiday yesterday, became the club’s chairman in 1995 and helped to guide Stanley from the UniBond First Division and back into the Football League after a 44-year absence.

He is due to sell almost all of his 56 per cent shareholding to O’Neill but is likely to retain some presence at the club.

“He tells us he’s still going to be around and even if that’s once a week or whatever, he’ll still be here at the matches,” said O’Neill.

“If I can take the club anywhere near the distance that Eric has taken it then we’re going to be in the Premier League!”