OUTGOING chairman Nick Merry last night admitted a breath of fresh air was needed at struggling Oxford United — but insisted he left the club of his own volition.

Mr Merry, who continues to own half the club and still has a place on its board, said the stresses and strains of almost three years as its chairman had started to affect his health.

But he said he had not failed in his role since he took over in March, 2006 — despite still not owning the stadium and presiding over a team in the lower reaches of the Blue Square Premier, rather than the Football League Championship.

Mr Merry conceded that now was the time to pass the reins to a "young and smart" operator in Kelvin Thomas "for the best" interests of the club.

He said: "A change was needed for the best.

"I have done what I could do — put a lot of money, time and effort into the club but we haven't got the results we needed. A change is good and maybe this change will make a difference.

"It's all about the success of the team — that's what football is all about — you want to be successful.

"I don't think I have failed — we saved the club from going out of business, because that was definitely on the cards, but sometimes you have to go down to go up "We have built up a lot of goodwill among the fans, the community and the club — and built up our youth development, which is going to be big for us.

"But we haven't achieved our aim of owning the stadium or having a team in the Championship.

"My health has suffered — but stress will do that to anyone.

"Kelvin is young and smart and I have every respect for him — he will do a good job.

"I am still co-owner of the club (but) ultimately it was my own decision (to step down as chairman)."

Thursday was an explosive day at the Kassam Stadium as Mr Thomas was unveiled as chairman.

He immediately said the priority was to attract new investment and additional funding to help the club reach its ultimate goal of becoming self-sufficient.

One of the most significant tasks Mr Thomas — who said he was not putting any of his own money into the club — faces is negotiating with former chairman Firoz Kassam over the purchase of the ground and conference centre.

The current regime still pays rent to Mr Kassam for the use of the ground, with proceeds of all food and drink sales inside the stadium going into the pockets of the former chairman.

Mr Thomas said: "I'm here to do everything for the club. I will fight to make sure that there's not just a club here in 12 months, but in 12 years and for many, many years after that.

"And by then, the club will be an independent, self-sufficient club that's not reliant on any third parties."