FORMED as a safety net to protect Wanderers through one of the more volatile periods in their history, the Supporters’ Trust now finds itself answering questions about its own stability following the shock resignation of Daniel Izza.

News broke on Wednesday evening that the local solicitor, who has been at the trust’s helm as chairman since June, had stepped down of his own volition.

This was confirmed in a statement issued to members later in the evening, which read: “The BWFCST board wish to advise that our chairman, Daniel Izza, has today resigned from the board with immediate effect. On behalf of the trust members, the board would like to place on record our thanks for all Daniel’s time and effort spent in establishing the trust.

“We intend to carry on his good work and the new board will be meeting in the very near future to explore ways to develop and continue engaging with our members.

“Once again, our thanks go to Daniel and we would ask members to be patient whilst we look forward to developing the next phase of the BWFCST.”

Mr Izza had been a board member since the trust’s early days and stepped up to the chairman’s role after the resignation of Ian Bridge in the summer.

The chief issue faced during his tenure was to defend the trust’s application to have the Macron Stadium listed as an Asset of Community Value. In that aspect he was successful - the council upholding the decision last month - yet the legal wrangling came at a cost to the relationship with the club itself.

Repairing the relationship - or at least seeking to maintain the status quo - will be the first task facing a new-look board.

Questions were already being asked of the trust’s impetus as an organisation a fortnight after it was announced there would be no ballot process for the second set of elections running. Mr Izza’s exit now theoretically leaves two free positions alongside the existing members Terrence Rigby, Maggie Tetlow, Mike Smith, Simon Nightingale and Paul Brown.

Reigniting the connection with a near 2,500-strong membership may be equally as important. Improving transparency and communication could help to regain some of the initial interest there had been in the project in its early days.

The Bolton News has contacted Mr Izza for comment.