A SPLIT at committee level over the decision to remove Nigel Tripp from his role as Corsham Town manager prompted the calling of an extraordinary general meeting at the club on March 2, the Gazette & Herald understands.

The future of the Southbank-based club was thrown into doubt last week following the postponement of their Toolstation League First Division derby against Calne Town scheduled for Friday night and the announcement of the meeting for members next month.

In a statement released on Friday, Town revealed that the club would attempt to fulfil its fixture list under an interim management team up until the meeting, with former Melksham Town and Wiltshire U18s boss Mel Gingell, who was Town manager for four years up until August 2011, stepping in to pull together a squad.

The situation came to a head last week after Tripp revealed that he would not walk away from the club, currently third-from-bottom in the Toolstation League First Division table, despite uncertainty surrounding his future, but conceded that his fate was in the hands of the club’s hierarchy.

The Gazette & Herald understands that Corsham's committee had agreed that Tripp should be axed from his position and had approached former Bath City and Trowbridge Town player Barry Thompson to become their new manager, with an agreement reached in principle for him to take over from the start of next season.

Tripp, who only took over at the start of the season, subsequently guided the team to a 4-0 win at Bishop Sutton on February 11, after which splits over the decision to show him the door appeared to surface among both committee members and some club members.

That led to the committee at the club tendering their resignations and the subsequent scheduling of the extraordinary general meeting for Thursday week.

Gingell told the Gazette & Herald this week that his squad rebuilding – with a number of players having departed the club in the wake of the crisis – was going well, with Corsham having been assisted by the waiving of seven-days’ notice for players by other local clubs, including Chippenham Park and Malmesbury Victoria.

He will be assisted by his son Craig and Pete Ralph, Corsham hosting a league fixture with Roman Glass St George on Saturday, followed by the rescheduled Calne fixture on Wednesday (March 1), the day before the crunch club meeting.

“We’ve got to do two things,’’ said Gingell. “We have to ensure the club doesn’t finish in the bottom two, which could see them relegated, and we’ve got to try and get the crowds up because there were not many people at the last home game at all.’’

Corsham's statement last week said: "Following the resignation of a number of officers of the club and recent internal disputes, the committee of Corsham Town Football Club have taken the decision to hold an EGM to discuss the future of the club and its management.

"The meeting will be held on 2nd March 2017 at Corsham Town's ground on Lacock Road, and will only be open to full members of the club.

"This decision has not taken lightly and whilst we would like to resolve the issues as soon as possible, we are bound by our constitution to give members 14 days’ notice of the meeting.

"In the meantime, the club will attempt to fulfil its fixtures.

"The team will be managed by an interim management team until all issues have been agreed.

"In the interests of harmony at the club, serving club officials will not be available for any further comments.

"The club would like to apologise to all the players and supporters for these developments.''