DAYS before the most important game in the history of Hartlepool United, Gary Coxall has stood down as chairman.

He made the shock announcement last night, following a period of huge uncertainty around the club.

Coxall hopes his departure will unite all parties ahead of the weekend. The former chairman was absent from Saturday’s defeat at Cheltenham.

Pools lie second bottom in League Two, three points short of safety with one game to go. Pools have to beat Doncaster and also rely on Newport failing to beat Notts County to remain a Football League club.

Coxall has been pondering his future in recent weeks. He was called out by supporters as Pools lost meekly to Barnet in their last home game – a performance and result which proved the end of manager Dave Jones.

His role and responsibilities will be filled by Pam Duxbury, the club’s financial director, with the aim of the club becoming fully fan owned within five years.

The club’s newly-formed Supporters’ Trust has recently appointed Jeff Stelling as honorary president, as well as former skipper and caretaker boss Micky Barron.

They will take an active role in talks with Duxbury and club officials and both parties yesterday held their first meeting.

A club statement read: “It is with huge sadness that I announce that, after some serious consideration over the past two weeks, I have decided to resign from my position as Chairman of our club.

“I am not oblivious to my surroundings and the feeling towards my tenure as Chairman and I feel that, should I continue, it would divide the club at a time when it needs to come together as one. Therefore, if my Chairmanship is a factor in preventing that togetherness, then I will happily step aside for the good of the club. The club is more important.

“There has been some criticism of me over the previous few months, some justified and some completely untrue and so wide of the mark it's incredible. However, now is not the time to address those points, but I am confident that over the coming months it will be clear the club has always come first, even before my own family in some cases.’’ He added: “I am pleased to announce that Pam Duxbury will continue with our original plan of assuming the role of CEO, but will additionally assume all of the duties of the Chair, with my full support and the full support of everyone at the club.

“I have agreed and passed a mandate to Pam for her to explore conversion to a fan ownership model for Hartlepool United. To this end, as of this evening, she has met with the Supporters' Trust to start discussions, and further announcements will be made in due course.

“All I ask is that you continue to give your fantastic support to the team - we are certainly not out of this yet, not by a long way, and I still believe that we can retain our League Two status.

“For me personally, I will always be a Hartlepool United fan and the club will forever be in my heart.’’ Coxall still owns 50 per cent of the club. The club is also part-owned by Sage Investments Limited, which paid off a large loan the club took out at end of last year from Access Finance.

The club has suffered financially this season and Coxall has long been trying to attract investment after the exit of his business partner Peter Goldberg left him high and dry.

He arrived as chairman and owner in the summer of 2015, replacing Ken Hodcroft and IOR, the deal being concluded at the same time Pools were securing their Football League future under Ronnie Moore.

He leaves with the club without a manager, following the disastrous tenure of Jones, and in an even more precarious position.

The club’s ticket office is open until 8pm tonight, 6pm tomorrow and 5.30pm on Friday for sales and ticket prices have been reduced to £5 for Saturday’s game.