NEVILLE SOUTHALL has delivered a withering attack on Dover Football Club's general manager Bill Williams in the wake of his sacking as manager.

Southall was dismissed after a new board, including Jim Pellatt (chairman), Jim Gleeson and Roger Knight, took over the running of the club. "I only found out about my sacking when I got a phone call from the Press Association," said Southall.

"I immediately rang the club and they asked me to resign, but I refused because I have nothing to resign for. I believe I have done a good job at Dover and, although we are bottom of the Conference, it was clear for anyone to see that playing performances had improved."

The goalkeeping legend claimed: "Unfortunately Bill Williams has tried to block every move that I have made. He told me to cut my wage bill by £1,000 a week and has also tried to tell me which people to play in the team.

"I have worked my socks off for this club and have brought in revenue from the Tottenham and Charlton friendly matches. I was proud to be manager of Dover and would still like to be at the club, but I don't think Bill Williams liked my honesty in the press." Southall said if never saw Williams again "it won't be a day too soon".

Southall had been in charge of the club for just three months, winning his first match against Margate on Boxing Day. Since then, though, Dover have slipped to the bottom of the Nationwide Conference and with nine games to go were favourites for relegation.

"I believe we could have escaped, but changing the manager now will not have helped," added Southall.

Williams, now a non-executive director under the new regime, refused to comment. But captain Keith Scott said he was flabbergasted by the decision. "All the players liked and respected Neville. He had brought a certain level of professionalism to the club," he said.

"I don't want to comment on Neville's feud with Bill Williams because I really only spoke with Neville about football matters."

A statement from the club said Southall had been sacked purely for football reasons.