SHOLING boss Dave Diaper has welcomed the Boatmen bringing more hands on deck for next season.

Without it, he admits he might have been tempted to walk away from the club he has led to the Evo-Stik Southern One South & West play-offs for the last three seasons.

Diaper has been listed merely as first-team manager in the club's matchday programme.

But that doesn't begin to cover all the time, energy and hard work he has put in behind the scenes during more than a decade at Portsmouth Road.

The burden of those responsibilities has weighed heavily on his shoulders, however.

And, had it not been for the arrival of new chairman Sean Whelan and the setting up of a seven-strong executive management board, he says he might have had second thoughts about staying.

"These past few years have been very onerous and strenuous and there was a possibility I wouldn't have continued this season without additional help," he confessed.

"But getting more people involved is very good for the future.

"It gives us a proper infrastructure and means we can get together for a think tank each month.

"We've got people with good business acumen who run their own businesses and, if everyone chips in, it will lighten the workload for me and the chairman as well."

Whelan, who had a brief spell as AFC Totton chairman earlier this year, replaces long-serving clubman Trevor Lewis at the Portsmouth Road helm.

Lewis will continue as a director, working alongside Whelan, Diaper (vice-chairman), Dave Bennett (director), Colin Chamberlain (secretary), Malcolm Stokes (treasurer) and Caroline Hookway (head of marketing).