Winchester City saviours Mike and Rob Smith have resigned as directors of the ambitious Hampshire League club.

The father and son, who rescued City from the verge of extinction three years ago, have quit the board to spend more time expanding their family-run business, the Southampton Model Centre, in Totton.

It leaves City with three directors at the helm - chairman Richard Newsome, director of football David Malone and former secretary Dave Rattey.

With Winchester moving on a rate of knots in their quest for Wessex League football, former chief executive Mike Smith admitted that his time and finances were being fully stretched.

He said: "The club have reached the stage where they need extra investment which Rob and I, through our business commitments, can't give them.

"When we moved to the club in 1999, they were hanging on by a shoestring, held together by Dave Rattey and couple of other people.

"We have invested heavily in the club, but we have achieved what we set out to achieve. There are no regrets from either Rob or me."

The Smiths, who have invested around £75,000 in the club, have helped bring in some of the area's top players and finance radical ground improvements at Abbots Barton, including a new stand and floodlights.

Together with Newsome, who came in as chairman when City amalgamated with Winchester Castle two years ago, and former Bashley chairman Malone, they have dragged the club out of the doldrums and created one of the most feared footballing forces in Hampshire.

Malone said: "Mike and Rob have resigned purely for business and personal reasons, there's nothing disharmonious about it.

"Richard and I want to take the club onwards and upwards and the Smiths don't have the time or resources to take us on to a higher level."

City have invited two other people to join their board.

Malone said: "Paul Doswell is right in what he is doing at Eastleigh.

"You need to get a group of people involved to spread the financial responsibility."