Workington Reds director Don Blackwell has resigned.

Blackwell, who has supported the club since the 1950s and joined the board in 2013, handed his resignation to chairman John Mackay on Monday.

He had served as stadium director, overseeing ground improvements at Borough Park, and represented the club with Mike Rollo in the two years of negotiations with Allerdale council on the proposed new stadium project.

He also enjoyed a spell as joint-chairman.

Blackwell’s decision to quit with immediate effect was put down to a number of factors, including the rejection of the 8,000-capacity new stadium project last month, the workload that involved, and poor health over the past 12 months.

“Don has put everything into helping keep this club alive in recent years and we express our gratitude to him for his efforts,” Mackay said.

“In particular, he has had the quite thankless task of maintaining and improving Borough Park, keeping the stadium open despite its age.

“He will, of course, always be welcome at the ground and we hope to see him on matchdays throughout the forthcoming season.”

Blackwell has been offered an honorary vice-president role with the club.