CHIEF executive Lee Hoos is to leave Burnley Football Club at the end of the season after accepting a similar role with Queens Park Rangers.

American Hoos, 53, has cited a desire to move back south because of family as the reason for his departure.

MORE TOP STORIES:

Like the Clarets, QPR have already been relegated back to the Championship after a season in the Premier League.

Having arrived at the club in December 2011, Hoos presided over promotion to the Premier League in the 2013/14 season, but many supporters have been critical of the club’s failure to strengthen the side during the January transfer window.

But Hoos, who hails from Maryland, in the USA, believes he leaves Turf Moor with the Clarets in a strong position, and said he took ‘pride’ in the way the club has developed in his time at the top.

“I am sorry to be leaving Turf Moor after an eventful three-and-a-half years,” he said.

“We have had an extremely challenging time, but I feel we have met those challenges head-on and following a year in the Premier League I take great pride in the fact that Burnley is now well placed to move forward.

“The club has many committed and wonderful people, both on and off the pitch, and I would personally like to thank them all for their efforts.

“I look forward to new challenges that lay ahead, but I wish the club every success in the future.”

Hoos began a career in football at Fulham in 1997 after initially working under Mohamed Al Fayed at his London department store, Harrods.

He spent eight years at Craven Cottage, overseeing their rise from the third tier, what was then Division Two, to the Premier League.

Then came a bumpy two-year spell as chief executive at Southampton and he oversaw troubled financial times at the south coast club.

In 2008, Hoos was appointed CEO at Leicester City, where he remained until his appointment at Turf Moor.

During his time with the East Midlands club he helped new Thai owners to adapt following their takeover, before being involved in negotiations to employ former England coach Sven Goran Eriksson and Nigel Pearson as managers.

Chief operating officer David Baldwin, who arrived at Turf Moor from Bradford City last November, will take up the role of chief executive following Hoos’s departure.

In a statement co-chairmen John Banaszkiewicz and Mike Garlick said: “We are sorry to lose Lee and we thank him for his significant contribution.

“Since he arrived at the club over three years ago, he has helped to progress the club and provide a stable platform to move forwards.

“However, we have been aware of Lee’s desire to move closer to his family for some time and, as succession planning is key to any business, this was one of the reasons we employed David late last year.

“David has since bedded into the organisation well and is a natural fit to take over the chief executive role as we look to drive the club back towards the Premier League.”

Peter Pike, chairman of the Clarets Trust, said he believed Hoos has done a good job during his time with the Clarets.

He said: “I think Lee has done quite a good job in his time at the club, although I know plenty of supporters will have a different view on that.

“I am very surprised that he has left Burnley, who have a sensible and considered spending regime, he is going to QPR, a team that has spent lavish amount of money, and many people would say have spent irresponsibly in recent years. That does surprise me.

“I don’t think he can be held responsible for the failure to sign anyone else during the January transfer window. The club thought they had two deals done on deadline day only for other parties to change their minds.

“On the whole I think he has done many good things for the club.”