ERIC Whalley is set to cut his ties with Accrington Stanley in the next few days, the Lancashire Telegraph understands.

Whalley was chairman of Stanley between 1995 and 2009 but a number of fans have called for him to relinquish his majority stake in the Reds in the 19 months since he ended his day-to-day involvement at the Crown Ground, with the club struggling financially in recent times.

Having overseen Stanley’s return to the Football League after three promotions, the 70-year-old handed over the running of the club to Dave O’Neill but an ownership struggle has continued to rumble on since then.

O'Neill is still waiting to complete his buy-out of Whalley's shareholding – a deal first announced almost two years ago – and current chairman Ilyas Khan, who played a key role in saving Stanley from winding up proceedings in November 2009, is now keen to issue new shares and hand over control of Stanley to the fans.

A board meeting was held on Saturday to discuss the situation, with the club also short of cash in recent months after a number of postponed home matches, and it is now understood that a resolution is likely within the next seven days.

That is expected to see Whalley agree a settlement and relinquish his shares, although it still remains to be seen who will take over that stake.

Whalley remains a regular at home games but was not at the Crown Ground for Tuesday’s 3-2 win over Crewe – when it was managing director O’Neill, another to incur the wrath of supporters in recent times, who came under fire.

Fans in the Clayton End chanted for O’Neill to quit as he stood pitchside at the end of the game before singing their support for multi-millionaire Khan, who has pledged to bankroll a new stadium for the club if his planned share issue goes through.

Stanley’s cashflow has been hit by five postponements since the start of December, together with shirt sponsor Combined Stabilisation going into liquidation.

The club previously suffered two years ago when their stadium sponsor, Fraser Eagle, went into administration.

Whalley was a pivotal figure in Stanley’s rise through the leagues and previously managed the team before buying out John Alty’s shareholding.

He was a trainee at Stanley in his playing days before the club went out business in 1962, but was at the helm as they returned to the Football League 46 years later under the management of John Coleman.