Town chairman David Sheepshanks has been elected to the board of the Football League as a director.

Sheepshanks was voted in at a meeting today where board members Grimsby chairman John Elsom and Mike Lloyd (Walsall) stood down while Theo Paphitis (Millwall) and Terry Robinson (Sheffield United) were elected along with Sheepshanks.

The meeting also decided that a First Division Chief Executive should be appointed with the aim that the Division be run in the same manner as the Premier League.

The Town chairman told the club site after his appointment: "I have always believed that the way forward for the First Division must be within the family of football.

"Constitutionally these changes mean that Division One can be remarketed as the flagship of the Football League and, while there is no easy or immediate panacea to the financial difficulties that confront Division One today, I am certain that the appointment of a Division One Chief Executive is a first and important step in the right direction.

"The gap between the Premiership and the First Division is utterly unsustainable going forward.

"It is in all Football League clubs' best interests to have a stronger Division One. I hope that Divisions Two and Three will be able to support these changes as there should be nothing to disadvantage them within these measures, rather they will allow Division One to maximise its own commercial potential."

Photo: Action Images

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