The West Ham United board of directors have vowed to "vigorously" defend their record against claims of incompetence which could see them axed.

After shareholder group Whistle called for a vote of no confidence in three directors, the board have proposed an Emergency General Meeting to discuss their performance.

But Whistle spokesman Mike Hanna claims his organisation would be charged £2,500 to call an EGM, a detail not publicised by West Ham.

A statement released by the club yesterday explained that, due to a technical point of company law, the issue could not be raised at the company's AGM on December 8.

But the statement went on to suggest a separate meeting, adding: "The company has made this offer in the interests of maintaining an open dialogue with all shareholders and because it does not wish to be seen to defeat the proposals merely because of a failure to comply with the provisions of the Companies Act.

"The board will, however, vigorously defend its management record at any EGM and is confident of winning the support of the vast majority of its shareholders."

This has not impressed Hanna, who believes the board are "running scared" of answering his questions about the club's £44million debt and a five-year sequence of trading losses.

Published Thursday November 20, 2003

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