Ebbsfleet United’s outgoing vice chairman Peter Varney has refuted inaccurate assumptions surrounding the nature of his forthcoming departure from the club.

Writing in tomorrow’s issue of matchday programme FleetReview, Varney informs Fleet supporters of the following:

“Please ignore the nonsense you may have read on social media in the last week. Allow me to put the record straight on a few mischievous comments that have been made:

• I have not been sacked. It is my sole decision to leave at this time which I believe is the right time for all concerned.
• I have fully recovered from my prostate cancer operation last September which kept me at home for three weeks and I have the all-clear thanks to the skill of the brilliant surgical team at Guys Hospital.
• I am not representing or involved with any buyer looking to acquire Charlton Athletic FC. A couple of years ago I was asked to broker a meeting with an overseas investor I had met on several occasions who was looking to invest up to £100m into the club but the owner declined to take up an offer to meet me and the investor either in Belgium or London, accusing me of being a billboard salesman and a middleman (for the record I never sought a penny from him for the introduction) – which was insulting from someone I had never met.
• I am not retiring due to old age! I would like to carrying on working as long as I can.”

Varney goes on to assure Fleet fans that he will continue to take a keen interest in the club and watch from the Main Stand each week (“as a paying supporter, of course!”).