Buckie Thistle fans have been rocked by the bombshell news that club President Mark Duncan and his brother Murray, a Jags Director, are to leave Victoria Park.

The duo have quit the title-winning side after what they believe is behind the scenes manoeuvring to change direction of the club. After a month of soul-searching, the Duncans have decided to bring to a close their eight-year association with the club, which began at a time when the Jags were at a very low point in their history.

A meeting on Sunday May 9 was to prove a turning point for the brothers, as Mark Duncan explained.

"The week after winning the league at Wick there followed a very busy time for us, especially arranging the final game of the season at home to Brora, hosting the League Cup Final at Victoria Park and planning the Marquee in the Park celebration event," he told the 'Advertiser'.  "In the course of a conversation Murray learned almost at the last minute that there was to be a meeting at the old Social Club and we also found out very late that there was to be another meeting before this in the Sponsors' Lounge in Victoria Park.

"We decided to go along and find out for ourselves what was going on.  Both of us were surprised at the people who proceeded to walk through the door that Sunday; some of them had previously been involved with the club 30 years ago when it ended up in a lot of trouble.

"It soon became obvious to us that some people wanted to take things in a different direction, one which we did not agree with.  We feel strongly that it is not beneficial to the club to have different groups pulling in different directions, everyone has to pull together if you are to be a success.

"The immediate aftermath of the meeting was a very black time for us and we have done a lot of thinking over the last month.  However, the conclusion we have come to is the same as our gut instinct at the time; it is time for us to leave Buckie Thistle FC.

"We have issues with the way this has been handled and we also feel that the timing was terrible, especially one week after the club has won the league for the first time in 52 years.

"You have to ask the questions - where were all these same people when the club was in serious trouble eight years ago and why is it that they now want to be involved when the club has just won the league?  Well, I think people will have to make up their own minds on that one.

"One individual also said to me that 'This was always going to happen'; well, if that is correct then it really suggests to me that they have been planning this for a long time.

"We feel that the necessary level of trust does not exist now and we cannot operate under these conditions.  This is not the way we do or have ever done business and the turn of events have left myself and Murray with no other choice.

"When we came on board it was for the long term and we have ploughed £400,000 of our own money into new facilities at Buckie Thistle, not counting all the other money that has also been generated for the club.

"Needless to say, we are very, very disappointed that this has happened.

"In many ways things have gone full circle for us, going back to the time eight years ago when we were approached to take over the club.

"We also felt that if we were going to go it should be done as soon as possible to give the club time to get new peolpe in place for the start of the new league season."

Mr Duncan went on to outline the challenges that would await their successors in running the Highland League champions.

He continued: "The club and the business surrounding it is about four or five times bigger than when we took over in 2002 and it takes a lot of time and effort to run it properly.

"Murray and myself have put a huge amount of time into running Buckie Thistle and it has taken over our personal, business and family time to a large extent these last few years.

"There are so many aspects involved in running a club this size these days and it takes a lot of work.

"The books also have to balanced if the club is to avoid possible problems and we are both very proud to say that this is something we achieved during each of the eight years we were in charge.  It is important to have a vision for the future of the club and that the high standards which have been set are now maintained.

"For this to continue the reins have to be taken up quickly; the new season starts in only eight weeks' time."

Murray Duncan noted the whole episode had left him "feeling empty" and he reiterated his brother's comments as to the commitment required to make Buckie Thistle the best team in the Highland League.

"Both my family and myself have been very heavily involved in running the club and put in huge effort over the past eight years," he said. "Like Mark, I have willingly given up a lot of personal time to the club.

"What should have been the highlight of the year - reclaiming the league title after 52 years - has, for us, been tarnished by this whole affair.

"After what has happened I have been left feeling empty; I strongly believe that you have got to have certain standards in life and that there is a proper way of doing things and I cannot agree with the way this has been handled."

Mark Duncan highlights that both he and Murray realised that there reignation would come as a shock to the huge number of Buckie Thistle supporters, both locally and those based across the globe, but stressed that they have been given little choice.  He also underlined the pride they felt at having the opportunity to guide the club from nearly going out of business to sitting atop the Highland League.

Mr Duncan added: "We realise this news is going to come as a real shock to many supporters, but I am sure it will not be to those who were at the meeting four weeks ago as we told everone that we would probably quit because of their actions.

"We would like to thank all of the Buckie Thistle supporters for the fantastic backing they have given us and the club over the last eight years.  They have been just magnificent and we also want to thank all of the hard-working committee members who have been a pleasure to work with.

"From a personal point of view, it has been an honour to be President of Buckie Thistle for the last eight years and both Murray and myself will continue to support the team as we have done over the 35 years."

Story from Banffshire Advertiser 8th June 2010