Lewes fans have been told Steven King had to go to safeguard the future of the club.

King's departure has shocked Sussex football after he led the Rooks to the Blue Square south title.

But the club say they could not continue with the level of investment they were making this season without outside help.

They also insist the appointment of Kevin Keehan as first team manager will give them a chance to survive in the Blue Square premier rather than having no chance at all.

Lewes's board broke its silence today, confirming Keehan's appointment and the involvement of England international Gareth Barry as well as trying to explain why they have parted company with King.

Keehan, who is leaving his job as Albion's commercial manager, will not become a director but he will bring with him a significant amount of sponsorship.

That will give Lewes a chance of achieving the A grading for the Dripping Pan which they need within the next 12 months to avoid automatic demotion from the Blue Square premier.

Finance director Kevin Powell said: "At the moment we have no chance of gaining that A grading. By doing what we have done, casting the net wider and bringing new people in, we have improved our chances of finding the funds to achieve it.

"If we had stayed as we were Steve King would have had a significantly reduced budget in the Conference with no chance of an A grading. Even if he had managed to do well we still would have come down without an A grading.

"We are asking fans to trust and rely on the board to get it right like we did with the appointment of Steve King five years ago.

"Without making tough decisions there would be no future. By doing this we have a future and we hope the fans will trust the board on this."

Powell and managing director Martin Elliott said King was made aware a year ago that the club needed more investment or they could be in trouble.

King himself came forward with an investor who was prepared to put money into the club which would have kept the status quo in terms of management and players but the Lewes board did not feel the offer was right for the club.

They admit they could have done something to address the financial situation before promotion was secured but believe they have made the right decision to take up Keehan's offer.

Powell said: "Our emotions at this time last year slightly got the better of us because we had Steve King and a good group of players but we had a budget which perhaps we couldn't afford and we were halfway through the work to get our B grading.

"This year in particular has been extremely tough to honour all of our commitments although we have done that.

"We had various options. We had an offer to buy the club which we didn't think was best thing for the club. Secondly we could have just cut the budget for next year.

"We had another option which wasn't an investment option but a group of local business people who back Kevin Keehan from a commercial point of view.

"Kevin has always wanted to manage and feels he had managerial skills. He had the backing and put himself forward with a proposal which included proper costed budgets, working with us in terms of making it pay at a vastly reduced level than it currently is at the moment."

Keehan's appointment will come under criticism because of his lack of managerial experience, although the involvement of Gareth Barry as one of his backers will give some credence to the appointment.

Powell said: "Gareth Barry is getting behind Kevin keehan and Lewes Football CLub. He has already been down to the club, he likes what we are doing and he has seen the Active Lewes side of things but he is not putting his hand in his pocket and chucking £100,000 at things. That is not how we work but it is fair to say he is now part of the team."

It is good for the profile of LFC. It was a pleasure to meet him down at the ground Keehan will be full-time, also assisting in general management and commercial matters.

The new manager will appoint an experienced coach and will try to integrate young Sussex-based players into the team over a period of time. He work will a budget less than King worked with this year.

The bulk of the current squad will be leaving, although four players remain on contract, including the likes of Paul Booth and Gary Holloway.

King's assistant Justin Skinner and physio Bobby Childs have also left the club.