Valencia: Soler quits

Valencia president Juan Soler resigned from his post on Wednesday following a meeting of the board of directors at the club's Mestalla stadium.

The 51-year-old property developer called the meeting at which he handed control of the club to former vice-president Agustin Morera.

Soler took over as president of Valencia in 2004.

Soler announced he was stepping down from his role due to poor health, but would remain the club's majority shareholder.

"My decision is irreversible and due to health reasons," he said.

"I can no longer dedicate the time the Valencia project requires. But as majority shareholder my desire is to guarantee that the new project and stadium go ahead peacefully."

Reports in the Spanish press have suggested for some time that Soler was looking to end his time in charge at the club after he stopped attending games back in December 2007.

Soler cited health reasons for his absence at the time, but the Spanish press speculated that poor results and the highly-publicised court case between the club and their midfielder David Albelda over contract issues were the more likely reason.

Further problems followed more recently, as supporters groups protested against the high ticket prices the club set for their second leg semi-final clash with Barcelona in the Copa del Rey.

Soler admitted he had made mistakes during his time in charge, but had made sure he rectified the ticket price problem before stepping down.

He said: "I'm human and as such must recognise my mistakes. They were never intentional, but rather ideas I believed at the time to be in the best interests of the club.

"Despite our current sporting crisis, we have been in the Champions League and I'm very satisfied with the youth players that we have always had faith in.

"Club members will not have to pay any fee to attend the Barcelona game, that is a decision made unanimously by the board of directors."

Before leaving Soler had words of thanks for everyone related to the club.

"I would like to thank the fans for how they have treated me during these past four years," he added

"All the coaching staff, without exception, have shown they are great professionals. I thank all the coaches and the press for their behaviour towards me and I ask you to support the new president."

Soler leaves a Valencia side in 10th place in La Liga, just seven points above the relegation zone and with the worst home record in the record outside of the bottom two.