Boardroom shake-up expected at ‘Stute

Following the club’s relegation from the Danske Bank Premiership, club stalwart Trevor Hewitt, Vice-Chairman of Institute FC confirmed that both he and Chairman Keith McElhinney are considering their positions.

Chairman Keith McElhinney has been at the club for well over a decade, while vice-chairman Trevor Hewitt has been at Institute for around 25 years.

The duo have been considering their positions for some time but did not want uncertainty over the future of the club at boardroom level to distract from matters on the pitch while the club were embroiled in a battle against relegation.

With the team’s elimination from the top tier of football in Northern Ireland now confirmed, vice-chairman Trevor Hewitt spoke to the Sentinel about his consideration of the club’s future.

Both men run their own businesses and vice-chairman Hewitt said that both family and work commitments are major factors as they weigh up their futures in the Institute boardroom.

“We feel that it may be time to allow fresh faces with fresh ideas, to step in,” he said.

“Nothing has been confirmed yet before the season is over. I think it is a good time for me to focus on my own family and running the business so, when the season is over, we will have a decision to make.

“Nothing has been confirmed at this stage and we will decide at the end of the season but I do feel that it might be a good time to focus on family and business and allow someone else to come in with new ways of doing things.

“The end of the season will be a time for both myself and Keith to take stock and see whether it would be better for the club for us to continue or whether we should step back and let someone else step in.

“I would like to wish everybody all the best for the future.”

Institute manager Paul Kee, meanwhile, said that he was not going to resign following the club’s relegation from the top tier of football in Northern Ireland.

“I’ve given it my best and I know as the manager I’ll be taking the hit because that’s the way football is and I understand that,” he said.

“We’ll see what happens in the next couple of weeks but I won’t be resigning - there’s no chance of that! There’s a job to be done.”