PORTLAND United interim chairman Gary Bailey has ruled himself out of the running to succeed previous chief Robin Satherley.

Long-serving Satherley vacated the role in August at the islanders’ AGM but has continued to work on the club’s committee.

Ex-manager Bailey is absorbed in finding a permanent successor to Satherley but said he could not yet take ownership of the role.

He told Echosport: “It’s not something I’m in a position to take up at the moment. I’m quite happy to step in and fill the void.”

He added: “The position is still vacant and we’re looking to fill it. I’m acting as interim at the moment, for league reasons.

“As vice-chairman I’ve agreed to act on a temporary basis. The club’s very comfortable with the situation, it’s business as usual.

“We’re in good hands. Alan Rodgers, our treasurer, looks after the financial side of things and Randle Gates, the secretary, continues to do his role.

“All the hard-working committee members and volunteers behind the scenes are carrying on and doing the jobs they’ve always done.

“We’re quite comfortable to wait, be patient and when the right person comes along we’ll act on that.

“It’s not like we’re devoid of experience – the club’s in good hands. Other than naming the figurehead as chairman, we’ll just carry on.”

Portland invited applications from early August and pursued two leads, yet remain without a permanent chairman six weeks later.

“We explored a couple of options internally, which didn’t work out for varying reasons,” Bailey conceded.

“Other than that, it’s not for me to say who and how many came. The situation is that we’re still on the lookout.”

Discussing a timeframe to lure a new chairman, Bailey stressed the Blues would not rush the recruitment process.

He said: “We haven’t set a timescale. We’ll make the appointment when the time’s right and as and when the right person should come along.

“I’m acting as interim and everything’s running as usual. We’re under no pressure, we’ve not set ourselves any timescale to move the situation forward.

“If things change and we feel that’s necessary, we’ll have to have a rethink and a push to find someone. It’s a situation we’re quite relaxed about.”

On his ideal candidate, Bailey added: “It would be nice to find someone with some experience with being involved with a football club at non-league level.

“It’s having the time, the inclination to do it.

“We’re a committee-run club so we’re not looking for someone to come in, completely overhaul the club and be a stand-alone chairman.

“It’s someone who’s willing to come in and work alongside the infrastructure of what’s already in place.”

Applications for the role can be submitted to secretary.portlandutdfc@aol.co.uk