Blues rocked as supremo quits

Birmingham City were left stunned this afternoon when chief executive Michael Dunford quit just 48 hours before their crunch derby at Villa.

Blues accepted Dunford's resignation only six months after he replaced Karren Brady following Carson Yeung's £79m takeover.

The club owe investment bank Seymour Pierce £2.2m for brokering Yeung's buy-out at St Andrew's in October and former Everton CEO

Dunford goes with that money still to be paid - although the club are set to settle the debt.

Blues have not disclosed why Dunford has left but boss Alex McLeish revealed his surprise at his departure.

He said: "He's not been in the job that long and if you bring in a new chief executive and he goes that early it's a little bit unusual. We were close and I spoke him on the phone as I do with most of the directors. There are good lines of communication with this club.

"But I don't want to get into it. It's not my business and I'm more concerned with the Villa game, that's what the punters want to hear about."

A short club statement read: "Birmingham City FC can confirm that after formal discussions with Michael Dunford, the chief executive officer, we have accepted his resignation. We wish him well for the future."

Dunford's departure casts doubt over boardroom stability at St Andrew's, especially after the cash row with Seymour Pierce. The bank threatened to take control of the club if payment was not received by May 27 but Birmingham have agreed to settle the bill.