TV fiasco claims first victim

Torquay manager Roy McFarland has become the first managerial casualty of the ITV Digital fiasco after he decided to leave the Third Division club.

The decision came after the board had ruled they could no longer afford to keep his assistant David Preece at Plainmoor.

At the same time they told McFarland they would have to renegotiate his contract because of the uncertainties over the future of ITV Digital.

McFarland, who took over from Colin Lee in July 2001, said he did not want to lose Preece, who he had also worked with at Derby and Cambridge, and decided to follow his assistant out.

He said: "This was the hardest job I've had in football. I believe we have left the club with a good squad but won't be here to see our work bear fruit."

Chairman Mike Bateson added: "The situation ITV Digital has put us in is the major reason behind the manager and his assistant leaving the club. I feel exceedingly bitter I have been forced into this situation," he told the club's official website.