After resigning as boss of struggling Vauxhall Motors, Owen Brown spoke to GARY PORTER about why the time is right for him to leave Rivacre Park after two years in charge.

OWEN Brown has always prided himself on being an honest and hardworking manager. And with good reason.

During his time at Vauxhall he's proved to be a loyal servant and a bubbly personality prepared to put the best interests of the club before his own.

Which is why after months of soul-searching he was still ready to soldier on in the Rivacre Park hotseat despite an increasing desire to concentrate on his daily role away from the pressures of football management.

It was only after confirmation that his two best friends in the game, assistant boss Carl Macauley and long-serving Carl Spellman, would temporarily take over the reins that Brown felt completely happy to part company with the club he holds close to his heart.

Brown said: 'I never wanted to leave Vauxhall in the lurch because I care about the club too much, so I offered to stay on while they searched for a replacement.

'I'd been thinking about leaving for the last three months but carried on to try and put things right because the results we were getting were hurting me.

'Once I knew Macca (Macauley) and Carl (Spellman) would be taking over as caretaker and first team coach, I knew I was leaving the club in good hands.'

Although Brown admits that he felt a great sense of relief when he called time on his two-year tenure, he's quick to point out that it was still a huge wrench to wave goodbye to everyone connected with the Motormen.

He explained: 'I've never been at a club where the secretary is crying on your shoulder because you're leaving! But it shows the great relationship I have with everyone here.

'It had come to the point where I had to make a decision for the best. It was an extremely hard one to make and I didn't get much sleep on Wednesday night.

'I felt like I was one of the people in the circus who tries to hold up all the plates on sticks and if I didn't make the decision they'd all come crashing down.

'I've been given a great window of opportunity with my role at Liverpool Football Club and I felt I hadn't been giving it the attention it deserved even though they were happy for me to be at Vauxhall.

'This season has been very difficult and if I'm honest I probably stayed three months too long trying to put things right.'

Unfortunately for Brown his exit coincided with a nightmare run of seven defeats in eight games, which has left the Motormen rooted to the bottom of the Conference North.

However, he is still confident that Vauxhall can steer clear of the drop and says he will look back on his time at the club as a great success.

He explained: 'When I took over we were bottom of the UniBond Premier and although I had a difficult start we went on a great run of form which secured us a place in the Conference North.

'That was my main ambition at the club and considering we've never had any money to spend here we did brilliantly to achieve it.

'Hopefully, the lads can turn it around this season. I have every confidence in them to go on a similar run to the one we enjoyed in my first year.

'I'll certainly be down to see them whenever I can and the Vauxhall result will be the first one I look for on a Saturday afternoon.'