GRAHAM Westley was true to his word and, three days after Farnborough had lost 5-1 to Arsenal at Highbury in the FA Cup, he quit Cherrywood Road to become manager at Conference club Stevenage.

Westley, who dominated the scene at Farnborough as owner, chairman and manager, had hinted before the Arsenal game that he was seeking to "find a new vehicle" to carry him towards his ambition of Premiership football, but few of the fans had expected his departure to come so soon.

Boro fear that several players and backroom staff will follow Westley to Stevenage who have set their sights on the Football League.

Westley rescued Boro when they were facing closure in 1999 and steered them back to the Conference as champions in 2001.

The Hampshire club has progressed steadily, culminating in the fourth-round clash with the Gunners last weekend – the biggest day in the club's history.

But Westley was bitterly disappointed when his plans to merge Farnborough and Kingstonian were vetoed.

He said in a statement: "It is my intention to gift the shares I own to the other existing shareholders (the club's fans) and leave the club to build on the foundations which have been laid."

Billy Smith, who resigned as manager of Crawley last week, is favourite to take over at Farnborough.