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LONDON: Watford chairman Graham Simpson has said he will step aside if a new buyer can be found for the English Championship club.
The Hornets have confirmed that initial discussions with potential new owners have ended after the club, situated north of London, received a "tentative approach" from a third party in April.
A Watford statement said on Thursday: "During this period Graham Simpson has reviewed his own position with the club and has decided after six years as chairman the time is right to seek a new leader to take Watford forward.
"This has been discussed with Lord Ashcroft, the company's largest shareholder, and accordingly it has been agreed if a buyer for Watford can be found then Lord Ashcroft and Graham Simpson will look to sell their shares."
Watford were last in the Premier League in 2000.
The club's most successful period came while pop star Elton John was their chairman and future England boss Graham Taylor their manager in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
That saw Watford achieve four promotions in successive years to reach the old First Division, forerunner of the Premier League.
Their first season in the top flight, in 1982/83, saw Watford finish runners-up to a powerful Liverpool side and they also reached the 1984 FA Cup final only to be beaten by Everton, the Reds' Merseyside rivals. - AFP/de
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