It was a couple of weeks ago when I was asked to come back as chairman and help out in what was becoming an increasingly difficult situation. Ollie Byrne had been taken ill with a brain tumour, Finbar Flood wasn't well. They were in negotiations with the developer Ossie Kilkenny to try and put a financial package together which would enable the Revenue and the players to be paid what was owed to them. It was a verbal agreement, there was nothing in place as such. I didn't particularly want to do it because of my business commitments.

But it's always been my League of Ireland club and a lot of people were saying you have to do it. On top of that, Kilkenny would have been happy for me to take over because he had dealt with me in business dealings on a number of occasions. So between it all, I said I'd do it on an interim basis, just to get the club back in business.

The next few days I spent with various members of the Management Committee trying to put our papers forward for the Licensing Committee because we knew that was up within a matter of days and I didn't have very much time.

We then had to come to a written agreement with the developer who agreed to put the money in place and we did that. We forwarded that with the various other documents into the Licensing Committee. I had spoken to a manager who was ready to take the job providing we stayed in the Premier Division. I said I can't give you a commitment on that until a decision was made, and when it was we were shocked we were demoted.

But there were also preconditions attached to that demotion. We were still expected to pay the players and the Revenue which is fine.

But there was also the fact we'd have to submit a new set of accounts at the end of March. Now, bearing in mind we'd submitted accounts on 19 February, we were then given five weeks to get them in order.

If the Licensing Committee didn't like what they saw in February, the chances were they weren't going to like what they saw in March. I don't have a magic wand. I'm not that good. And the developer then got itchy feet because of that and was asking, "Why should I pay the Revenue, why should I pay the players? We can still be thrown out after I do that!" It's a fair point.

I was saying to everyone to take the punishment of demotion and get on with it. I told people let's not do the Shelbourne thing and appeal all over the place and go to every court in the land. But this decision and preconditions made by the Licensing Committee left me trying to convince the developer to come forward and he wasn't sure. We got to the stage on Thursday where I still hadn't got a full commitment from him. I still couldn't appoint a manager, having interviewed two at this stage, because I couldn't look a manager in the eye and tell him everything was fine.

So I came to the conclusion on Thursday night that there wasn't much more I could do.

I stepped down. Everyone on the board knew my circumstances. There was no animosity, they knew I'd done my best and they were all in a state of uncertainty. I really thought that could be it for Shelbourne. But having done that, the developer came out on Friday saying he'd put the money in and they've been able to appoint a manger in Dermot Keely which is great.

I'm happy. In hindsight I made a decision to go but things worked out which is important to me.

As well as that, it might be no harm for them to spend time in the First Division. It gives them time to work things out, to get back in order. It's a long, long road back, but at least they are on it.

Gary Brown resigned as interim chairman of Shelbourne of Thursday having previously held the role for three years.

In conversation with Ewan MacKenna