NEWPORT County fans have given their full support to under-fire chairman Chris Blight after he was targeted by a small number of disgruntled individuals.

Blight told the Argus that he had been hounded by a minority of County fans on his home telephone and mobile phone over the weekend.

The chairman has threatened to walk away from the club but he received a huge public backing yesterday.

Fans flooded messageboards, Twitter and the Argus website with messages of support for Blight and have urged him not to resign.

Nigel Dutson of the Newport County AFC Supporters Trust spoke for many Exiles fans when he described the abusive phone calls to Blight’s home as “absolutely appalling”.

He said: “When you think about all the hours that Chris puts in, all the dedication he’s shown to the club over the last ten years, for him to be getting personal abuse at home is just not on.

“The people who did that need to take a long hard look at themselves.

“Chris Blight is vital to this club. He doesn’t take any money out and his knowledge and contacts within the non-league game would be hard to replace.

“People say he should move but our club needs him, there is no alternative,” he added.

“Chris can be a divisive character but he’s a great frontman. As a Trust we support him and want to work with him for the betterment of this club.”

The personal attacks on Blight came as a result of a false rumour that the chairman had stifled a potential new investment in the club.

A delegation of local businessmen led by ex-director Matt Southall had contacted Blight to talk about investing in the club.

Initial discussions have taken place and, according to Blight, more are planned for later this week.

“We are very much supportive of more investment,” said Dutson.

“We were aware of the proposal and were keen to learn more.

“At the moment that isn’t going any further. As far as we know the offer has been withdrawn but that could change at any time.

“We certainly didn’t stifle the offer but we felt we needed more information on it,” he explained.

“If it does happen then great but if not we are backing Chris Blight to drive this club on on a sustainable basis. “One of Chris’ major achievements has been to drive the debt down and we are now virtually debt-free. We don’t want to return to the bad old days.”

Meanwhile, fears that the uncertainty over Blight’s position could put potential transfers on hold have been dismissed by a club insider.

Manager Justin Edinburgh is keen to add two or three more new signings to his squad before the Blue Square Bet Premier season kicks off on August 11.

The boss was given the go-ahead by Blight to pursue several targets at the end of last week and the Argus understands that talks are ongoing with more than one player.