Augusto César Lendoiro, the Deportivo de La Coruña president since 1988, has announced that he is withdrawing his candidacy for re-election and will step down as president when the club's new board of directors is named in January.

Lendoiro, who has spent 25 years in charge at Depor, announced his decision at an emergency press conference.

On Friday he suffered his first defeat at a shareholders' meeting. Every order of the day was rejected and an agreement could not be reached to dismiss the board of directors and appoint a new one.

"Deportivo fans want a change and I've decided to step aside," said Lendoiro. "I'm not sad. I'm grateful to my colleagues in the board for all their hard work. Of course I'm going to vote, although I haven't decided who for."

With Lendoiro at its head, Deportivo rose to become one of Spanish football's 'greats', winning a league title (1999-2000), two Spanish Cups (1995 and 2002) and three Spanish Super Cups (1995, 2000 and 2002), as well as reaching the Champions League semi-finals (2003-04).

Depor is now starting a complicated new era, with the club bankrupt, heavily in debt and with a new president at its helm.