Gordon Taylor finally conceded defeat on Wednesday in the power struggle that has exposed serious flaws in the leadership of the crisis-hit PFA.
As Sportsmail were first to report, Taylor announced he is leaving after 38 years as chief executive on a dramatic day that also saw chairman Ben Purkiss and the other 12 management committee members agree to go.
A statement issued after an AGM that was originally scheduled to take place last November confirmed that all of them would quit. Their departures will come after a further AGM that will follow the conclusion of an independent review and the appointment of a new CEO.
PFA chief executive Gordon Taylor pictured arriving at the players' union's AGM on Wednesday
Taylor has faced strong calls since November to leave his position after 38 years in the job
PFA chairman Ben Purkiss has followed Taylor in leaving the fractured players' union
No timescale has been provided but Taylor, 74, will remain at the helm for a process that could run until the end of this year, sparking anger among ex-pros who think he should leave immediately.
Taylor sought to save face on Wednesday, enlisting the help of an expensive PR agency to control some of the interviews he gave, before avoiding cameras and reporters by slipping out of a side door of the Midland Hotel in Manchester.
While some of his shellshocked senior allies stayed on the hotel premises, they declined to comment further. Purkiss, however, faced the media after what he admitted to this newspaper had been an 'incredibly difficult few months'.
It was Purkiss who gave the explosive interview to Sportsmail last November that revealed a civil war had erupted at the PFA.
The seriously-injured 34-year-old Walsall defender, who had never earned more than £60,000 a year, explained how his calls for an independent review had been met by Taylor — the highest paid trade union boss in the UK on a £2.2million salary — with an attempt to oust him on a technicality.
Taylor had informed the 92 PFA club delegates that the AGM had been adjourned because an issue had arisen with the eligibility of Purkiss to remain in his position as chairman.
As a consequence, Purkiss was forced to go public, and there followed a series of damaging revelations as part of a Sportsmail investigation that revealed potential breaches of trade union regulations and issues with PFA finances that prompted a Charity Commission investigation that remains in progress.
On Wednesday night former Sports Minister Tracey Crouch was among those who questioned why the courageous Purkiss also had to leave. 'Surely the first chairman to take on Gordon Taylor in pushing for wholesale modernisation is the one you want to keep,' she said.
In an interview with Sportsmail on Wednesday night, however, Purkiss said he could not be seen to be gaining personally from the biggest crisis in the history of the mega-rich union.
'A few people have questioned what I was doing and why I was doing it,' he said.
'I had to be clear that this was not for personal gain, that I was not positioning myself. I just had to do my job as the chairman of the PFA to the best of my ability, for the members. And as a member of the steering committee that will be formed, I have a chance to help effect change and leave the PFA in a better place.
'It has been an incredibly difficult few months. I've probably ruffled a few feathers and put a few noses out of joint. I didn't quite realise the traction it would get in the first place. But the PFA will be in a healthier place and that is important to me. I was very proud to be appointed chairman and I take the role very seriously.'
Taylor will leave behind a job that pays him £2.2million a year after 38 years of service
Taylor pictured with England boss Gareth Southgate and outgoing PFA chairman Purkiss
A statement issued at 3pm on Wednesday detailed the plan for the PFA. Thomas Linden QC will lead an independent review that will be conducted by Sport Resolutions and will examine the 'governance, management, policies, procedures and operations of the PFA'.
The statement said the management committee will oversee the review and will consider and publish the key findings and recommendations, with Taylor remaining in charge throughout the process. Further to that, a small steering group has been established to liaise with Sport Resolutions.
Once the review has been concluded, an independent process will begin to appoint a new CEO, after which Taylor, Purkiss and the management committee will step down at the AGM following the end of that process.
In the statement Taylor, who faced calls to resign from a group of
