The axe finally fell on Joe L.Brown yesterday when he was fired as the Bermuda Football Association's administative assistant.

Following weeks of speculation regarding his tenuous job status, the 56-year-old former sports journalist was "summarily dismissed'' during an afternoon visit to his office by BFA second vice-president Elroy Ratteray.

A BFA press release shed no light on his firing but Brown's lawyer Richard Hector revealed that it was because Brown had the locks changed on his office door.

Brown had the locks changed last year after claiming that official documents had been removed from his office while he was on vacation. Brown's actions seem to be justified under BFA bye-laws which declare the administrative assistant's office "out of bounds'' and must be secured at all times.

"Following the recommendations of the directors concerning recent action, in particular the changing of locks, the executive and are satisfied that conduct has been such to justify summarried dismissal,'' was the reason given for termination and Hector said he found this "very odd and preconceived''.

"It seemed forecast that he was to be dismissed and Mr. Marshall had decided it was going to be `him or me'. I would not be surprised in the slightest if I was given instruction to file for unfair dismissal.'' Indeed the grounds for removal appear shaky and add to that the fact that only four of the 13 members of the executive committee voted for Brown's release the picture points more to a vendetta against Brown by a select few individuals.

The decision had been reached before the semi-annual general meeting on Monday night when, with 11 persons present -- Marshall and Fred Lewis were absentees -- the vote was 4-2 with four abstentions and the chairman, Richard Thompson, not required to cast a vote. Of the four voting in favour three were directors who made the original recommendation and the other a club representative.

Other office staff were asked to leave while Ratteray handed Brown the letter signed by president Charlie Marshall informing him of the decision. Ratteray proceeded to wait as Brown cleared his desk and then left the premises, ending almost six years in the BFA hot seat.

Rumours of a feud between Marshall and Brown stem back to Marshall's days as a referee when his name was not submitted by the association to FIFA, soccer's world governing body, for their international referees list. Marshall's name was not submitted because of a mix-up over the required physical test and Marshall blamed Brown for what he saw as an administrative oversight.

More recently, just prior to Bermuda's return match against Haiti in the World Cup, the pair clashed after Brown had flown to Miami to secure visas for the Bermuda players without notifying the president.

One person surprised and dismayed by this turn of events was former president Donald Dane, who appointed Brown and whom Marshall succeeded in November 1992.

"It's unfortunate for football that things have come this far,'' said Dane yesterday. "I always thought he did and excellent job. He basically is the heavy so people do not look at him in favourable terms because he is the one that has to bring tidings (good or bad).

"We have already seen two young fellows resign (treasurer Kent Bascome and club representtative Mark Trott). I know it's not going to end here but escalate to where people start forgetting why they are there.'' Most of Dane's appointments have now gone. His handpicked national coach Gary Darrell has resigned -- although his resignation has not yet been accepted by the coaching committee -- and Brown is now out of the picture.

Said Dane: "There were a lot of things that went down -- within the association. People used to say that Gary, Joe and I were a package and once one went we all would go. I don't think he (Marshall) gave Joe a fair chance.'' The fact that Brown managed to hold onto his position this long is amazing in itself. None of his three predecessors lasted longer than 18 months.

Eugene Pearman was fired while Angela Smith and Michael Glasford reached `mutual terms of departure'.

Brown entered under a shroud of controversy, with some affiliates objecting to him because he was an American (He has since been granted Bermuda status). But he said at the time he was "aware of the pitfalls that caused the demise of the three previous administrators'' and that it was his "responsibility to promote the Bermuda Football Association''.

MOVING OUT -- Joe Brown, pictured right with former tresurer Kent Bascome before Monday's semi-annual general meeting.