Jack Pearce fears his days as Bognor boss may be numbered.

Pearce has been in the Nyewood Lane hot-seat for 28 years but believes his position will come under threat if new investors put money into the club.

The Rocks are planning to become a limited company in the coming months in a bid to raise much-needed funds to ease their financial problems.

Pearce is fully behind the move but accepts it may mean the end of a reign which began in 1976 and has only been broken by a two-year interlude in the early Nineties.

He said: "We are going to become a limited company this year and, hopefully, that will encourage a few more people to invest in the club because that is what we desperately need.

"If that happens then there might be a change in direction. My influence at the club may wane but that is the price I've got to pay if the club is going to progress.

"Because I have been at Bognor such a long time a lot of people consider it to be my club and anybody coming in is going to find it hard to accept that.

"I would love to stay as manager but I will quite understand if someone comes in and has different ideas on how the club should be run. There is a chance any new investor will want me to stay but it is a lot more likely they will want a change."

Pearce first arrived at Nyewood Lane as a player in 1970 and was thrust into the manager's role just six years later with the club bottom of the Southern League.

Despite almost his entire squad leaving due to a lack of funds, Pearce managed to keep the Rocks up by going unbeaten in the final eight games and was offered the job on a permanent basis.

Except for a two-year break, he has been in charge ever since and with more than 1,500 games under his belt is one of the longest serving managers in the game.

Under Pearce's guidance, Bognor have climbed to their highest ever level on the football pyramid after being promoted to the Conference south in 2004 but his success could also prove his undoing.

The Rocks have one of the lowest budgets in their division and with a new £500,000 stand planned for the start of next season to meet FA regulations, they have no choice but to seek fresh investment.

Pearce added: "We cannot progress at this level unless new money comes into the club. At this level you cannot survive on gate receipts and sponsorship any more.

"We are stuck in a vicious circle. We need to attract more fans to pay for wages and ground improvements but fans will only come if you have better players and are successful and that all costs more money which we haven't got."

Meanwhile, Pearce is due to have contract talks with Ben Watson tonight in the hope of convincing the former Albion striker to commit his future to the club.

Watson was the top scorer at Nyewood Lane last season and attracted a £25,000 bid from Rushden and Diamonds in January.