Aldershot Town Football Club has confirmed that Deane Wood has taken over as chairman and owner, replacing Shahid Azeem. Wood's decision comes after an approach from an external consortium which had expressed an interest in taking control of the club. Shahid Azeem and fellow director John Leppard have written off their entire loans to the club and are in the process of transferring their shares to Deane at no cost. Deane's existing loans are also being converted into shares as part of this transition, and both Azeem and Leppard are stepping down as directors. The club say that Wood's decision comes after an approach from an external consortium which had expressed an interest in taking control of the club. Azeem and his consortium took over the club in 2013 after the Shots had gone into administration following relegation from the Football League. Azeem's reign as chairman is the longest in the club's history. Aldershot Town are currently just outside the National League relegation places and recently had to issue a statement refuting rumours that they were going into administration again.