Haxifax Town are braced for expulsion from the Conference, just two years after missing out on promotion to the Football League.
The club have been set a deadline by the Conference committee of May 10th to settle their ownership issues and deal with creditors, with current losses estimated at up to £30,000 a month. Even the Adminstrator of the club admits the date is 'a big ask'.
The proposed owners, and only bidders, are offering to sustain the club whilst they strive for profitability - but have offered only 2.5p in the pound for existing creditors for a CVA. The taxman is owed a sufficiently large figure to be able to scupper any CVA offering almost on their own and with a massive creditors list a failure of any deal is very likely without the taxman's approval.
The Shaymen have spent the bulk of the last 15 years living hand-to-mouth. Their first relegation to the Conference, in 1993, saw them bounce around aimlessly in non-league until they won a return in 1998 to most people's surprise. They returned just three years later after flailing around the wrong end of the basement throughout their second FL tenure. Aside from their narrow miss in 2006, they have fleeted with relegation almost continuously ever since.
It is only two years ago that Ryan Green's decider seperated the Bulls and Shaymen at Leicester. It is now only two weeks until four divisions may seperate the sides.