Geoffrey Richmond today revealed the moment he feared that Bradford City's days were over.

The former chairman braced himself for the worst when plans to clear the club for the new Football League season hit a stumbling block last Friday night.

Two hours after the 4pm deadline that had been set by the league, City had still not been given the all-clear.

Mr Richmond said: "That was the lowest point of the summer. When the deadline had gone we all seriously started to think that there was going to be no Bradford City.

"Until now the supporters don't know how close we were to losing it. There were issues still to be sorted and we believed that it was all over.

"The Football League had imposed two conditions in our meeting with them three days earlier. One was that there should be an agreement between Mr Gibb and the Rhodes - that wasn't a problem.

"The second part was that there had to be a legal agreement between the club and the Professional Footballers' Association. That was the problem.

"Thankfully it got sorted although even today the agreement is still not documented. It is agreed but it's still not signed and sealed."

Mr Richmond knows he would have carried the can if the club had gone under - a nightmare scenario that would have had massive implications on the city as a whole.

"The football club is absolutely critical to Bradford. To lose it would have done irreparable damage not just to those supporters who pay through the turnstiles but to the city's confidence and image nationally," he said.

"There were times when I felt we were going to lose this. But I realised many times during the summer that if I ever gave the impression to the administrators, staff, supporters or the league or anybody that I wasn't supremely confident the club would survive then it would turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy.

"The strain and the pressure during the summer has been at times unbearable. The knowledge that the club may not survive has been almost too much to bear.

"The family and my wife Elizabeth in particular, have been absolutely magnificent through this. Without Elizabeth's support I don't think I would have kept my sanity, she has been so strong and supportive."

Mr Richmond's regime divided the fans. Some will always treasure the high spots and unforgettable moments but for others, their memories will be permanently tarnished by the financial chaos of his final season.

He said: "Opinion has always been black or white but hopefully, in the long term, there will be a coming together.

"Nobody forced me to take the decisions that I took which led to this situation. But, although I'm not proud of it, the figures being thrown around were way unrealistic - the club was never £36m in debt, more like £12m and rather less than that if you take into account the assets.

"Going into administration was Hobson's choice, not the chairman's wheeze to get out of a few debts. We had no other option."