Bradford Park Avenue director Kevin Hainsworth spoke of his ‘embarrassment’ over the closure threat that sent the club’s fans into panic mode ahead of their opening pre-season friendly.

Avenue and their new management team of Simon Collins and his assistant Peter Davenport begin their warm-up games at Horsfall Stadium today, with Durham City providing the opposition for a 2pm kick-off.

News leaked out this week that a petition to wind-up Bradford Park Avenue, brought by the taxman, was to be heard in a London court.

Hainsworth was quick to dispel fears that the club could fold under pressure from Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.

“It is all sorted out now and the money has been transferred from one bank to another so, fingers crossed, unless anything else is hiding away, everything is ready for the coming season,” said Hainsworth.

The Avenue director admitted his culpability in the scare that set tongues wagging. He also reiterated that the club is financially sound and does not rely on handouts from the businesses of the board members.

“It was all to do with getting our accounts in on time and we were late with that. A lot of the things that were caused by that tardiness happened while I was away on holiday, and it is more embarrassing than anything else.

“On my return from holiday, it was brought to my attention that a payment to HMRC was late but I was led to believe that it was not a major problem. Had I realised what the outcome would be I would have prioritised that issue.

“Before we knew what was happening, the winding-up order was going through the legal process and was made public. I thought we had until July 14 to pay the tax bill but it seems it should have been paid earlier.

“I spoke to HMRC as soon as I realised and they were satisfied that it would be settled in full. The banks take their time to transfer funds once you have instructed them so it couldn’t be stopped there and then.”

Hainsworth insists that lessons have been learned from the fiasco and that the club are not reliant on any one its main directors.

The question had been raised following rumours that the core business of Avenue’s chief executive officer Bob Blackburn, Kelvic, was also the subject of speculation regarding financial worries.

Hainsworth added, “The club is solvent in its own way, I can assure you of that.

"I do all the budgets and I’m very conservative with all of the estimates throughout a season. The future of the club would not be under threat if the business of any of the board members suffered a loss.

“In fact there will be a war chest that could be opened if needs be after Christmas, when we might need an extra push and other clubs are traditionally cutting back.

"If Bob, Dr John Dean or myself have to put any more money in at any time, we will because it’s what we do.

"We are fans first and foremost and we want success for the club, even if it means we have dig into our pockets once again.”