City are appealing to local businesses to assist with the Valley Parade rent in exchange for sponsorship – and buy them time to talk.

Delicate negotiations are taking place involving the club’s life president Jack Tordoff and former chairman Gordon Gibb.

City are proposing staggered rental payments to slash the overheads they currently pay on the stadium and office block and hope to have an answer within the next couple of weeks.

But while private talks go ahead, they are also looking at other possibilities to help ease the estimated £1.2m annual bill and enable them to stay at their 108-year home.

Director of operations David Baldwin revealed that one company are considering whether to chip in – with the club ready to throw in sponsorship of the Midland Road stand.

He said: “We’re exploring all options available to us to preserve Valley Parade.

“The biggest thing at the moment is that we are under time constraints and the clock is ticking.

“If our rent was covered for the year by a collective group or individual, that would allow us time for much more in-depth negotiations without feeling rushed.

“There needs to be an independent body or company that does it, otherwise it would seem that the club are just trying to take more money from people.

“But we’ve put a proposal out to one company already to assist in the rent. If that were to happen, they could have the Midland Road stand as a sponsorship. There are ways and means and we would give anybody interested in helping a good return in terms of marketing and promotion.

“If someone were to cover a quarter or the first two quarters of the rent, then it would give us that added time to get something sorted.”

Fans are watching with growing concern at the drama playing out off the field. City have already sold 6,000 season-tickets for next term at Christmas but cannot make any more available until their Valley Parade future is secured.

Baldwin added: “We’ve had some people suggesting we put £50 or £60 more on the season tickets and get 10,000 to do that. But it doesn’t work that way – you put the prices up and less people will buy.

“But there is nothing to stop individual fans collectively setting up a bond.

“We’ve set up the Friends of Bradford City, which is an independent fund-raising group.

“It had its inaugural meeting at the Burton game and there are 12 people on the committee. But that’s going to build.”