Worthington is due to meet the Inland Revenue, the club's main creditor, next Wednesday and he is likely to be in confident mood.

This week he is putting the finishing touches to a preferential loan deal for £20,000 which, when added to the £30,000 raised from fans buying life membership and club shares, should be enough to halt the sale of the ground.

"Nothing is going to be signed and sealed this week because the receiver is on holiday. But things are looking a lot brighter for the future. We have virtually raised the £50,000 necessary, although the momentum of share buying needs to continue," he said.

Indeed, should the receiver agree to take the legal steps next week to halt the ground sale, Witton will still need to pay off the remainder of the club's debts, which could be as much as another £50,000, by September 1.

Mr Worthington hopes to reach that target by selling the one acre of land at the Platt Motors end of the ground.

As for this breakthrough, he added: "There has been a real turnaround in income in the last few weeks. I don't know what has triggered it. The press coverage has been important and the meeting with fans two weeks ago had an impact, but I think the speech by Tom Stelfox was a key factor. He emphasised how important it is to buy shares as that gives the fans a real say in the future of the club."

ON Saturday Witton's game with Alfreton kicks off at 1pm, allowing fans to watch both that game and the England clash with Poland.

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.