SAVED!

After the most traumatic summer in the club's 101-year history, City last night received the long-awaited clearance from the Football League.

The news effectively guarantees the club's safety for the foreseeable future and steering committee chairman Jim Brown said fans could look forward to the new season "with real hope and optimism for the first time".

It means that former City chief executive Julian Rhodes was today injecting £250,000, matching the sum raised through the Telegraph & Argus Save Our City Appeal and Bradford City Supporters' Trust.

That money will enable the club to pay its playing and non-playing staff their wages for July today. And it is a major step towards the effort to get the club out of administration.

Administrators Kroll said that a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) outlining an offer to creditors would now be sent out early next week.

Joint administrator Neil Brackenbury said: "This is a very positive step and allows the club to start the new football season, during which we hope the CVA will be approved.

"This would allow the club to exit from administration, thereby securing its future. We are extremely grateful for both the patience and support shown by all the staff during these last few weeks. Their action in deferring wages has enabled the club to continue while discussions continued.

"We appreciate that this summer has been a worrying time for the supporters, but we hope that today's news provides them with renewed optimism for the season ahead."

The clearance, which was received late yesterday afternoon, capped another hectic day of activity at Valley Parade.

On Wednesday, the Football League asked for additional information about the club's cash flows to be provided and there was further correspondence yesterday.

The League was demanding guarantees that City would be able to continue in administration for the duration of the season if the proposed CVA was unsuccessful.

A spokesman for the Football League said: "I can confirm that Bradford City have been given permission to start the 2004/05 season, subject to review at a later date, and the administrators have been asked to get a CVA in place and call a meeting of creditors as quickly as possible."

Mr Brown stressed the role played by supporters in keeping City in business by raising more than £250,000.

"This news comes as a big relief," said Mr Brown today. "We have been living under a cloud for long enough, but having been given this news it means we can now really start planning for the future and looking forward to the administrators leaving.

"In all fairness, the Telegraph & Argus and the supporters have gone far beyond what anyone could have expected of them and have been absolutely wonderful. Without their help, we would not have got anywhere near this situation.

"I know some of the fans are upset regarding the season ticket situation but, at the end of the day, this could well be the first step towards us getting control of our football club back again and then we can start to mend some bridges.

"I think that, for the first time, we can look forward with a little bit of optimism and real hope, not just with a slim chance of hope."

T&A editor Perry Austin-Clarke said: "This is a fantastic step forward for the club. It means that all the hard work that fans put in to raise funds for the Save Our City Appeal to keep the club alive during the summer has paid off. There is real light at the end of the tunnel and all that is needed now is for City fans to show their ongoing support by turning out in big numbers to back the team in League One."

Mark Boocock, chairman of the Bradford City Supporters' Trust, hailed the announcement as "great news".

"At last everyone at the club can get on with their preparations for the new season without any doubt lingering in the back of their minds," he said. "We are all looking forward with renewed confidence and to kicking-off on August 7. It would have been a real nightmare if, after all the efforts of the supporters, then we had not received this clearance. This justifies every effort and everything we have worked towards."

As news of the Football League's decision filtered through to fans, many flocked to the banqueting suite at Valley Parade for the latest Supporters' Trust fundraising event. More than £1,250 was raised at a race night organised by supporters Cath Tomlinson and Mike Harrison. The event also added £320 to the pot for Wayne Jacobs' testimonial fund, with a special auction race held in his honour.

Cath Tomlinson said she was delighted by the amount raised and thanked sponsors of the event including: Noble Contract Services, Haigy's Bar, The Fighting Cock, Abrahams and Carlisle, W&M Motors, Procardia and York International, Northside Truck and Van Centre, Bradnorth, Sovereign Health Care, Chatahs and Thomas Cook.