Former Bradford City chairman and Valley Parade owner Gordon Gibb has launched his own "rescue bid" to buy the stricken club.

At the same time he attacked his treatment at the hands of supporters and the media after revealing that he had even received death threats from some fans.

And he said he was furious that the club's administrators Kroll had cast him as the major obstacle in efforts to save City.

Mr Gibb is known to be one of up to six parties which yesterday declared an interest in buying the football club.

As revealed in yesterday's Telegraph & Argus, former City chief executive Julian Rhodes also held talks with the club's administrators and today he confirmed himself as a potential purchaser.

But he has also said he is willing to talk to other parties in a bid to secure a future for the stricken Bantams.

Mr Rhodes will have a major say in the future of the club as one of its biggest creditors and his support would be required for any takeover bid.

On a frantic day of activity at Valley Parade, Mr Gibb offered to enter a bid for the club, despite admitting he was "totally disillusioned" by what had gone on.

And he said that - even if he bought the club - he would never set foot in the Valley Parade stadium again, having lost all the enthusiasm he ever had for the club.

Mr Gibb made it clear the sole motivating factor in his move was to protect his investment - made through his family pension fund - in purchasing the stadium.

Pleasure park owner Mr Gibb said the 'personal nature' of the accusations levelled against him had forced him to review his family's security arrangements, and said he had received threatening hate mail from City fans.

He told the T&A that he had written to the administrators' legal representatives claiming that he had been defamed in correspondence.

He said that the reason he had not succumbed under pressure from the administrators to agree to a rent free period on Valley Parade before yesterday's 10am deadline was due to legalities surrounding the Flamingo Land pension fund that owns the stadium.

In a statement issued last night, he said: "With a heavy heart and feeling totally disillusioned I today contacted the administrator's of the Club with a rescue package proposal. I am at a loss for words at how badly I have been dealt with by the media and the fans who have portrayed me as being the exclusive reason why the Club cannot progress.

"This is ironic in the extreme as the Gibbs are the only entity who have not profited in any way on the back of the club.

"In any case, as nobody else is willing, I will act as a 'night watchman' for the short-term until someone else can be found to take over the club. I do not intend to go near the ground or attend any matches, such has been the abuse I have had to contend with recently, but I will oversee matters as best I can until I can be replaced."

Last night, Mr Gibb told the T&A that he had made an offer to the administrators based on "what I can afford".

"There have been a lot of grand gestures made by other individuals, but I have made a clear and concise movement," he said.

Referring to the ongoing row surrounding the payment of the £300,000 rent due on Valley Parade, Mr Gibb insisted that he had a legal obligation to seek a return on his investment.

He claimed he would have faced an investigation by the Inland Revenue if he had not sought the best return for the pension fund which owns the ground.

"It is quite simple," he said. "If any agreement or deal is not in the commercial interests of the pension fund, then you cannot enter into it. This deal obviously wasn't.

"It would have been a contravention of Inland Revenue rules and I was not at liberty to do that... I will do a lot for the club, but I won't go to jail for it."