A hundred years of proud sporting history hang in the balance today.

The notion that tomorrow's home match against Burnley could be Bradford City's last league football match is too horrendous to contemplate but, unfortunately, that is the reality facing the club with just five days to go before it could be plunged into liquidation.

Not only would this be a horrible fate for the tens of thousands of fans who have supported the club from both the stands and their armchairs, many of them for decades, to face, it would be a messy and devastating end for the club in its centenary year and a bitter insult to the memory of the 56 fans who lost their lives in one of the greatest tragedies in footballing history, the Valley Parade fire.

There is no point in dwelling over how the club came to be in its parlous financial state, although many Leeds United fans may be looking over their shoulders at this moment.

What is done is done. The question now is what the future holds.

It is to be hoped that, with no other players in the game and no shining knight about to appear on the horizon, that Julian Rhodes and his father, Professor David Rhodes, will be able to find the means to pull the club back from the brink before their current cash injection runs out on Wednesday.

The fact that this father and son team, who have been two of City's staunchest supporters, are teetering on the edge of walking away from the club is a nightmare scenario.

Undoubtedly, there is an element of gamesmanship in the protracted negotiations because they will want to get the best deal possible out of the creditors.

But they are not a bottomless pit and, if they can't arrive at an arrangement with which they are comfortable, then they can't really be blamed for doubting if they have a future running the club.

That leaves the question of what else can be done and who else can contribute?

City fans can contribute by turning out in force and putting their hands in their pockets. However, only £3,089 was raised from the 17,000 fans who attended the free game against Watford earlier this month. And that suggests the prospects of generating the £500,000 needed to keep the club afloat until the end of the season are beyond the best efforts of even the most optimistic fans.

Should Bradford Council bail the club out?

City fans can be forgiven for perhaps thinking that the club hasn't enjoyed the same support as Bradford Bulls, especially with regard to the deal done over the Osdal Stadium lease.

But, on the other hand, will the majority of council tax payers thank the authority for ploughing resources badly needed for local services into saving a club which looks likely to be in the Second Division next year, attracting fewer than the 10,000 fans who regularly attend now, especially if that means the Council buying the ground for two, three or even four times its market value to lease it back to the club?

But the impact of the loss of a senior football league side could, potentially, be far greater for the future of Bradford.

What other major city has lost its football club or exists without one?

If nothing else, the club keeps Bradford's name alive in a national sporting arena. With the greatest respect to Bradford Bulls, rugby league does not have the same national profile as football and Valley Parade is one of the most famous grounds in the country.

What we don't really know is whether or not the loss of the club would damage Bradford's regeneration efforts and whether or not the city can carve out a successful niche for its future without a major football club.

The question is, do we want to try?