City will step up their campaign to get Gordon Gibb to the negotiating table now that league safety is guaranteed.

The club plan to fire off another letter to the former chairman after getting no response from their initial plea for a rent reduction.

Having made sure of survival on the pitch, Mark Lawn admitted the clock is ticking over their future at Valley Parade. They are hoping that the Gibb family pension fund, who own the stadium, and office block landlord Prupim will agree to cut their £370,000 annual rent bills for a staggered payment scheme based on which division the club are in.

Lawn said: “We’ve got to start to speak with the landlords and be realistic. Hopefully we can talk and we’ll get a great response from them.

“Nobody wants to leave Valley Parade but Bradford City can’t exist there unless we get the rent down – and it’s got to be both of them.”

Read the full story in today's Telegraph & Argus