The Friday night drink tasted good – if a little on the costly side.

Julian Rhodes and Mark Lawn were quick to toast the deal they had struck at 4pm.

City’s place at Valley Parade is secure again for now while the joint-chairmen, together with Rhodes’s father David, have taken control of the office block.

The sale figure was a good one. Prupim, the developers connected with the Prudential, were happy to smooth the deal through.

But it still meant the club’s power- brokers, under the guise of newly-formed holding company BC Bantams Limited, had to dig deep again.

Lawn had to take out an overdraft while Rhodes borrowed money against his own house.

“My wife is delighted ...” he sighed with a rueful smile. “We’ve had to part with a lot of money again but at least we have some security. We’re not just throwing money into a black hole.”

The deal itself sped through within a fortnight but Rhodes had first tested the water with Prupim in January.

“We stopped paying rent around then,” said Rhodes. “We had an agent working for us in the city (London) but it never crossed our minds to buy it.

“I just explained the situation and asked if they could help because the last thing we wanted to do was leave.

“We had a few discussions, got passed further up the chain and then spoke about doing a deal just over two weeks ago.

“It’s very quick for a commercial property deal to be done, especially a building of this size.

“Prupim were very sensible about the whole thing and offered what we think is a good price. I hope they’re happy with the deal because we certainly are.”

While it does not spell an end to City’s financial fears, the deal eases the pressure. The wheels can turn again, allowing the club to name a manager at last and put season tickets back on sale.

With no news coming out of Valley Parade, rumours have been flying and Lawn admitted it had been hard not to spill the beans.

He said: “Supporters have got to realise that while we are in negotiations we can’t really say anything.

“We couldn’t have done it any other way than to keep them in the dark.

“It is frustrating for everyone, especially the staff we’ve got here who don’t know what’s going on. They want to know that their jobs are secure.

“But until 4pm on Friday, we weren’t in a position to say anything.”

They will explore all options over the office block. The Bradford Business Centre could be relaunched or, alternatively, the reluctant owners could push for their own quick sale. The on-going search for financial support will go on.

Lawn added: “We want to say to local businesses ‘let’s get this filled’. Rates are at an all-time low and every pound we get here will help on the pitch.

“Along with all the boxes and the 1911 Club, we need to get the place full. We’ve got a great lunchtime restaurant – as good as anything round here – and we want to pull people in.”