250,000 'thank-you's!

The appeal - launched on May 14 with a £10,000 donation from the Telegraph & Argus - is thought to have been the biggest fundraising effort ever undertaken by fans of a British football club.

Generous T&A readers, City fans and local businesses have played a crucial role in keeping the club alive during the most difficult financial crisis in its 101-year history.

But the club is not out of the woods yet - despite a deal being done to keep the Bantams playing at Valley Parade next season.

And today the T&A is urging fans to keep up the fundraising efforts as the club still faces a short-term funding shortfall to cover wages and other costs and to help manager Colin Todd build a squad for the new season.

Today's announcement that the appeal, including £57,000 raised by the Bradford City Supporters' Trust, has hit £250,000, coincides with confirmation by both former chairman Gordon Gibb and chief executive Julian Rhodes that they have agreed a deal over the future of the stadium.

The deal, which will see the Bradford City Steering Committee and Mr Rhodes take over the rent payments for the ground with a view to buying it at a future date, means efforts can now be made towards taking the club out of administration.

Mr Rhodes - who plans to fund the club, which will be run principally by the steering committee - said City could be out of administration by the end of September.

Today he stressed the vital role the fans had played through the T&A campaign in keeping City in business. "I think that the efforts of the fans have been simply staggering," said Mr Rhodes.

"The appeal has been instrumental in keeping the club going. We are not there yet, but what the fans have done has shown the strength of support in the city and kept the club trading while all the issues were being negotiated."

Jim Brown, a leading member of the steering committee which has played a major role in brokering the deal on the stadium, also thanked the fans for their efforts.

However, he admitted the club still faced a major cash shortfall in the short-term and the supporters' efforts would be crucial in ensuring the club could start the new season.

"The fans have been absolutely wonderful in what they have done, through donations both large and small," said Mr Brown. "Without that, we wouldn't even be talking today.

"It has been touch and go keeping things going, but without that £250,000, we would have been down a black hole by now.

"It is disappointing that we still have a shortfall, but we are fighting on, and now we need every bit of help to get us through. In adversity, the supporters have always been there to play their part and it is up to everybody concerned to get this club back on a level playing field."

Fellow steering committee member Steve Longbottom said: "It is clear that what the fans and the T&A have done has been nothing short of absolutely fantastic and they deserve full credit for helping to ensure that Bradford City survives."

T&A Editor Perry Austin-Clarke said: "The effort by fans, readers and local businesses to keep City alive has been unbelievable.

"There is an incredible determination to save the club and fans should be under no illusions that without their efforts to date City would have closed down weeks ago.

"There seems to be a real commitment from the steering committee taking the club forward to reward all that hard work with a genuine effort to become much more of a community club and - if we can get through this current crisis with one last big push - I believe that will mean a much brighter and more open future for City.

"It's a difficult thing to ask fans who have already given so much to come up with even more financial support but it would be a waste of all they've done so far not to carry on until the club is safe."

Bradford City Supporters' Trust chairman Mark Boocock said he believed the fundraising efforts by City fans had broken all records.

"We have come a long way since the appeal was launched on May 13 and there is no doubt that the club is in a better position today than it was then," he said.

"What the efforts of the fans, with the help of the Trust and the T&A, has achieved has been nothing short of a miracle. As far as I am aware, it is the biggest fundraising effort by football fans ever and shows the strength of feeling among fans both in Bradford and overseas."

Mr Rhodes, who had pledged to match the £250,000 raised by fans should a series of key conditions be met, was today in talks with the administrators and steering committee.

Although some of the key conditions surrounding Mr Rhodes's pledged investment have still not been resolved, he is discussing how the money could be best injected and used.

After the T&A started its appeal on May 14 with a £10,000 donation, other leading businesses - including car dealers JCT600, which gave £10,000 - backed the appeal and Bradford Council chipped in by donating £20,000.

But it has been the efforts of ordinary fans which have really carried the appeal towards its £250,000 target.

Businessman and loyal Bantam Steve Templeton ate a pint full of live maggots to raise thousands of pounds, while other fans raised money through sponsored walks and runs.

On Claret and Amber day, schools, firms and other organisations wore their colours with pride and collected sponsorship money.

The biggest boost to the fundraising came at the T&A Save Our City Pro-Celebrity football match at Valley Parade when a galaxy of footballers and celebrities played to a crowd of nearly 10,000 and helped to raise almost £100,000.