Bradford City Football Club has sold its historic Valley Parade home for £5 million to ensure the club can start the new season tomorrow.
The debt-ridden club today revealed it raced against time to secure the sale of the ground, along with the shop and office buildings, in a last-gap effort to raise enough cash to survive.
The deal was finally completed when London-based Development Securities Plc agreed to buy the offices, shop and Thorncliffe Road car park for £2.55 million.
It followed frantic summer negotiations as the club gradually ran out of cash.
The deal will see ownership of the Bradford & Bingley Stadium pass to the trustees of the Flamingo Land Pension Fund for a similar sum. The £5 million will be used to help repay the existing mortgage with finance giant Lombard over a ten-year rather than five-year period. A lump sum has been paid to Lombard with a further £2.5 million due.
The principles of the contract were agreed by chairman Gordon Gibb in May, when it appeared the club's future had been secured.
But the Telegraph & Argus has learned that an original third party, which was expected to buy the offices and shop complex, pulled out of the deal.
Mr Gibb, chief executive Julian Rhodes and managing director Shaun Harvey desperately sought a buyer to keep the club afloat. The situation became increasingly perilous because of the lack of an income from matches during the summer.
Today Mr Harvey denied the ground had been sold too cheaply.
"The directors felt that this was the best option available to the club in the long-term," he said. "The aim is for the properties to return to the club's ownership at the earliest opportunity when the club's financial strength allows.
"The effect of this deal will be to release the stranglehold on the club's cashflow. In the current climate, it is very difficult to generate finance for any football club.
"With the final piece of the jigsaw in place, we can finally concentrate on building a Bradford City for the future rather than concerning ourselves with its pure survival."
Under the terms of the deal, City will rent the ground and shop and offices off the new owners on separate 25-year leases. An extension to the lease on the stadium has already been agreed.
The club will enjoy a 12-month rent free period on the stadium and an 18-month rent free period on the shops and offices.
Matthew Weiner, director of investments for Development Securities, said the deal provided an "above average" return for the plc.
He said: "The (shop) unit benefits from retail planning permission and forms an integral part of the football club operation. We expect that Bradford will be able to sustain a football club for the long term."
The Lombard mortgage, which necessitated the sale of the ground, was used to fund the massive Sunwin Stand development in City's final Premier League season.
It was one of several major debts which pushed the club into administration last summer with debts totalling about £36 million.
Many of those were wiped out when creditors were asked to write off thousands of pounds due to them. But the club has also been forced to re-negotiate many of its other contracts - including players' salaries - over longer pay back periods.
It had been feared Lombard could claim ownership of the ground and other facilities if City failed to make the due payments on the mortgage. That would have almost certainly led to the club's liquidation.
City have played at the ground in Valley Parade since the club was formed 100 years ago. Before then, it was the home of City's predecessors, Manningham Rugby Club.
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