A BAIL-OUT package for the cash-strapped lower divisions finally appears to be moving in sight.

The £50 million on offer from the Premier League could be agreed after another meeting this week.

Turned down a month ago in an act of solidarity with the Championship, League One and League Two clubs are ready to accept what is on the table.

The second tier, meanwhile, will sort out their own separate arrangement.

But nothing is a done deal as yet.

And for the clubs beneath the Championship, the clock is ticking.

City, as with everyone else, have holes to fill though they are not at the emergency stage like some others.

The extended absence of fans – and the knock-on effect with commercial cash – means the Bantams will be around £1.1 million down in expected revenue.

They do not anticipate recouping all of that from any help from above – and are not interested in the £30 million loan portion of the money the Premier League are prepared to release.

Those in more desperate straits will eye every penny greedily.

But City believe the cash, when it does come, should be distributed equally regardless of the differing situations of each club. It would also avoid any potential in-fighting.

“That’s the only fair way of doing it,” said City’s director of communications and commercial Ryan Sparks.

“Some clubs will argue that they should have more than others but why? We’re all in the same boat.

“With a club like ours arguably bigger in fanbase and sponsorship than others, it’s a case of the bigger they are the harder they fall.

“We are missing seven figures of revenue and I’m not sure that’s the same with some others in our division.

“We could make a case we would like £700-800,000 that we are missing in overall ticket revenue plus maybe £300,000 in commercial.

“We aren’t going to go to the EFL and say we need £1.1 million because obviously that would see us make a tidy profit.

“But that’s what I believe we would have done any way this season.

“The big challenge is ensuring the EFL do it fairly.

“What we don’t want to see is any club, shall we say, rewarded for financial failings.

“Once you get into a situation where clubs might be awarded bigger sums because of their immediate needs, that could create problems.

“I don’t think the EFL need that or the clubs either. The best thing to do is divide it evenly.”

Sparks has been privy to the conversations among League Two heads and knows how urgently some need the financial support.

“It’s not an exaggeration to say there are a dozen clubs in short-term trouble and they need cash injections to help them.

“We are not currently one of those clubs but it goes without saying that there are obviously holes in our finances the longer this goes on. We’re well down on revenue, we all know that.

“You could see the guys in the meeting when we were talking only wanted to know two things – how much and what is the potential damage with that because we all know that nothing in life is free.”

The government are again being quizzed on when they might consider unlocking the turnstiles. As it stands, there is not even a distant date for clubs to aim towards.

It just increases the urgency for the EFL to hammer out some kind of financial lifeline from the Premier League.

Sparks added: “Fair play to the EFL for taking this on. They are obviously trying to fight the fight for the clubs and find a way of safeguarding their futures.

“If there are some funds to come, it will obviously help prop up the cashflow a little bit further.

“One thing I’m very mindful of looking towards the 2021-22 season is what’s the right time to do season tickets.

“That is, of course, if we can’t have fans back before then. We don’t want to do that too early.

“We took our season tickets off sale because we didn’t believe there was a viable product to sell.

“We wouldn’t want to put them on sale if we didn’t think the same.

“Once we know what next season will look like, and everyone on the planet will be hoping it will be as normal as can be, then any cash injection we receive will help us keep moving to a point where we can get our season tickets on sale at the right time.

“But in the meantime, we won’t be in a position of financial strife while we attempt to do that. That’s what it can do for us.

“For some clubs, I’m sure it will help them get through the next three months.”

Meanwhile, City will be distributing current season-tickets next month in anticipation of any potential change regarding closed-doors games.