BURY FC’S supporters trust is attempting to have the club placed into administration in a desperate attempt to save it from extinction.

The town's football club is facing an increasingly uncertain future as financial problems continue to mount amid calls for owner Steve Dale to sell up.

The club, who were promoted to League One this season, are due to appear in the High Court again later this month to face another winding-up petition over unpaid debts.

Hundreds of concerned supporters gathered at Bury Town Hall’s Elizabethan Suite this evening to discuss plans to save the 134-year-old club.

Forever Bury chairman Dave Giffard told the meeting that his group were in the process of convincing the club's main creditor, Capital Bridge, to submit an application to enter the club into administration and was hopeful that they would do so.

The move is intended to wrestle control from Mr Dale, who only took over the club back in December.

It is hoped that the application will be ready in time to be presented to a judge when the club returns to the High Court on June 19.

Should it prove successful, administrators would be appointed and their job would be to assess the club’s financial situation before either minimising losses or trying to find a buyer.

In accordance with EFL rules, Bury would also be docked 12 points from the start of next season.

Mr Giffard also revealed that a number of parties were still interested in buying Bury, and the group were working with the club's director Matt McCarthy to negotiate a deal to sell it before the court date in order to avoid administration.

However, any takeover would ultimately need to be sanctioned by Mr Dale.

Mr Giffard said: “The main drive is to remove one man. There are two things we can do – we can facilitate the sale of the club and try and get by or get the application in place to go into administration.

“The aim is to do both of those at the same time. We can stop the application if a buyer comes in.

“We are doing everything in our power so that the judge has got an option on the 19th. If we do not do that then we would be liquidated.”

Mr Giffard added that funding to pay for the administrators could come from a number of sources. He refused to go into detail, but reassured fans that the club’s home stadium, Gigg Lane, would not be put at risk.

However, fans were told that staff and players would likely have to be let go in order to cut costs and ensure the business was “viable” again.

Earlier today, manager Ryan Lowe and fans favourite Nicky Adams announced their departures from the club, moving to Plymouth Argyle and Northampton Town respectively.

Addressing the meeting, Bury North MP James Frith warned that the club found itself at “an existential moment”, but urged fans to remain optimistic.

He said: “We are in a better position than it feels.

“We are at risk of not seeing the wood for the trees and not seeing a clear way forward, but we are an attractive club to an investor.”

However, he warned that any future owner would need to be properly vetted in order to avoid a similar situation reoccuring.

“We cannot jump from the frying pan into the fire,” said Mr Frith.

“This is such an important community asset, so we have got to do things in a new way.”

Mr Frith added that he had spoken to a number of people, including Accrington Stanley owner Andy Holt, and was hopeful of putting together a group “with expertise and access to capital” in order to help efforts to save the club.

Meanwhile, Mr Giffard also revealed that the club needed to provide assurances to the EFL that it could fulfil next season's fixtures before the full list is released to clubs on June 15.

If not, the Shakers could face being kicked out of the league.

With fears for the club's future having grown in recent weeks, hundreds of supporters have responded to a rallying call to join Forever Bury, which was set up when the club was last in administration back in 2002.

Membership has almost doubled to nearly 1,500, with dozens more continuing to sign up daily to help with the battle to save the Shakers.

A fundraising page has also been set up for fans to donate to, with the aim of raising £500,000. More than £3,000 has been pledged so far.

Protests have also been held at Gigg Lane and outside Mr Dale's Cheshire mansion as pressure on him to sell the club increases.

Earlier this week, Bury Council leader Rishi Shori added his voice to the calls, urging Dale to sell up "as soon as possible".