Aldershot Town in danger of liquidation on Thursday

The administrators of Aldershot Town say they will be forced to liquidate the club on Thursday unless creditors accept the terms of a consortium's bid.

The consortium, led by Shahid Azeem, have raised more than £600,000 in an attempt to save the non-league outfit.

BBC Surrey understands three former directors are among creditors unable to accept the terms of the bid.

Town entered administration in May with debts of about £1m, five days after being relegated to the Conference.

Current and former players of the club are believed to have been offered less than 100% of what they are owed, with negotiations continuing via the Professional Footballers' Association.

PFA deputy chief executive John Barnwell told BBC Surrey: "We're looking at it, talking to players, and seeing how we can resolve it."

Azeem's consortium, which is being supported by Tony Knights and John Leppard, issued a joint statement with Quantuma Restructuring, Aldershot's administrators, on Tuesday.

"Working with the administrators, the consortium had believed that they could take the club out administration this week," the statement said.

"However, there are still some major hurdles which, if unresolved, will prevent the only bid proceeding.

"Primarily these hurdles revolve around creditors (both football and non-football) accepting compromises in order to reduce their debts to match the offer received.

"The administrators have made it very clear that unless a deal is completed by Thursday this week, the prospects of saving the football club are slim as there is little or no cash left to meet ongoing trading and there are no other offers on the table.

"In the event that the club fails and goes into liquidation, there will not be any dividend payment to creditors whatsoever.

"The next few days are critical in terms of the survival of the club and we urge all supporters and creditors to get behind the bid put forward by the consortium.

"Unless that bid proceeds, the club will stop trading and will enter into liquidation."

Aldershot were accepted into the Conference at the league's AGM last month but are due to start the season on -10 points.