Salisbury City ownership battle set for High Court

Salisbury were demoted out of the Football Conference earlier this month

The consortium attempting to take over Salisbury City are set to take their case to the High Court.

The group of five business people claimed earlier this month that they had overturned the ownership of chairman Outail Touzar.

But the takeover has not yet been ratified by the authorities and the consortium are now taking legal action in a bid to assume control of the club.

The Whites have been plagued by money and ownership issues this summer.

Touzar and supporter Mark Winter took over the ailing club for £1 in May, with the pair becoming responsible for £150,000 worth of debt.

The latter paid around £75,000 of his own money to try to save the Whites, but Touzar, who owned a 98% stake, had not provided any investment.

Winter attempted to overthrow Touzar, but eventually quit as co-owner because of the Moroccan's reluctance to hand over his stake in the club.

And, after failing to pay back football creditors by a set deadline, Salisbury were demoted one division, before being thrown out of the Football Conference completely earlier this month.

However, a spokesperson for the interested consortium has said they are confident of the club regaining their place in Conference South if the takeover goes through.

Meanwhile, Touzar released a statement on Saturday saying his appeal to the Football Association against their demotion from the Conference Premier was in the "final stages of review".

He also claimed he was in advanced negotiations with former Barcelona youth team coach Sergio Lobera about becoming the Salisbury manager.