DOVER ATHLETIC'S general manager Bill Williams has revealed that the club “could be wound up within days”.

Williams delivered the grim news to a meeting of Whites fans who attended the official launch of the club’s Supporters’ Trust at Dover Town Hall. He said: “Dover Athletic is in serious trouble and we need a £30,000 commitment from now until the end of the season.

"So if there are people out there who can provide the cash we need them to come forward now. We have five meetings with local businessmen before next Tuesday, but if they fail to produce results the club will fold.”

Dover’s hard-core supporters listened in stunned silence as Williams revealed the financial losses which have brought the Conference’s bottom club to its knees.

Williams said: “We have been living beyond our means for several years now. We are currently losing around £2,000 a week and have debts of £120,000. The Inland Revenue and the VAT people are among our creditors and we need £15,000 as quickly as possible, otherwise the club could be wound up in 10-12 days.”

Dover’s future has been clouded in uncertainty ever since Jim Gleeson resigned as chairman in October. Efforts by Williams and new chairman Gordon Cowan to enlist the support of new investors have been repeatedly thwarted by the club’s complicated financial situation.

Dover’s major shareholders are the Husk brothers, John and Alan, with 110,000 shares between them. Both men were formerly on the board at Crabble but no longer have any involvement with the club.

Williams said: “John and Alan Husk are quite prepared to give their shares to anyone, and to write off their loans to the club, on the proviso that whoever takes over their shareholding also takes on the responsibility for the club’s £120,000 debts.”

The latter has proved the major stumbling block in all the negotiations with various potential investors that have taken place over the past three or four months.

There is also the strong possibility that Dover will be relegated from the Conference, with the expectation of lower gate revenue next season.