Northampton Town Chief Executive James Whiting has told supporters the club is likely to fail to meet this Friday's wage payments to staff and players.
Addressing a Supporters Trust forum last night, Whiting announced the HMRC debt as being £166,000 and that a deal had been agreed to sell the club to former Oxford chief Kelvin Thomas - subject to an agreement of terms with the local council over the £10.25million loan.
The forum was also told that £900,000 was needed to buy 25% of the club - a figure likely to be out of the reach of the Trust at the present time - while they were warned that a phoenix club may be the only solution if Thomas was unable to agree a deal with the Council.
The Council have issued a brief statement noting that it is yet to be approached with an offer over repayment of the loan.