ANGRY Salisbury City say they are appealing against the decision made by the Football Conference to expel them after having the funds available to pay off their debts.

The board of directors at the Conference demoted the Whites from the Conference South on Friday for failing to settle creditors and secure a bond of £50,000 by 5pm. They were also punished for not submitting an application for membership and remitting subscription for 2014/15 season.

But on the eve of deadline, after a four hour meeting, the club say they had stumped up £91,000 thanks to generous donations from Jackie Goddard, Mark Winter, Jeremy Harwood, David Phillips, Amanda Newbury and Graham Mundy.

At the time of demotion, the club, which plays at the Ray Mac, were given 14 days to appeal the decision, which they are doing.

“We’ll be appealing the decision which saw us relegated and the debts will be cleared,” journalist and club advisor Paul Smith assured.

“I’m confident we’ll be reinstated in the Conference by using the appeal system.”

Club officials are also working to restore full ownership of the club as current chairman Otail Touzar, who holds 96 per cent of the shares, is yet to invest any cash.

Owner Mr Winter, 47, bought the club with Mr Touzar, a Moroccan businessman, last month.

But after supporter Mr Winter plunged more than £75,000 into the club without receiving any contributions from partner Mr Touzar, 31, and was unsuccessful in his attempt to get Mr Touzar to sign his shares over to him, he stood down.

However, the ownership battle continues and the club are now confident that they will regain all shares imminently.

“We’re confident that we’ll have the club back in our hands,” added Mr Smith.

“Once the ownership has been sorted, we can start planning for the upcoming season.”

The Whites, who have had persistent financial troubles over the years, were relegated from Conference Premier last month for not paying off its debts, and suffered a double demotion from the Conference four years ago.

The club insists it “will not go down without a monumental fight”, and one committed fan, Sam Gallacher, has set-up a page on Facebook titled We aren’t dead yet , where latest news and events for fellow supporters will be posted. The page has already had more than 850 likes.

A winding up order of £29,000 from HMRC is also due this week.

  • The Journal understands the club's youth section will not be affected if the club folds.