A TURBULENT summer at the Ray Mac has left Salisbury City in tatters – but fans are refusing to give up on their beloved club.

This time last year, the Whites’ faithful were punching Vale Park into their sat navs – the home to League One giants Port Vale – for their second round FA Cup tie. How times have changed.

The committed cluster of supporters who made their journey up the M6 on a cold, wet December night as well as geeing their side on home and away for years, are now left with spare weekends.

And the culture of nonleague football, which is bitterly missed at Old Sarum, sunk in further on FA Cup weekend that has just gone when the likes of minnows Warrington Town and Worcester City caused giantkillings, in a competition which has almost always been good to the Whites.

In a mark of their desperation, many of those who once boarded the bus to cup games at Sheffield Wednesday, Nottingham Forest, Sheffield United and Port Vale, shared their stories with the Journal this week after we invited them back to the club ground for an evening when they would have been playing Conference South title challengers Basingstoke Town.

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Ray Neal, a lifelong fan said: “We’ve lost so much in a short space of time.

“If you think about it, on average 700 people would come to a home game and that’s a lot of people who have been affected.

“It’s such a nice club to be part of and it’s well-respected.

“No football on a Saturday feels as if someone has chopped your legs off.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen now – all you can do is hope.”

The chairman of Salisbury City Supporters’ Club, Ross Martin, is also eager to see football return next season to the Ray Mac, which last hosted a firstteam match at the beginning of August against Wiltshire Premier Leaguers Shrewton United.

The 21-year-old said: “Disappointed is how I feel.

"The way it all happened is very sad.

“I’ve lost meeting my friends and fellow supporters on a matchday.

“My friend and I have been to a few games to get our so called ‘football fix’ but it’s not the same.

“And watching the FA Cup at the weekend makes you realise how much you miss it.

“We’re going to have to wait a bit longer for some news but I’ll be more than happy to see us play in the Wessex League.”

Expulsion from the Football Conference coupled with the club’s financial mess means there’s no immediate way out until a new, viable buyer comes in.

Talks of setting up a supporters’ trust have been held, with 59-year-old Stuart Cannell at the forefront, but a range of factors have made it difficult to push forward.

The fans say they realise there is little they can do, but some are hoping to gather in the city centre in mid- December for a “match-day” memorial.

They hope to get a 100- strong legion together to mark their support for the club.

No developments can be made until the club exits administration.

Mike Fortune, of Portland Business Support and Advice, said: “I am still in discussions with parties who may be interested in talking the club forward.

“These discussions are ongoing and I hope to move matters forward over the next few weeks to get to a stage where a decision can be made on any offers and if appropriate a sale completed.”