Lewes have slashed the asking price for the club in a last-ditch attempt to stave off administration.

The entire club is now available for purchase for £150,000 after directors collectively wrote off £300,000 worth of debt.

A new appeal has been launched to find 30 businesses or individuals who are prepared to invest £5,000 in return for a single share in the club.

This is a scaled down version of an earlier appeal by Mark Henderson, of shirt sponsors Magic Man, who was trying to find 100 people to invest £5,000 each.

The existing board will continue running the club until the end of January when they will assess the response to this latest appeal.

That at least means the threat of administration has been put on hold through the Christmas and new year period, which will come as a relief to fans.

If the new appeal is successful it does effectively resign the club to relegation from Blue Square premier as the £150,000 it would raise would only finance the running of the club until the end of the season rather than provide money for ground improvements which are necessary to avoid automatic demotion to Blue Square south.

However, with many Blue Square premier clubs in financial trouble pressure may be applied on the league to reconsider their minimum ground requirements which demand a 4,000 capacity. The Rooks' last home gate was 486.

Lewes have stressed they are still open to all offers for the club, which means they would entertain offers from any individual or consortium interested in taking over.

There was interest when the club was first put up for sale at the start of November, including a consortium led by fan Lee Cobb, but no offers have been forthcoming and the club are reluctant to go into administration and be bought on the cheap.

About “eight to ten” people have already committed themselves to the latest scheme, including some of the existing directors. The prospect of finding another 20 in the current economic climate is a tough one but the board believe this is the only viable way forward.

In addition to writing off current debt, the board have also agreed to freeze an unsecured interest free loan of £235,000.

If the scheme is successful the existing board would resign and there would be new 30 shareholders who would then elect a new board to run the club.

A club statement said: “The Board are disappointed that little has been achieved since the plight of Lewes FC was brought to the public attention. No one has come forward with any offers of substance to allow the club to go forward.

“The level of interest and offers of help have been disappointing. Although much concern and rhetoric has been displayed, and some interest from £100 funders has been encouraging, clearly this is still not sufficient for the club to go forward on a stable basis.

“It is the opinion of the Board of Directors of Lewes FC that the club has now reached the end of the line and unless sufficient pledges come forward immediately then there is a reasonable chance that the club will have to consider entering administration in the near future.

“The Board are therefore proposing the following radical action. The club is available for purchase for £150,000 in its entirety. This would secure the running of the club till the end of the season.

“The club, for the final time, are appealing for 30 businesses or individuals to come forward to invest £5,000 in exchange for one share each. The Board have collectively written off £300,000 of debt and are prepared to freeze an unsecured interest free loan of £235,000. Repayment terms would be discussed and structured with the new shareholders.

“The Board of Directors propose to resign in order to allow the new shareholders to nominate a new Board. All positions in the club would then be available to be decided by the new Board.

“A number of Board members have already made their pledges to the new structure along with a number of other individuals. All pledges will be posted on the club website.

“It is proposed that these funds be kept separate from the club and to that end it is proposed to use the Magic Man bank account for these funds which is already set up. The account details are as follows: account name: “The Friends of Lewes FC”, HSBC sort code 40-25-06, Account No: 91401858. To make your pledges and register your interest please contact Mark Henderson at lewes@magicman.ltd.uk.

“It must be remembered the phenomenonal success Lewes FC and its supporters have enjoyed over the last eight years and also the Board currently find themselves operating and running the club in the worst economic climate since 1929.”