Trade creditors, who figured largely among the gathering and include many companies in and around the city, may have to lose the bulk of the £1.1 million owed to them.

There are 137 trade creditors and no cash settlement has been proposed to them yet.

The total debts of Dundee FC amount to about £22,903,804 million but, once the asset of Dens Park Stadium, valued at £4.5 million is included and other figures are taken into account, the deficiency falls to £18,252,922.

The largest portion of debt — £14.6 million — is due to the holders of standard securities and floating charges, mainly £13.8 million to the Bank of Scotland. As well as the £1.1 million due to trade creditors, £853,000 is due to the Inland Revenue for Pay As You Earn and National Insurance payments, £549,000 to HM Customs and Excise and £117,000 to employees.

Former manager Ivano Bonetti is claiming £927,000 and former director Giovanni di Stefano £35,000 in loan repayments. Contingent and other liabilities of £2.5 million include a £1.3 million loan to the Football Trust and £1.2 million to sacked players.

Mr Burton and co-administrator Fiona Taylor, of Ernst & Young, were appointed in November to try to save the club from disappearing under a debt mountain.

The club was also coming under increasing pressure from the Inland Revenue for unpaid PAYE/NI from the previous year. The Inland Revenue were threatening to place the club into liquidation. On receipt by the directors of independent professional advice on the viability of the company, it was concluded Dundee FC could not continue to trade outside a formal insolvency procedure, and the administrators were appointed.

Their purpose was to establish a strategy to meet the objectives of the administration process, which was to rescue the company as a going concern; achieve a better result for creditors than would have been likely if the company was wound up, and realise property to make a distribution to one or more secured or preferential creditors.

The administrators explained, prior to their appointment, they agreed funding with Peter and James Marr, the major shareholders, and the Bank of Scotland to allow the company to keep trading until the end of January. This short-term funding was essential, the administrators said, to allow further exploration of a strategy to rescue the company which had to “involve the company achieving at least a break-even position in terms of profitability within a one or two-year period if further investment is to be attracted.”

The focus of the administration to date has been to reduce outlays and maximise income and, at the same time, ensure longer-term funding to rescue the company.

It was also important in terms of the SPL to secure enough funding to allow the team to continue playing until the end of the season and to finish no lower than second bottom so the team can stay in the SPL next season.

The funding level agreed made it necessary to reduce the salary bill. After the much-publicised redundancy of 15 players and 10 other staff (some of the latter were re-employed), it was calculated £1.8 million — £60,000 a week — was needed to fund the club for the rest of this season, and that figure has since been reduced to £1.2 million.

Creditors were written to and they and supporters’ groups gave strong support and offers of assistance.

Income from the CIS Cup semi-final against Livingston and the televised replay of the Tennent’s Scottish Cup tie against Aberdeen brought a welcome boost to finances which were further improved with funding from the Marrs, the £190,000 net transfer fee for selling Gavin Rae to Rangers and the fund-raising activities from the Scroll of Honour project and the Dee4Life supporters’ scheme.

Despite these asset realisations, £51,000 of book debts have been collected. Although expressions of interest have been received in Dens Park, they were rejected. This is because the administrators “are hopeful the redevelopment of the ground, in particular the south stand, may be a key feature in the restructuring of the company’s secured debt.”

The report concluded the administrators are pursuing the rescue of the company as a going concern, and that the rescue is likely to involve the exit from administration by way of a Company Voluntary Arrangement.

A CVA involves the compromise and/or restructuring of the debt owed to existing creditors as well as the introduction of new investment. As part of the CVA process, the administrators prepared cash flows for the next two seasons; identified parties who may be interested in investing, and have kept the bank aware of progress and developments.

The administrators received approval from creditors for their six proposals aimed at continuing to try to rescue the club. These include formation of a creditors’ committee under the terms of the Insolvency Act 1986 with whom the administrators will consult about the progress of the administration.

The committee will include representatives of the Inland Revenue, Bank of Scotland, companies controlled by Peter and Jimmy Marr, Thorntons solicitors and the Scottish Sports Council.

The report concluded that to prevent the team suffering a 10-points deduction — a penalty decided by the SPL for clubs who stay in administration beyond the present season — the club will have to commence a CVA before the end of the season. It added, “Precise terms for a CVA cannot yet be determined, but it is hoped administrators will be able to comply with the deadline set by the SPL.”