Merthyr Tydfil Football Club Official Supporters Club (MTFCOSC) has issued an urgent appeal to local residents and football supporters across Britain to safeguard the club's future.

Serious doubt has been cast over the future existence of the South Wales club after the supporters' club said that it requires a cash injection of £50,000 by 9am on 20 February to continue playing in the British Gas Business Football League Premier Division. The current club was formed in 1945, and competed in the 1987-88 European Cup Winners Cup following their Welsh Cup success the previous year. This season also marks 100 years of football at the club's Penydarren Park ground.

However, another supporters' club – Martyrs to the Cause – has revealed that it will not help with raising the necessary funds while owner Wyn Holloway remains at the club. A spokesperson for the club said: "The board of Martyrs to the Cause are 100 per cent committed to preserving football at it's current standard at Merthyr Tydfil FC. The society, however, is unwilling to do service pressing debts for the current owner of the club."

The society argues that the failure to file accounts since August 2006, the failure to provide details relating to income, expenditure and debt, and the lack of a business plan, are the reasons behind its current stance. Martyrs to the Cause also said that an offer to take over control of the football club, which it made last August, remains open.