A number of lower-league professional football clubs continue to fight for their survival amid the recession.

Salisbury City Football Club (SCFC), which competes in the Blue Square Premier league, has appointed Portland Business and Financial Solutions to take over the running of the club.

Administrator Carl Faulds said: "The business has encountered difficulties. We are keeping the club trading and playing football games whilst marketing it for sale as a going concern. We have already received substantial interest and are liaising with potential investors, and are receptive to approaches from other interested parties." Elsewhere, the board of directors at Weymouth Football Club (WFC) have set a deadline of 8 September to raise £50,000 in order for the Blue Square South club avoid administration and the threat of a 10-point deduction.

A statement from the WFC board said: "The club has just about been taking enough revenue to pay for the squad and its running costs, thus making the club a viable concern in the medium to long term, but the board will soon find it impossible in the short term to meet repayments to certain creditors who have become more pressing in their demands." Lewes Football Club is also facing an uncertain future after surviving a winding up order in the High Court on 2 September, which provided the Blue Square South club with a three-month adjournment to pay HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) £30,000 as part of unpaid tax arrears totalling £110,000.

Accrington Stanley Football Club of the Coca-Cola League Two competition has been handed eight weeks to raise £300,000 after failing in a bid to secure more time to settle its debts with HMRC, while Margate Football Club is also facing a tax deadline. The long-term futures of Merthyr Tydfil Football Club, Hyde United Football Club and Northwich Victoria Football Club have also come under scrutiny in recent weeks, as well as Livingston Football Club and Stirling Albion Football Club in Scotland.

But it is not all doom and gloom. Farsley Celtic Football Club (FCFC) has been saved by dramatic eleventh-hour dealings.

The club's fate looked sealed after administrators from Mazars were forced to close the club after a deal to acquire the Leeds-based club and associated land was withdrawn by a consortium of businessmen following talks over the necessary sale agreement.

A deal struck at 4pm this evening (4 September) between John Palmer and the administrators, however, has offered a reprieve for the club which will now be able to fulfill its fixture with Stalybridge Celtic tomorrow at 3pm.

Palmer is believed to have entered a transitional agreement with Mazars pending the sale of the club with a new offer, involving new financial backers being considered.