The Highland League has issued Fort William with a deadline of the end of the month to confirm if they will be dropping out of the division.
All six board members of the Claggan Park club announced they would be stepping down at the end of the season, including Stewart Maclean and Gerald McIntyre, who have contributed significant sums of money to keep the Highland League club going.
Fort William secretary Marie McMillan has admitted the club is considering moving to the amateur ranks and applying to join the North Caledonian League but says no decision has been made.
Newly-crowned champions Cove Rangers could also be heading out of the Highland League should they make it through the SPFL play-offs.
Highland League secretary Rod Houston has told Fort William they must make their intentions clear by the end of April.
He said: “By the time the league management committee meets on April 26, we will be working hard on plans for next season, so by the end of April we would want to know what Fort William are aiming to do, the only imponderable by then should be the result of the play-off.”
Fort secretary McMillan said: “The deadline we have set for ourselves is Saturday, April 28, which was the original date of the second leg pyramid play-off between the champions of the Highland and Lowland leagues.
“We will most definitely be reaching our decision before that date to allow the Highland League to plan its fixture programme for the forthcoming season.
“We are extremely aware of all the issues and once we have had further discussions, and reached a final decision, we will be reporting back to the Highland League.
“I can also confirm that we will be having a board/committee meeting next Monday night, but as yet no final decision has been taken on the immediate future of Fort William Football Club.”
Highland football, P50, 51
