The Blues finished the last campaign in their highest-ever position in the non-league pyramid when they secured 12th place.

The Shawbridge side had negotiated a "competitive" budget for 2009/10 for manager Peter Smith to strengthen the squad in their search of a top five finish in the UniBond League First Division North.

However, the club has received a cruel blow after Blackburn Rovers Ladies took their business elsewhere while a four-figure sell-on clause owed by Northwich Victoria for former attacking midfielder Joel Byrom looks in doubt after the recently relegated Blue Square Premier side fell into administration for the second time in five years.

Garner said: "The news about Blackburn Rovers Ladies vacating our premises is common knowledge now. This is a massive blow and will obviously have an affect on our income."

He said the team had gone to Radcliffe Borough, blaming their poor league position last year on Clitheroe's poor pitch.

"I'm quite astonished by all this really. Blackburn has now sent a representative team to play in Bury which is completely beyond me. The Blackburn chairman is always emphasising the need for local communities to get behind their club and then this happens.

"They have not only taken the club out of the Blackburn Rovers catchment area but they have also sent revenue streams away from the area. It really is a kick in the ribs."

The chairman and his committee have worked hard to achieve everything bestowed on Clitheroe FC, despite doing their jobs on a non-profit, voluntary basis.

However, the recent pinch is starting to take hold and they accept things are starting to get on top of them financially. "The club is facing a difficult time at the moment, there's no question about that.

"It just seems like everything is going against us at the minute and we are certainly going through a dark period. It will be a tough year financially and we will have to be prudent.

"It is going to be very difficult to maintain everything that we have done and achieved. It will be difficult to maintain a reasonable budget that will help us compete in the Unibond Football League but that is something for us as a committee to think about and deal with. We have now got to knuckle down and come up with the goods."

Garner added: "It is definitely going to difficult maintaining the club as it is on our income streams. We exist in a proper and faithful manner by paying our bills and players on time but we just don't seem to be getting any reward.

"We work incredibly hard and don't get any pay. We are doing everything we can to maintain this standard of football at Clitheroe and at the minute it just feels like we are receiving blow after blow. But we will carry on because we have been in worse situations before. I can guarantee we will continue scrapping and fighting and we will come out stronger at the other end."

The Byrom debacle has not done anything to help the club. The 22-year-old, who started his career at Blackburn Rovers, signed for Clitheroe in January 2007 and finished the season as top scorer with 11 goals.

After a brief spell with Southport and a second spell at Clitheroe he eventually signed for Northwich Victoria in January 2008.

On May 15th, Stevenage Borough confirmed the signing of Byrom for a fee of £15,000 which triggered a four-figure sell-on clause agreed between Clitheroe and Northwich. However, on May 19th the club went into administration for the second time in five years, following their relegation from the Blue Square Premier.

There is a silver-lining as under both FA and Football Conference rules Rushe must pay football-related debts, such as wages to players and backroom staff or transfer fees, first and in full.

Garner is now looking towards next season where he still targets a top five finish as a realistic goal.

He said: "In terms of recruiting new players there is a lot of hard work ongoing but at this stage we can't name names because we can't register anybody until the end of June. At the minute there is only Liam McManus we are taking forward as a contracted player.

"Some players have declined contract offers so it looks as though they could be leaving us soon and others haven't told us either way. But I can assure you we will be looking to improve on the team we finished last season with. If there's no ambitions or goals then there's no point in carrying on."