ILKESTON Town FC will find out today if they can play their next fixture on Saturday after being officially wound up at the High Court.

A judge yesterday refused to give the club more time to pay off the £50,000 it owes to Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs.

The decision means the club will no longer exist and will have its results from this season expunged from the records.

The Football Conference will decide by 5pm today whether the club's game against Redditch can go ahead.

The Conference North side was given six weeks' breathing space in July to pay the tax debts.

But Mrs Registrar Derrett refused to allow further time yesterday, despite being told the club was selling one of its players for £20,000 and would pay off the bill at £1,000 a month.

The Official Receiver is to be called in on behalf of the Government's Insolvency Office.

The Receiver's job is to contact all the creditors to find out how much they are owed to try to ensure the club's debts are paid off before bringing business to a close.

Ilkeston Town's owners could only apply for the order to be rescinded at the same court if they could prove all their £50,000 tax debts were paid off.

It is unlikely the club could be saved by a last-minute investor as it would take too long to prove they had the available funds.

But Ilkeston Town manager Kevin Wilson said the club was planning to apply for the winding up to be rescinded. "I feel shattered by the decision," he said. "It's a sad day for the club and its fans, who have supported the club come rain or shine."

The club said it had been holding talks with unidentified businessmen interested in buying it.

Dennis Strudwick, of the Football Conference, said any club that was wound up could not fulfil their fixtures and their results were normally expunged.

He said: "We don't want to kill off a club if there is a glimmer of hope for them to get the winding-up decision rescinded, so it might be an option to postpone a game for a week. We have to be open-minded."

Ilkeston have played seven games this season in Blue Square Bet North, and are presently 17th in the table. They were set to play their eighth league game at Redditch on Saturday.

Mr Strudwick said: "We have got to be fair to Redditch, who will be making preparations to entertain Ilkeston." He said that the Robins received £8,000 of central funding from the Conference two weeks ago.

Ilkeston Town was taken over by Gary Hodder in March after being sold by Notts businessman Chek Whyte.

Mr Whyte said the club had a "small amount" of debt at the time, which was fully disclosed to the new owner.

"It is a disaster," he said. "From the point I took over we had got it up to the next league and the league above that which is the highest it has ever been. The only reason we let the club go was because the new owners could take it to the next level, but they have not done that."

Former manager David Holdsworth laid the foundations for the club's promotion to the Conference North during a spell in charge at the start of the 2008-09 season.

He later moved on to Mansfield Town, but said he felt for the staff, players and the club's loyal supporters.

"It will be a devastating blow to Ilkeston and the fabulous supporters there if they go out of business," he said. "It is also very bad for the town because every town needs its football club, which is often the heartbeat of the community."

Chairman Gary Hodder was not available for comment.