The club was put up for sale for £1 (US$1.29) in March just months after Varghese bought it, but Gateshead is yet to be sold.

Former Rochdale chairman Chris Dunphy agreed a deal in principle with Cala and Varghese but pulled out of it after delays in Varghese signing an exclusivity agreement. He has since told the Sunderland Echo that the deal remains on the table as he awaits a response from Cala.

“It is in the hands of Joe [Cala] now and I know he has a succession of other people that he is trying to get interested in buying the club,” Dunphy said.

“Whoever gets involved will have to go through the fit and proper person test and we will see if Joe is involved with people that can pass that process.

“We just want to make sure that if or when we complete a deal, nothing comes out of the woodwork to bite us.

The fans would be happy with the former Rochdale chairman taking over.

“He would be perfect for the club and we the Gateshead FC Soul publicly backed him,” said David Kenny of the Gateshead Soul supporters group, who have been peacefully protesting the club’s ownership and Cala’s involvement, with Cala subsequently banned from the ground.

“Chris Dunphy has shown interest again after having very good meetings with the Council, the National League and even us fans,” said Kenny.

“He has said, though, it is down to the current regime that is stalling the takeover.”

Part of the reason for the delay may have been another suitor was interested in purchasing the club.

However, former football agent Colin Piechniczek pulled out of negotiations after the club failed to release their accounts, he explained on Twitter, and an asking price of £100,000 rather than £1.

“We have tried beyond all our powers to have the owners release all the verified accounts to allow us to build a sustainable and realistic business plan for the club and the league,” he wrote.

Piechniczek also suggested that “the club isn’t up for sale, never has been” after his attempted takeover, with the fans placated by it appearing to be on the market and Cala publicly seeking new owners.

He also warned fans that he sees Varghese staying put, but not Cala, and the club may be relocated.

That move might be forced upon them, though, as at the end of March the club were kicked out of their stadium with immediate effect. They were allowed by the local council to play out their final league games of the season, the last of which is Saturday, but not use the offices or training facilities because of unpaid rent.

These financial troubles were behind the players and coaching staff taking the step of issuing a joint statement to the “owners” earlier this month – with specific reference to Cala.

“We use the word owners in reference not only to Ranjan Varghese – the named owner of Gateshead Football Club – but also Joseph Cala, the man we all feel has been unofficially running the club virtually unopposed since the start of the 2018-19 season,” it read.

They asked that Varghese sell up as promised, as well as claiming that “Gateshead players and staff have been consistently undermined and lied to by Joseph Cala”.

It bemoaned the playing staff of just 16 and the cost-cutting measures that have hit the team – they did not have pre-match meals until Gateshead Soul intervened.

Following that statement the staff and players were belatedly paid their wages for March, the third month they were not paid on time.

However, the club’s under-19s have not been paid, something that coach Simon Johnson described as “nothing short of a disgrace” to the Sunderland Echo.

“We have the football club at our heart and nobody wants you at Gateshead any longer,” the statement read. “The players, staff, fans, National League and Football Association have all made that abundantly clear. It is in everyone’s best interest, including your own, to leave.”

The players and coaching staff also back the current regime being replaced with Dunphy and former Rochdale director Bill Goodwin.

“These are men with a proven track record at running a football club and we wholeheartedly endorse their takeover bid.

“Should you fail to go through with your promise to allow Chris [Dunphy] to be in a position to take over at the club, we will be left with no choice but to take immediate action.

“It is up to you to ensure that it does not come to that.”

What it comes to remains to be seen, but with the dead rubber against Barrow on Saturday potentially the last match at the International Stadium, if not in the club’s history, there is plenty to play for.

Gateshead FC declined to comment on this story.