Some wept after hearing tax debts of £814,000 meant the club would almost certainly go into liquidation.

Pam Burton of the Supporters Trust said: "This has knocked me for six. I'm shocked. How can Halifax not have a football team? I've been going for nearly 60 years... I'm devastated."

It had been hoped a Creditors' Voluntary Arr-angement could save the club but it was clear at yesterday's meeting the Inland Revenue bill was too big.

Roger Simpson, chairman of the Shay Stadium Trust, said: "No deal would have saved the club – we have all wasted our time."

He said the trust would need to take stock.

"The worry is whether, with the absence of Hali-fax Town, the stadium can be sustainable as it provided half of the rental income and it is hard to see Halifax Rugby League Club making up that shortfall."

Kit Walton, chairman of the Supporters Club, said: "It's been years of mismanagement. It looks like we'll just have to start again. It's been a mess, a total waste."

Former chairman Bob Walker – now president at Brighouse Town who could be in the same division as any new Halifax club – said: "Oh my God, this is the last thing in the world anyone wanted."

Halifax Rugby League Club spokesman Michael Steele said: "We regret the liquidation but we are confident that our business plan in the short and medium term is sufficiently robust to continue to support us in the Shay without our partner."