There may be light at the end of the tunnel for a town's bereaved football fans, two months after their beloved club ceased to exist.
Supporters of Hinckley United, which was wound up in the High Court in October, want to form a sporting trust which run "for and by" fans.
Twenty diehard fans got together last week to set up a working group to bring football back to the town.
They have now called on the public to get behind the move to form a new club.
More than 150 people attending a meeting at the Clarendon Club, in Coventry Road, this week.
"It was absolutely chocka," said working group spokesman Russ Abbott, 47, from Hinckley.
"We're passionate about our team and desperate to see football return to Hinckley, but we can't do it by ourselves.
"To have a realistic chance of forming a club, the town needs to be behind us.
"I didn't know what to expect but the meeting exceeded everybody's expectations.
"To see so many people convinced us there is the passion and support required to take this project forward."
He said feedback following the meeting was also "very encouraging" with fans pledging their support online.
Former season ticket-holder Ian Davies wrote on the working group's Facebook page: "All the best in raising the phoenix from the ashes!"
The plan is to form a community-owned club along the lines of AFC Telford United and Portsmouth FC, which formed in similar circumstances.
The group approached Supporter's Direct, which has helped with the formation of other community-owned clubs.
It sent a representative to the meeting to explain the process to fans.
Ssupporters Direct spokesman Kevin Rye said: "The turnout and the support shown in the room demonstrates the thirst not just for football to return to Hinckley but for a club to be owned by the people who in the end will sustain it."
The club would be democratically owned, with a one member one vote system to elect directors.
Profits would be reinvested, assets would be collectively owned and "community shares" would be issued to attract investment.
"The hard work starts now," said Russ. "We've got until March to put together a fully democratic constitution and apply to the Football Association if we want to get a club up and running for next season.
"Then there's getting the players and, of course, finding somewhere to play. But at least there is light at the end of the tunnel." RISE AND FALL OF A FOOTBALL CLUB
Hinckley United FC was formed in 1997 by the merger of Hinckley Athletic and Hinckley Town.
The new club played at Athletic's Middlefield Lane ground, with Town's former Leicester Road home used as a training ground.
United won the Southern League Midland/West Division in 2001. They became a founder member of Conference North in 2004 – a season in which they beating league club Torquay United 2–0 in the FA Cup.
Hinckley moved to a new stadium in Leicester Road in March 2005, after the £4 million sale of Middlefield Lane to developers.
United were relegated from the Conference North last season and the club was liquidated at the High Court in Birmingham on October 7, with debts of more than £2 million.
Liquidators are understood to be looking to sell the club's Leicester Road ground to pay creditors.
