Firoz Kassam is asking the club's directors and local businessmen to share the financial burden of running Oxford United Football Club.

He wants to have ten directors paying around £25,000 each for the privilege of being on the board and making decisions about how the club is run.

United's owner revealed his plan last night at a fans' forum at the Kassam Stadium attended by nearly 400 supporters.

"In spite of getting £200,000 for Dexter Blackstock we will still be making a loss for this year," he said.

"Despite averaging 6,000 fans for home games we will still lose £250,000, and I'm the one who has to pay that.

"My idea is to bring ten directors on board who would contribute a certain amount of money.

"If I'm expected to put my hand in my pocket all the time and they want to have a say in the running of this club, then maybe they should put their hands in their pockets as well.

"This is something that has been discussed with a few business people and some directors," he said.

Kassam told the gathering that, although he had put the club up for sale earlier in the season, it was not for sale now. And he was not prepared to hand over the reins to anyone else.

"I would love to pass the responsibility on but there aren't many out there who can think under pressure. I would like to do that but now is not the right time."

In recent weeks United's hopes of winning promotion from Division 3 have dipped dramatically.

They need to win their final two games of the season, starting at Macclesfield today, to have any realistic chance of making the play-offs.

But Kassam believes that, with new manager Graham Rix now in charge of the team, they will go up next season if they don't this year.

"I still have ambitions for Oxford United and we will achieve it.

"Maybe not as quickly as I had hoped but it will come. Oxford United is my priority, and I am fully committed to it."