AFC Bournemouth could potentially start next season debt-free thanks to an innovative supporters' pension scheme.

Cherries chief Peter Phillips has hailed the prospect of being able to clear almost £6 million worth of debt as "the most significant event of my time as chairman".

And it's hoped the scheme could not only help the club expand as a business but also provide manager Sean O'Driscoll with valuable funds to strengthen the playing side.

Under the proposals, a group of around 40 supporters would transfer part of their pension funds into a Supporters' Pension Scheme.

The collective funds would be used to purchase the Fitness First Stadium, giving the club a lump sum of £4.25 -million to clear its most pressing debts.

The club would then pay rent of around £360,000 a year to the investors - less than the current amount the club is paying in interest and arrears to creditors.

The scheme has the support of the Community Mutual fans' board and crucially, several of the club's secured creditors are poised to reduce the amounts they are owed if it goes ahead.

Already 20 supporters have expressed an interest in transferring around £50,000 of their pension rights to the Supporters' Pension Scheme and only another 20 or so are needed to make it work.

Mr Phillips said the club was on the "verge of profitability" but remained hampered by its massive debts and increasingly impatient creditors.

"We can't go on for yet another year living hand to mouth and fighting off our creditors," he said.

"This is an idea that has come about from our fans, specifically director Dave Stone, and could prove a huge boost to the football club.

"It would eliminate the vast majority of our existing debts, it would enable us to focus on the long-term future of the football club and it would allow us to operate in a more efficient way.

"The club would also be much easier to run - we will be able to have a board with everybody pulling together to achieve our long-term goal of establishing a championship team.

"Solving our financial problems has to be the first step towards building Bournemouth's best ever football team."

If the scheme fails to get off the ground, the alternative is a more traditional refinancing scheme.

But Mr Phillips stressed the pension scheme was the best option. "In designing this scheme, everything has been done to minimise the risks to the football club and the investors," he said.

"If this works, it will be the most significant event in my time as chairman. We've worked extremely hard to keep the club alive but we now have the opportunity to take the next step and transform it into a healthy club that can fulfil its potential."

Paul Williams, director on the Community Mutual Board, said: "As a body, we're very sceptical about sale and leaseback deals because they generally involve property developers and there's a big risk that you can lose the stadium.

"But we're all very impressed with what Dave Stone has come up with. It's a unique scheme.

"We would have a friendly landlord in the form of a group of Bournemouth fans and there's all sorts of things that could be built into the contract to safeguard both the club and the people putting their money in."

Stanley Cohen, the club's honorary president, has also given the scheme a cautious welcome.

Mr Cohen is a former director of Northover and Gilbert, which is one of the club's secured creditors.

"I would think there would be a good chance they would reduce the debt if the scheme goes ahead," he said. "I think it's the way ahead if the club can do it."

First published: May 27