LONDON, Nov 16 (Reuters) - English third division club Wrexham are to seek a voluntary administration order in a bid to avoid the possibility of being forced into liquidation on Wednesday.

The 132-year-old club, the oldest in Wales, owes more than 800,000 pounds ($1.48 million) to the British tax authorities, according to media reports.

Wrexham face a winding-up order in London's High Court on Wednesday but hope their application to appoint administrators to run the club will earn them a stay of execution, although it will cost them a 10-point deduction under Football League rules.

"The directors have taken the decision to petition the court for an administration order to ensure that every possible avenue can be explored to facilitate the survival of Wrexham AFC," the club said in a statement on Tuesday.

"This is not a solution to the club's problems and is only a mechanism through which a solution can be sought."

Wrexham directors David Griffith and David Bennett are now "actively seeking buyers" to prevent the club from going into liquidation.

"We are quite confident that we can get out of this mess," Bennett told Sky Sports News.

Bruce Clapton, a board member of Wrexham's Supporters' Trust, told Reuters on Monday: "We want to see the club put in administration because we feel that's the only way to save the club.

Clapton said that the club's bank accounts had been frozen, players were understood to have been paid in cash and electricity had been temporarily cut off over an unpaid bill.

BID REJECTED

Clapton said the club's chairman Alex Hamilton had rejected a 2.5 million pound bid to buy the club from the 600-strong Supporters' Trust.

A former club chairman, Mark Guterman, also made an undisclosed bid which has also been rejected by Hamilton, Clapton told Reuters.

Formed in 1872, the club have won the Welsh Cup 23 times and played in the now-defunct European Cup Winners' Cup eight times, the last occasion in 1995-96.

Managed by the experienced Denis Smith, they stand 16th in the 24-strong third division with 21 points.

If they were docked 10 points they would drop to second-from-bottom, one point ahead of Stockport.

Since the start of the English League 116 years ago, only four clubs in it have folded in mid-season, the last being Aldershot in 1992.

Over 20 clubs including Premier League Crystal Palace and Notts County, the league's oldest club, have been in administration and all have survived.

On Saturday, Wrexham put their troubles behind them to beat non-league Hayes 4-0 and reach the second round of the FA Cup for the first time in five years.