Brighton & Hove Albion chairman Dick Knight signed a petition to stop the Hillians having to close its Leylands Park headquarters by October 13.

And he pledged to bring an Albion squad to Leylands Park later this year if Burgess Hill gets a stay of execution from landlords Mid Sussex Council and is allowed to remain while it seeks a new ground.

Hundreds of Albion fans added their names to the petition of more than 1,000 names as a gesture of solidarity with their non-league counterparts. The Albion team, chief executive Martin Perry and tv broacaster Des Lynam also signed.

The Albion has been fighting to stay afloat ever since its much-loved Goldstone Ground in Hove became a car park and store. It had to share a ground with Gillingham FC and is playing to small crowds at the adapted Withdean athletics stadium in Brighton before work starts on a new stadium at Falmer.

Burgess Hill trio Dave Bradbury, Nick Powell and Tom Walmsley were guests of Albion on Saturday and given permission to launch their petition. Bradbury said they were greatly heartened by the warm response of fans turning up for the game with Hartlepool.

"They were absolutely fantastic and by the time we'd finished there we had reached over 1,000 signatures. We have been collecting more this week and now have more than 2,000.

"The Albion were brilliant and Dick has very kindly offered a friendly against an Albion squad – but only if we are allowed to stay at Leylands Park."

Earlier this week the club was still awaiting a response to representations by its solicitor Kevin Newell to several district councillors but both he and club chief executive Gary Croydon were on holiday. Newell is thought to have returned yesterday (Wednesday).

If the council refuses to postpone the eviction well beyond October Hillians will face a potentially disastrous situation. No local ground is available or suitable for Ryman football even if the club was able to meet FA and league deadlines of May 31 of registering a ground share. The club could travel further afield, but that would hit it financially and probably drain its support.

Meanwhile Croydon said before his departure on holiday: "Last week I was asked what kind of support we would receive and I honestly couldn't say for certain. But now I most definitely can because I've been absolutely bowled over by the overwhelming response.

"Clearly there has to be an appetite for dialogue and it seems the council's legal department did not fully understand the implications of their timing.

"We understand this was planned in January and if we'd known then it would at least have given us a little more time to investigate other possibilities."