TONY Mount has spoken of his extreme sadness about the demise of Newport Football Club, which could go out existence unless a buyer is found.

With chairman and majority shareholder Bill Manuel pulling out, the club is now in the hands of receivers from the Southampton-based chartered accountants BDO Stoy Hayward.

The dramatic events follow the breakdown of the sale of Port's practice pitch on Monday this week which would have provided a financial lifeline for the Dr Martens Eastern Division club.

Former team manager and director of football Mount said: "We had a developer ready to sign a deal, but he pulled out at the last minute.

"The sale of the training ground has been an ongoing issue for at least three years and the money it brought in would have been the lifeblood of this club. But it hasn't happened and now the only options are for the receiver to sell the club as a going concern or dispose of the assets, including the whole ground.

"It's down to the people of the Island now to come forward and save the club."

With Mount at the helm, Newport enjoyed their finest hour in the 2000/1 season when they finished Eastern Division champions and secured Premier football for the very first time.

But promotion proved the kiss of death for Islanders and the club has gone downhill ever since.

"It's extremely sad. I've had fantastic times at Newport but it hasn't panned out as I'd expected," said Mount. "When we got promotion, I thought we'd go onto bigger and better things but the finances just haven't been there to take us on.

"It hasn't helped that gates have dropped dramatically. We've got a good hard-core fan base, but there are a couple of hundred who are very fickle and we needed to be winning to bring them in."

For the moment, it's business as usual for the team. They will be travelling to Banbury tomorrow as planned and at least fulfilling their next two home games against Salisbury in the Dr Martens Cup on Tuesday (7.45) and St Leonards in the Eastern Division next Saturday.

Player-manager Steve Tate said: "I've been told to carry on as normal by the receivers. The players are still getting paid and we'll be going to Banbury to do a professional job.

"Once that dressing room door shuts at two o'clock, no one will be thinking about what's going on outside."