FEARS were growing on the Isle of Wight last night that the Island's premier football club, Newport, could be heading into receivership.

Although director of football Tony Mount would only confirm that Port's financial position was "under review", it's thought chairman and majority shareholder Bill Manuel wants out.

There is already talk of administrators moving in, but the hope is, just like Salisbury City, new owners can be found to keep the club alive.

In his five-year reign at St George's Park, Manuel has pumped an estimated £1.2m into the Dr Martens Eastern Division club and brought it under the umbrella of Pompey-based electronics company Gemma Group, of which he is chairman.

But the football operation has been a massive drain on group finances and Manuel made it plain at a Newport FC shareholders' meeting three weeks ago that he would no longer financially support the club.

Sources on the Island suggest the straw that broke the camel's back was the collapse of plans to sell off the club's training pitch. It is believed a development group were interested in building a hotel there, but they ran into problems with planning permission.

Newport were in a poor financial state five years ago when Mount, a senior figure at Gemma Group, persuaded his boss to invest in the club.

With Mount combining the roles of general and first-team manager, Port soared to the Eastern Division title two years ago, bringing Premier football to the Island for the first time. But they lasted just one season and major budget cuts included axing high-profile team boss/ football in the community officer Guy Whittingham.

Lack of transport meant Port's reserves were unable to travel to Wimborne in the Jewson Wessex League Cup last night. It could see the holders thrown out of the competition.