RADCLIFFE BOROUGH fan Peter Latham has called on local businessmen to come to the aid of the club -- at no cost to themselves.

Peter Latham, or Wiggy, as he is more commonly known down at Stainton Park, wants any local millionaire with a yen to run a football club to consider his proposal.

Peter, who edits the Boro Fanzine, "Blue Murder", some of the profits from which go to the club, along with stepson Graham "The Pieman" Evans, has lived in Radcliffe for 32 years and supported Boro for the last 14.

Now he wants someone to come in and save his beloved Boro after chairman Bernard Manning Junior and his fellow shareholders decided to put the club up for sale last week.

"My idea is to write round to some of our local millionaires such as Ron Wood or John Whittaker and see if they fancied the idea of opening a separate account with £1-2 million in it.

"You wouldn't have to touch the capital. The club could be run off the interest," said Latham. "It's just a question of finding someone who is prepared to do it.

"I don't think it came as a surprise when the club was put up for sale. It was just the timing of it, so early in the season. It's a bit like Gianluca Vialli and Chelsea. We had only just started scratching the surface this season.

"But it's a case of 'The King is dead, Long Live the King'. We have to abide by the chairman's decision."

Around 20-30 people travelled to Blackpool on Saturday to see Boro beat The Mechanics 1-0 and move into the second qualifying round of the FA Cup.

Falling gates at Stainton Park prompted Manning's move. There has not been a gate of 200 so far this season and the management claim they need a basic gate of 250 for every home match to survive. "If we could get 180 through the gate that would mean revenue of £900," said Latham. "And if you have two home matches in one week you are looking at something approaching £2,000.

"There are a lot of things to be looked at and it's not up to me to pass judgement. I don't consider myself to be Boro's Number One fan. I just have a deep feeling for the club.

"I have been a supporter of football for a long, long time and before that I played the game in the Services. I was a Bolton Wanderers fan in the good old days of Roy Hartle, Nat Lofthouse and the rest.

"I watch non-league football now because it's more honest," said Latham.

Honest it might well be, but the honest truth is that Boro had to sell star striker Paul Mullin recently for £15,000, simply to survive.

"One or two would understand why Paul had to go and one or two won't," added Latham. "They would say, if it was a cost-cutting exercise, it could have been done in other areas.

"It's been a bone of contention for a long time and I'm pleased the matter wasn't raised on Thursday night otherwise things could have turned a bit iffy.

"But nobody is going to walk away tomorrow. We'll just have to wait and see," Latham added.