AN amateur football club hopes it may succeed where a bid to build a multi-million pound flagship stadium for the country has floundered.

The differences between the proposed multi-million pound replacement for Wembley Stadium and a new football ground in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, are of David and Goliath proportions.

But, never one to miss a trick, Bishop Auckland Football Club has asked for a slice of the £120m National Lottery funding that was handed to the Football Association to build a new national stadium.

A damming report into the project was published this week, in which MPs demanded the FA pays back the £120m, as the deadline to start work has long since passed.

Just over 200 miles further north, the Bishop Auckland club is trying to raise £1.3m for a 1,000-seat stadium on reclaimed colliery land in Tindale Crescent.

Derek Jago, club secretary and a local councillor, said: "I hear that the FA are still holding £120m of Lottery money which was given to them to build a new Wembley stadium. Our stadium will be nothing like Wembley, but we do need cash to complete it and we aren't talking millions.

"We need to build a stadium in Bishop Auckland to survive. Our old stadium is crumbling and, if we are forced to stay there, the maintenance costs will force us to close.

"Maybe the sports minister could let us have a little of the unused £120m because, without a new stadium, we will lose one of the most famous non-league clubs in the world."

FA chiefs are due to announce their decision on a national stadium any day.

A spokesman for Sport England, which distributes Lottery funding, said: "While we can't discuss ongoing debates around the national stadium, I have spoken to Trevor Brooking, chairman of Sport England, and he sends his best wishes to the football club for their future successes and development of the club."