Paddy Davitt Ex-King's Lynn boss Carl Heggs wants a return to the game at Conference Premier club Histon.Heggs confirmed yesterday he had applied for the vacancy at the Glass World stadium to manage Lynn's former Southern League rivals.

Paddy Davitt

Ex-King's Lynn boss Carl Heggs wants a return to the game at Conference Premier club Histon.

Heggs confirmed yesterday he had applied for the vacancy at the Glass World stadium to manage Lynn's former Southern League rivals.

Lowestoft first team coach and Norwich City stalwart Craig Fleming refused to be drawn recently on speculation linking him with the post while Fleming's former Carrow Road defensive colleague Simon Charlton has already ruled himself out.

Heggs has been out of the game since the Linnets folded due to mounting debts before Christmas but had guided the club to the Unibond Premier Division play-offs. The 39-year-old also kept Redditch in Conference North for two seasons on a similarly tight budget before striking out on his own at The Walks 12 months ago.

Now the Leicester-based manager believes he can turn around the fortunes of the Conference strugglers who are looking for a long term replacement to Steve Fallon after interim chief Alan Lewer's contract expired at the end of the season.

"It's a Conference club and that is an attractive proposition for me," said Heggs. "From what I understand money is tight but I have a proven track record at operating without a huge budget. Histon would certainly be a football club I'd be interested in and I've sent my CV in. I'd love the job.

"King's Lynn had no players, no training facilities and no physio when I went there - they had nothing. I had to build a whole new team on a very low budget, much lower than the top five teams in the Unibond Premier. Despite all that, we were third in the league, had gone on a 13-game unbeaten run and scored 49 goals in 18 games."

Heggs would look for a swift reunion with some of the Linnets youngsters who helped guide the former club to the fringes of the automatic promotion spots.

"I've already spoken to one or two lads," he said. "I could get Kwesi Appiah from Peterborough back on loan and a chap called Aman Verma who was at Histon last year. Joe Magunda would want to come, Bobby Aisien is another and I could get five or six players aged under 21 straight away.

"I would look at their squad and how we could improve it because I have spent my whole coaching and management career working on a shoestring budget. I had a fraction of the money available to former managers at King's Lynn. You don't need to be paying �600 or �700 a week to players who are there just to pick up the dough nowadays. That's not the way non-league football's going any more."

Heggs still also has plenty of contacts further up the pyramid.

"My best friend is James Rodwell who is now the chief executive at Notts County so I have been watching a lot of their home and away games," he said. "I went to Redditch and Hinckley and played a few games after leaving Lynn but I am nearly 40 and the enthusiasm has gone so enough is enough - I have called it a day as a footballer. I've been keeping my eye in and those contacts could be more than useful at a Conference Premier club."

Lynn Town will not face Bourne or Holbeach in the UCL Premier Division next season after the duo were demoted over ground grading issues.

The pair have both failed to meet FA criteria to obtain a 'F' category ground grading for step five clubs in the non league pyramid - which includes the stipulation for covered accommodation on two or more sides of the ground.

The former Linnets were themselves demoted after failing from the Conference set-up last summer for failing to commence an upgrade to The Walks ahead of a late season deadline.

King's Lynn officials are promising to unveil a major signing at tonight's latest Lynnsport fans' forum to kick start the club's new era (7.30pm).