A LATICS fans’ group has sought help from a leading politician in their bid to instigate a change of ownership at Boundary Park.

Push The Boundary have been the driving force behind calls urging owner Abdallah Lemsagam to sell the club after three turbulent years, including a petition that attracted almost 3,000 signatures and an open letter to the former football agent.

And today members of the group met with Ashton under Lyne MP Angela Rayner, the deputy leader of the Labour Party, to throw weight behind a bid to save their club amid fears of administration and relegation, after a slide down the league and drop in season ticket sales in protest at the club’s regime.

Ahead of the meeting, Rayner tweeted: “Our local football clubs are the beating heart of our communities, bringing people together every week and contributing so much to our local economy as well. I’m looking forward to meeting Push The Boundary members @PTB_OAFC to listen to their concerns about #oafc.”

PTB representatives described their discussions with Rayner as “positive”. And while they were unable to reveal what was discussed, work is already underway on their next steps, with plans to take their concerns about the club to the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham.

Of the meeting, Steve Shipman - a founder member of PTB - said: “It was very much an introductory meeting to set the scene and lay everything out in the open but Angela was very well versed and offered some really good suggestions over where we can go next with this.

“We are at the start of a journey but to know we have the ear of someone who is very capable and is keen to help is a fantastic start for us.

“It symbolises how important this club is to the community and why it needs protecting. This meeting really shows the traction that has been built up over the last 18 months.”

In addition, PTB took to Twitter, saying: “We thank @AngelaRayner for her time this morning.

“It was a really positive meeting with lots of energy from both sides and we have every intention of building on that.

“We have more work to do as a group to really get things moving, but as a first meeting, we are delighted #oafc”.

Supporters were encouraged by the development, with one replying: “Impressed that Angela took the time to hear Latics fans very real concerns at what is happening at our lovely club, thanks PTB for showing the initiative to try and get our voices heard and also to Angela once again for taking the time to listen. Hope we can see some change soon.”