Teamwork at its best (From The Northern Echo)

Teamwork at its best

12:52pm Tuesday 17th January 2012 in Comment

THE fact that Darlington Football Club is not dead today is due to a lot of hard work put in by a number of local people with the interests of the town at heart.

We also believe that it is because administrator Harvey Madden is a sports enthusiast who is bending over backwards to avoid being the man who sounds the death knell.

The Quakers could easily have been liquidated yesterday but the door has been left open for a possible deal to be pushed through.

We feel for manager Craig Liddle and the players whose contracts have been terminated. But the administrator is hopeful of them being reappointed if new funding arrangements can be secured.

The club’s future hinges on an outof- town investor agreeing to meet the running costs of the club for another few months. To do that, he has to be sufficiently encouraged by the prospect of getting the go-ahead for an eco-friendly housing development on the Neasham Road site of the Northern Echo Arena.

Our understanding is that initial talks with Darlington Borough Council yesterday have provided that encouragement, so further talks are to take place between the investor and the administrator.

Darlington Football Club’s 128-year existence hangs in the balance today – but there is still a chance that it can be saved.

And if it is to close, it will not have been for a lack of imagination or effort by a small group of people who have been playing a blinder on behalf of Darlington and its football club.