Let's make it our club (From The Northern Echo)

Let's make it our club

1:05pm Monday 23rd January 2012 in Comment

NEARLY 6,000 people showed they cared about saving Darlington Football Club on Saturday.

Some travelled five hours or more to be there and, despite the fact that they were rattling round in a 27,500-seater stadium, they created a fantastic atmosphere.

A similar response will be needed next Saturday when Darlington are at home to York, who are expected to bring a sizeable away support.

Over the next week, the local community really has to decide how important it is to have a professional football club.

Discussions over potential development plans for the Neasham Road site will continue and it is right that they do so because Darlington cannot afford the embarrassing prospect of a decaying white elephant of a stadium on such a prominent site.

But finding a sustainable model for running the club is the priority.

On today’s front page, we reveal plans – formulated by the town’s MP Jenny Chapman, in discussion with campaigners, businessmen and the local council –- to turn the club into a community interest company.

Mrs Chapman is convinced it is the only way to give the club a sustainable future. After three administrations in a decade, the Quakers can no longer go on being at the mercy of single investors.

Under the community interest company model, the club would be owned and run by the local community, with a board of trustees at the head of affairs.

But in order to convince administrator Harvey Madden that the plan is workable, about £500,000 will need to be raised by the weekend.

In times of austerity, it is a big ask but 129 years of history is worth fighting for. Does Darlington really want a professional football club? We will soon know for sure.