SUPPORTERS across the North-East have been urged to set a record attendance at the Reynolds Arena tomorrow - on one of the most important dates in the history of Darlington Football Club.

The crisis-hit Quakers, currently in administration, has been on the brink of extinction after debts of about £20m were revealed this week.

But a galaxy of stars will be in town tomorrow for two fundraising celebrity matches, which could go a long way towards ensuring the club's short-term survival.

Also helping will be The Northern Echo's Sponsor a Minute appeal for Darlington's home league game next Saturday. After just one day the appeal has raised more than £4,000.

Nearly 5,500 tickets have already been sold for the games and the club is hoping that fans from throughout the region will push the crowd numbers higher than the previous stadium record of 11,600 by the 1pm kick-off.

Administrators said a crowd of 7,000 would be a major boost to their efforts to pay the wages and bills - but organisers want to go far beyond that figure.

And the most successful manager in Darlington's history last night called for a wave of support for the 120-year-old club.

Fans' favourite Brian Little, who led the club to two championships in 1990 and 1991, will be taking charge of a celebrity team.

Little, now the boss of Tranmere Rovers, told The Northern Echo: "We need people to get behind this."

He spoke of his dismay at Darlington's perilous state, but pledged to do all he could to help.

"I got a call from Kevan Smith, one of the old Darlington players, asking if I would come up and help out and I was only too willing to do that," he said.

"It's pretty sad to see what's happened.

"The last time I was there was as manager of Hull a couple of years ago and things seemed to be going okay, but the last 18 months have been a nightmare for Darlington.

"I, like a lot of other people who have connections to the club, really wanted to come up and support things."

Last night, Middlesbrough stars Franck Queudrue, Massimo Maccarone and Bolo Zenden all confirmed that they would be lending their support.

The trio will be meeting fans and signing autographs before the games kick off.

Darlington boss David Hodgson, who has worked around-the-clock to secure a host of big names for the matches, will today be putting the finishing touches to plans for the event.

Kenny Dalglish, Paul Gascoigne, Peter Beardsley, Chris Waddle, Alan Kennedy and Bryan Robson will be among the famous faces taking to the field.

Members of Darlington's two Wembley squads, from 1996 and 2000, will also be returning to help their old club.

Meanwhile, manager Hodgson will today find himself in a slightly different role - packing bags at the town's Marks and Spencer store.

With several first-team players, he will be in the store for about an hour from 9.30am, raising money alongside supporters' club members.

The supporters' club is working in conjunction with the supporters' trust, which has launched an appeal to raise £250,000 by the end of March.

Trust officials last night underlined the importance of a big turn-out tomorrow.

Board member Tony Taylor said: "They may only be friendlies, but in many respects there have been few more important matches in the club's history.

"We hope thousands will be there to support the club."

The trust will be collecting money at the ground for the appeal and wants more people to sign up to push its membership close to the 1,000 mark.

There will also be a collection at the Cornmill Shopping Centre today.