Darlington Football Club fans say there’s more than a hint of deja vu about the latest crisis to hit the team.

The future of the Quakers was still in the balance last night as a disagreement between the club’s chairman and its creditors remained unresolved.

Chairman Raj Singh told The Northern Echo he was prepared to quit the club over the calling in of a £2m debt.

The money is owed to North-East businessmen Philip Scott and Graham Sizer and dates back to the time before Mr Singh took over at The Northern Echo Arena.

While Mr Singh is the sole owner of the football club, the stadium and surrounding land is the property of a holding company that he jointly owned with former chairman George Houghton.

It is that holding company – which is now 75 per cent owned by Mr Singh – which is in debt to Mr Scott and Mr Sizer, and they have now called in the receivers.

Mr Singh has made what he described as a generous offer to Mr Scott and Mr Sizer, in line with an independent valuation of the holding company’s assets, but this has been turned down.

For the fans, it represents another sorry chapter in the 128-year history of the club, now plying its trade in the Blue Square Bet Premier.

Scott Thornberry, who runs online fanzine Darlington Uncovered, said: “It has become a battle of the businessmen.

“It’s what Darlington fans are used to. As soon as things start to look a little bit better on the pitch, we get this.”

Colin Dunn, 65, of Darlington, said: “Mr Singh’s put a lot of money in and he’s a lovely gentleman. Unfortunately, everything’s about money these days.”

Tony Taylor, chairman of the Darlington Supporters’ Trust, said: “As far as I can see, Mr Singh has done a lot of things right in terms of the way the club is being run, but there is always that shadow of what the fans call the ‘white elephant’.

“Trying to convince those stay-away fans to return is an enormous task. There are an awful lot of people who used to go to Feethams who would not come back purely because of bricks and mortar.”

The club is allowed to use the stadium for the next 13 years under the terms of a £10,000-a-year lease agreed by Mr Scott and Mr Sizer.

A spokesman for the pair said similar arrangements were in place at clubs in the same league at 20 times the price, but said the men were happy for the existing arrangement to continue.

“These are business people,” the spokesman added.

“They helped the football club in its hour of need, but only on a commercial basis. If they were a bank they would have foreclosed early.”