NEIL Maddison last night conceded that accepting George Houghton returning as chairman may be Darlington’s only hope of survival.

Darlington-born Maddison, now the club’s centre of excellence manager, is well aware many supporters are against a return for Houghton, who placed the club into administration during February.

But with Raj Singh’s attempts to buy the club having been rebuffed, Houghton’s return appears more likely than ever.

“I’ve read a lot in the press about George Houghton and I know he’s getting a lot of stick and I can see where the fans are coming from,” said Maddison, who played over 100 games for his hometown club after signing in 2001.

“But if I was offered a choice of the club going under or George Houghton coming back as chairman, I know which one I’d take.

“I’m not sure if there are any buyers out there, I’m led to believe there aren’t.

“Maybe he doesn’t want to come back, or maybe he would bring someone in as a figurehead, I don’t know, but I’m not really bothered as long as the club survives, that’s the most important thing.

“I don’t want it to go under after 125 years. It would be absolutely ridiculous.

“I understand what supporters are saying (about Houghton) because I’m a supporter myself. I speak to a lot of fans and I know there is a lot of resentment there.

“The people who have lost their jobs, they won’t want to see him back.

“People are losing their jobs, there’s a skeleton staff and you’re hearing that 125 years of football is going to come to an end. I don’t want that and I don’t think anyone wants that. We are where we are because he put us into administration, but he could take us out too.

“It’s a strange thing to say, but that’s the reality.”

Maddison and youth team coach Craig Liddle have been asked by the administrator to take control of football matters until the club’s future is resolved.

One of their tasks is to find a training base as it is unlikely Quakers will return to the Riverside Sports Complex in Chester-le-Street.

Maddison added: “We’re running things as normal, as normal as we possibly can, but we’re under difficult circumstances.

“We had a fairly successful season with the youth team and we’ve got some fantastic kids coming through.

“We know we’re going in the right direction and after all the hard work that’s been put in to get the youth set-up to that stage I certainly don’t want to see that go up in smoke.”

Curtis Main’s trial with Fulham ended yesterday after he impressed coaches during a reserve game on Tuesday. Quakers are hopeful the Premier League outfit will make a bid, but any offer is likely to based largely on future appearances.