AMBITIOUS CHAIRMAN: George Houghton believes his club has the infrastructure to compete with League One clubs
If things go well for Darlington FC today, the chairman has made a promise he
may live to regret.
David Roberts speaks to George Houghton ahead of the
crucial play-off match and learns of the potential new signings for the club.
TODAY'S match against
Rochdale will be the last time
this season that George
Houghton will be cheering his
team on from the stands.
Even if the Quakers get
through to the final at Wembley,
an operation in the US means
that Mr Houghton will not be
able to make the trip to London -
a situation he is not best pleased
about.
"I'm absolutely sick. I'm very
disappointed," he said. "Obviously,
my son and all the directors
will be going.
"I have my own private jet and
would get there if I could, but I
just can't make it.
"But I'll be able to watch it on
satellite television, so I'll still see
the match.
"It would be brilliant to make
the final. There's only one Wembley,
it's the greatest place in the
world. It's just unbelievable."
advertisement
The fact that today will be the
last time this season that Mr
Houghton will see the Quakers
play in the flesh could have led
to him making the following
promise.
"If they win tomorrow, I'll put
on a strip and I'll play with
George Luke," he said.
Whether Mr Luke, a fellow
director, is aware of this pledge
remains to be seen, but it gives an
indication of Mr Houghton's
pride at what the club has
achieved.
He has always maintained that
Darlington has the potential to
be a Championship side and this
afternoon's match could see
them take the first step towards
achieving that ambition.
If they do manage to make the
step up, Mr Houghton says he
believes the infrastructure is
there to compete with League
One clubs.
He said: "I still have a vision for
the future of the club and I am
committed to seeing that
through to 2010, which I have
always said I would.
"I am not a great believe in having
expensive players. We are
bringing in youth players, we had
a 15-year-old play the other day,
and we have a few indications of
how well they are doing.
"They are coming up behind
the seniors and doing fantastic.
"There are some really good
teams in League One next year
and I want to see crowds of
between 10,000 and 12,000, which
I think we can achieve."
Although earlier this season he
called for more fans to attend
games, the recent interest in the
club as it made its play-off bid,
proves to him that larger crowds
can be achieved.
He said: "I'm very proud of the
management, the players and all
the fans that were there last Saturday.
It was a real team effort
and fantastic to be going away
with a slight advantage.
"I am delighted that 2,000
fans are going to be travelling
down to Rochdale to cheer the
team on.
"It will be a fantastic day and I
applaud the loyal supporters.
They have stuck with the team
and I'm sure they will make as
much noise as possible.
"I hope they will be real ambassadors
for the club and the
town."
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
Print
Email this
Comment
