A host of questions for Darlington FC's survival group to answer (From The Northern Echo)

A host of questions for Quakers' survival group to answer

8:00am Friday 17th February 2012 in Sport By Scott Wilson

ADMINISTRATOR: Harvey Madden during a press conference to outline plans for community run club

A GROUND-BREAKING opportunity to create a community-owned football club or a well-intentioned delaying of the inevitable demise of Darlington?

Either way, the survival model that was outlined by administrator Harvey Madden this week is now the only show in town.

After tentative talk of housing, hotels, snow domes and property development, 129 years of history now lie in the hands of the fans. You don't need the benefit of hindsight to suggest that it always looked likely to end this way.

The fact that there is still a club to save in the first place is, of course, the best thing to have emerged from a chaotic six-week spell since the administrators were appointed on December 29.

There were times, most notably on that hectic day in the middle of January when the death rites were being administered, when it did not look like Darlington would survive to the end of the evening, let alone the end of the season.

The development of a survival strategy is to be applauded, and owes much to the unwavering commitment of administrator Harvey Madden, MP Jenny Chapman and the members of the now disbanded Rescue Group.

The requirement to raise £750,000 before April 30 is clearly a significant hurdle to be overcome, but the target should not be impossible to reach.

And even if the fundraising efforts fall short, there is already sufficient money to see the club to the end of the current campaign, something that did not look likely even a couple of weeks ago.

On the face of things, there is plenty to be positive about. Scratch a little deeper though, and some age-old questions remain. Sadly, neither the administrator nor the driving forces behind the newly-formed Darlington FC 1883 Ltd were able to answer them satisfactorily on Wednesday.

Forget an elephant in the room, an entire troop were present as Madden delivered his statement this week.

What is Raj Singh's position when it comes to all this? Madden claimed it was his "understanding" that Singh is supportive of the community buy-out, but what does that mean?

Supportive as in willing to write off £2m, or supportive as in throwing a couple of quid into the pot?

The former chairman has previously said he will be willing to write off his debt if it means the club surviving as a community asset, but why should he be true to his word? And if you're calling on supporters and businesses to pledge hard cash, shouldn't you have a legally-binding explanation of Singh's position?

The same applies to Graham Scott and Philip Sizer, who continue to own The Northern Echo Arena and its surrounding land.

Will Scott and Sizer be willing to sell the stadium to the new survival company? If so, how much will they be demanding? And if they're not, how much will they be charging in rent now that their previous agreement with Singh is null and void?

More unanswered questions that require urgent clarification before supporters part with their hard-earned money.

So much of the club's short-term position remains uncertain, yet when it comes to a longer-term vision for the Quakers, things are arguably even more alarming.

What is the long-term strategy for making Darlington sustainable? At the moment, it appears to be the same as the one espoused by every failed chairman that has taken control at the Arena.

Try to reduce costs and grow income. Work towards maximising the stadium's revenue streams, whether through concerts, car boot sales or conferences. Hope that attendances will increase as the town realises it must support its football club or contribute to its extinction.

To quote arch-miserabilists The Smiths, 'Stop me if you think that you've heard this one before'.

There is a long list of Darlington owners who have been left out of pocket because they couldn't make the sums add up.

Yes, a community-based ownership model could mean reduced business rates and utility bills. But that reduction will surely be insufficient to plug the gaps that Singh, George Houghton, Stewart Davies and George Reynolds all discovered in their budgets.

When Darlington entered administration for the third time in a decade in December, there was an acknowledgment that something fundamental had to change.

The new ownership model for the club might be revolutionary, but there is a very real danger that the chronic problems of too big a stadium, a split between ownership of club and ground, and a lack of secure non-footballing revenue streams will remain.

Some will no doubt interpret that as a jarring voice of negativity at a time when everyone needs to rally behind the football club.

It is not meant to be. Like the rest of this newspaper, I desperately want Darlington to survive.

But my biggest fear is that an enormous amount of time, money, energy and goodwill will be devoted to this salvation scheme, only for it to fail because of issues that have haunted Darlington Football Club in the past. That would potentially kill a reborn Phoenix club dead in the water.

Hopefully, this week's progress means it will not come to that. Given the lack of a viable alternative, we must all dig deep and keep our fingers crossed.