Talks to bring Darlington Football Club out of administration (From The Northern Echo)

Talks to bring Darlington Football Club out of administration

8:00am Thursday 23rd February 2012 in Sport By Joe Willis, Regional chief reporter

TALKS to bring the Quakers out of administration have begun after the Buy Darlo campaign surged past its first target.

More than £270,000 had last night been invested in the new company, Darlington FC 1883 Ltd, which aims to buy Darlington Football Club and secure its long-term future.

The achievement came as the club announced plans to attract more fans with a seven-game ticket incentive for the rest of the season.

Achieving the first goal of £250,000 on the way to the £750,000 target means the company can begin the process of bringing the club out of administration.

The first step is to pay off the football creditors, before agreeing a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) with non-footballing creditors.

After the CVA has been arranged, there is a 28-day cooling-off period before the community company can take over the club.

Karen Glencross, a member of the interim board, said the speed with which the shares had sold had taken the group by surprise.

She said: “We simply did not expect to hit the first stage within five days.

“It is brilliant that we have, but we thought we would have more time. There is now a lot of legal and administration work going on behind the scenes.

“People need to show a little bit of patience as it will take a little bit longer to come out of administration than they might expect, but we are doing everything as quickly as we can.”

Fellow board member Tony Waters said directors were working hard on the business plan for the club.

With the Quakers currently lying just above the relegation zone and being prevented from bringing in new players, Mr Waters said the prospect of relegation was being factored into the business plan.

Shares yesterday went on sale in the Dolphin Centre, in Darlington, for people wanting to pay by cash or cheque.

About £8,000 was invested at the centre yesterday.

Shares will continue to be sold from 11am to 4pm for the rest of the week, including Saturday. A limited number of two-for-one shares are available for cash and cheque customers.

They will then return to the normal price of £100 for one.

The seven-game ticket, which will save an adult more than £50 on matchday prices, will include home ties against Stockport, Luton, Ebbsfleet, Grimsby, Bath, Kettering and Wrexham.

The adult ticket is £75 (saving £51 on matchday prices), while a concession is £55 (saving £29) and the child ticket is £25 (saving £10).