SUPPORTERS' leaders were last night continuing to prepare for an election that will see a fans' representative join Darlington Football Club's board of directors for the first time.

Darlington Supporters' Trust has been invited on to the board by the Sterling Consortium, the club's new owner.

Trust chairman Tony Taylor said yesterday: "We have got the wheels in motion so we can get an election started as quickly as possible."

The supporter-director will join a board, whose make-up is still being considered by Quakers' chief executive Andy Battison.

It is expected to be completed within a month and it is hoped will allow efforts to turn Darlington into a force on and off the pitch to progress.

Mr Battison, who is on the verge of appointing a commercial manager to help boost revenue at the former Reynolds Arena, outlined ambitious plans for the club in Saturday's Northern Echo.

He would not reveal any names being considered for directors' roles but said well-respected figures in football were in the frame.

"These are well-known people," he said. "Whether it is a formal appointment to the board or on an informal basis, assisting in some way, they will know how the nuts and bolts of a football club work."

Meanwhile, businesses unhappy at their settlement following last Tuesday's creditors meeting have pledged to contest the matter.

Bosses at joinery company Beacon Woodcraft have written to the Department of Trade and Industry, the Football League and the Insolvency Practitioners Association calling for an investigation.

The company, and other creditors who rejected a Sterling-funded company voluntary arrangement, is unhappy at links between Sterling and the football club's administrators Wilson Field and Sterling.

Creditors walked away with less than a penny for every pound they were owed.