THE financiers bidding to gain control of troubled Darlington FC last night went public to urge creditors not to end 121 years of football in the town.

Stewart Davies, of the Sterling Consortium, spoke out ahead of Wednesday's meeting of creditors, which promises to be a landmark occasion in the club's remarkable recent history.

With ex-chairman George Reynolds insisting he will vote against a company voluntary arrangement (CVA), and rumours circulating that other major creditors could do the same, Sterling faces a fight.

The finance group - consisting of accountants Mr Davies, Melvyn Laughton and Sean Verity - loaned £3.9m to Darlington to help complete work on the former Reynolds Arena.

Those loans came with a high interest rate and the debt stands at more than £6m.

Mr Davies and Mr Laughton now own the stadium, and Sterling could be on the brink of reluctantly taking over the entire Quakers operation.

Securing a CVA is crucial if the club is to survive in the Football League.

Mr Davies said: "Out of the creditors' meeting will come two lists - a list of people who want to see football stay in Darlington and a short list of people who want the club to fold."

Sterling has gained a reputation as the last resort for lower league football clubs, which were hit hard by the ITV Digital collapse.

It loaned money to clubs including Carlisle United, Barnsley, Chesterfield, Cambridge United and Scarborough, and has faced criticism from fans and chairmen.

Sterling became involved at Darlington as the stadium project progressed, loaning £3.5m as a group to Mr Reynolds. Mr Davies later personally loaned a further £400,000.

But Mr Davies said they never believed their involvement in Darlington would come this far.

"We expected that some anonymous Russian would leap in and take over. But surprisingly that didn't happen," he said.

"We have paid £700,000 to the administrators to help the club continue through the administration and a further £150,000 as a token gesture to creditors. We have had to pay £125,000 this week so the administrator can stay in post until May 30 and the requirements of the Football League can be satisfied."

In total, Mr Davies said Sterling, which acquired the former Reynolds Arena for £2.5m, had spent an additional £1m on the club to keep it afloat.

Now it is pinning future hopes on gaining creditors' approval and being able to meet the Football League's May 28 deadline for the Quakers' situation to be clarified.

Mr Reynolds has criticised Sterling, saying the football club had been "pillaged by the very company who held out a helping hand" when there were short-term difficulties.

Mr Davies said: "We would be reluctant owners," admitting that he had only been to one football match - Darlington's victory over Oxford United this season.

But he insisted that, having got to this position, Sterling wanted to make genuine efforts to help the club thrive.

Those could include approaching Kenny Dalglish about the chairman's role.

The Scotland legend has been closely linked to Darlington through his friendship with boss David Hodgson and Sterling sees him as an ideal figurehead.

Mr Davies said: "We have done loans to seven or eight football clubs in the past few years, all of which have survived and all of which have paid their monies.

"We have had to give an undertaking to the Football Association and the Football League that we won't loan further monies to football clubs while we are involved at this one."

Sterling hopes to get out of Darlington as soon as a buyer is found, possibly paving the way for a local consortium, backed by Darlington Supporters' Trust, to step in.

"We are still giving money across to the administrators to keep going," said Mr Davies.

"We're still working on finishing the stadium and we have players to pay. We have agreed a figure with David Hodgson, who has been fantastic, for players and renewing contracts.

"We want a fantastic start to next season and we would like to win the Third Division. We would be looking for a lot of help from the people of Darlington to run it."

Sterling had the Reynolds Arena signs taken down from the south side of the stadium, but have not yet considered a new name.

"We don't want to build any hopes until after Wednesday. Mr Reynolds' bankruptcy hearing (to be held on Thursday) does not really have a bearing" said Mr Davies.

"I just don't know what else we can do. Darlington is one of the oldest football clubs.

"The council will only allow football to be played at the stadium. They have an agreement with Mr Reynolds that they can buy it back for £30,000 if football isn't played there.

"It's up to creditors whether they want football there or not. I can't see why anybody would seek to stop football in Darlington."

Read more about the Quakers here.