There's no place like home. Just ask Neil Maddison. It's a popular trend within the Beautiful Game to return 'home' after long and distinguished careers elsewhere.

Gary Pallister did it at Middlesbrough after winning everything but the kitchen sink at Manchester United, Alan Shearer followed the path when he returned to Newcastle almost seven years ago while Sir Bobby Robson returned to his roots after managing Europe's finest.

But while Pallister hobbled his way to retirement with Boro and Shearer is seemingly grooming his way into the Magpies hotseat when Sir Bobby retires, Maddison fears he may be forced to end his playing days away from his hometown club.

"At the moment the club has said to me I won't be staying on," concedes the 33-year-old. "That is football, you move on and you go to other clubs. I know in myself that I still have that appetite for the game, I've still got the willingness to do well and I still have plenty of ambition.

"When that ambition has gone and my legs feel they can't do it any more that's when I'll hang up my boots. Until then I have no intention of packing in at all."

It all started for Maddison as a raw 14-year-old playing for Darlington schoolboys, some 19 years ago when he first caught the eye of Southampton scout Jack Bobson.

"Jack spotted me in a game and took me up to Gateshead for a trial with Southampton," said Maddison. "I went up there and played with the likes of Shearer and Steve Davis, who is now at Burnley.

"We did pretty well there and they invited us down to Southampton during the school holidays."

On leaving school, Maddison and Shearer were taken on as apprentices for two years before signing professional forms for the club in 1988.

And it was during their early days on the south coast that his relationship with Shearer first blossomed.

"We lived in the same digs and grew up together in Southampton," said Maddison.

"We were only very young at the time so it was good that we were both there for each other being so far away from home. I was actually best man for him when he got married, so you could say we're pretty good friends.

"We've had some great times together and you only need to look at his career to see how well he's done for himself.''

After a couple of years as an apprentice Maddison signed for the club professionally when he was 18, putting pen to paper on a three-year contract.

He went on to enjoy over 150 appearances for the Saints before making a surprise return to the North-East in 1997 to join Bryan Robson's Middlesbrough revolution in a £250,000 deal.

Boro had just been relegated from the Premiership and despite having just agreed a new four-year contract with Southampton, Maddison jumped at the chance to join the Teessiders.

"Out of the blue the Southampton manager Dave Jones rang me up, said he'd agreed a fee with Middlesbrough and asked me if I was interested," said Maddison.

"I just put the phone down straight away and headed up there, I had no hesitation whatsoever.

"I knew they were a big club and dropping down a division didn't really affect my thinking. They had some fantastic players up there like Paul Merson and Emerson, and Juninho had arrived for a second time when I was there.

"When I went to Middlesbrough I knew they had a lot of injuries and I was probably a stop-gap for them. It was a good chance for me and one I didn't want to miss. As it happened I played pretty well there and kept my place. It was a great move for me career wise.

"I had a fantastic time and I still have a lot of friends at the club."

It perhaps comes as no surprise that Maddison gained so many friends during his four-year spell with the club after helping them to promotion in his first season, which also included an appearance at Wembley in the Coca Cola Cup final defeat to Chelsea.

But as Boro consolidated on their return to the Premiership and the likes of Christian Ziege and Paul Ince arrived, Maddison found first-team chances increasingly rare.

"I knew I wasn't going to get taken on because they went up and they were buying players for seven and eight million," said Maddison.

"I knew it was going to be tough to get into the side so it didn't come as much of a surprise when I was told I could leave."

And after much deliberation and a number of offers from First Division clubs, Maddison opted to make the short trip across the A66 to Darlington in the summer 2001.

He said: "There were a few moves which I could have made but after I spoke to the chairman I decided to come here.

"I thought I had a chance here of maybe getting into coaching when my career finished so that was the main reason I came to Darlington. Plus it was the club I've supported all my life.

"I've heard a lot of people talking about money and the reasons I came to Darlington but I've got a basic contract here like everyone else.

"I could have gone to Scotland and made a hell of a lot more, I could have gone to Dallas last season and made a lot of money but I didn't want to because I still felt I had a lot to prove here.

"There was no way I was going to walk out on the club and I'm pleased I made that decision."

So would he like to remain with his hometown club? "Of course I would. I don't want to go anywhere because I love the place," he said.

"It's my hometown club and I want to do well for them, especially the fans. But football is full of ups and downs and you've got to get on with it no matter what happens.

"I'll just have to see what happens in the summer and I'll take it from there. It's been another roller coaster ride this season but I've enjoyed every minute and I've still got a few more seasons left in me."