Darlington may be languishing near the bottom of football's Third Division, but their fans score every time for style against the North-East's mighty Premiership teams.

That's according to a new survey ranking fans of the Feethams club among the top 20 most stylish in the country.

Supporters from more than a hundred teams in England and Scotland were judged on their choice of clothes, music, drink and other preferences such as favourite celebrities.

Darlington supporters came 16th in the table - way ahead of bitter rivals Hartlepool at 99th.

Sunderland fans will also be pleased to learn that their ranking of 30 was 33 places above Newcastle.

Middlesbrough came 36th and the supporters of North Yorkshire's only representative, York City, were thought distinctly uncool in 95th place.

The Burton Menswear League of Football Style 2001 is to be published in the BBC's Match of the Day magazine next week.

Deputy editor Nigel Matheson said: "It's a bit of fun and not to be taken too seriously. The results do indicate though that the North-East needs to pull its socks up if it wants to do better next year."

The region's most stylish club said it was not surprised by the sartorial efforts of its fans.

Luke Raine, director of football at Darlington FC, said: "We never doubted for a minute that our fans had the most style and class in the North-East."

For the record, Leeds United fans were said to be the most fashionable in the land, while Bury were the least dapper at 104th.