FANS of Darlington Football Club are tonight no closer to knowing if their team will survive into the New Year.

Club chairman Raj Singh has brushed off calls for him to make a statement on the team's future as rumours continue to suggest the club could be facing administration.

The Quakers’ remaining 15 senior first team players were have been told:

* Prepare for the club being placed in administration;

* They would be unlikely to be paid December’s wages;

* That they did not have to turn up for training today.

However, the club refused to confirm or deny the rumours that first gathered pace when players vented their frustrations on social networking site Twitter.

Chairman Raj Singh, who returned home from holiday late on Wednesday night, was locked in talks with advisors all afternoon and into the evening.

A curt statement issued last night simply said: “Chairman Raj Singh has today returned from abroad and is currently assessing the club’s position with his advisors. A further announcement will be made next week.

“In the meantime, the match against Gateshead on Sunday will go ahead as planned.”

Having been told by caretaker manager Craig Liddle to prepare for administration, a number of players reacted on Twitter.

Jamie Chandler tweeted: “Why man!? Did we really deserve this? One month was all we needed... Oh dear.”

Aaron Brown said: “Bad News but predictable...”

Adam Rundle simply put: “Gutted.”

John McReady, who was with the club when it went into administration in 2009, said: “Only 19 and already experienced admin twice. To say I’m gutted is an understatement.”

Ryan Bowman said: “Gutted to say the least, thanks a lot Raj Singh, you jet off to Dubai for the New Year and leave us in admin. Great chairman and a great man.”

Having invested more than £3m of his own money, Mr Singh is understood to be deciding whether to maintain the status quo, place the club into administration or end 128 years of history by opting for liquidation.

He warned in early November that he would only keep the club running for a further two weeks after giving Darlington Borough Council an ultimatum to change a covenant on the land enabling him to develop the arena site.

His decision also follows months of wrangling with landowners Philip Scott and Graham Sizer.

With the Quakers losing up to £90,000 a month, Mr Singh also demanded that the players took a pay cut.

The troubles were offset by the club’s FA Trophy success against Mansfield Town at Wembley in May, when Chris Senior scored a 120th minute winner. The silverware prompted Mr Singh to maintain his interest in the club.

If he were to put the club in administration, it would be the third spell in less than a decade – leading to a minimum ten-point deduction by the Blue Square Conference.

In December 2003, George Reynolds was the first to opt for administration, only months after he moved the club to its 25,000 all-seater stadium.

Two years ago, under the chairmanship of George Houghton, the Quakers again went into administration, which removed any chance of promotion and instead led to relegation from The Football League the following season.

Supporters trust chairman Tony Taylor was invited to meet Mr Singh this week. However, Mr Taylor was unable to attend yesterday and asked for it to be arranged for today, but was last night still to hear from Mr Singh.

He told The Northern Echo he had been “putting feelers out in the local community” to see if there were any parties interested in taking over.

However, he does not believe there is anyone prepared to invest money, adding that it was the worst possible economic time for a football club to be seeking a buyer.

“The outlook looks pretty grim,” said Mr Taylor.

“I’m waiting to hear what decision is being made by the chairman. I’m not sure it’s been handled in the most brilliant way. I have always maintained I want more communication between the club and supporters.

“We are all in the dark. It’s not a pleasant feeling not knowing what’s going on or whether we’ll have a club next week.

“If I meet Mr Singh, I would plead with him to avoid putting the club in administration just to give us a fighting chance to see if there are people out there who would be interested in a consortium.

“It would be good for the football club, good for the fans and good for the town to do something to rally round.”

However, Darlington MP Jenny Chapman, who believed a phoenix club playing at Feethams may be the best solution, has sympathy for the chairman.

She said: “I know he is getting flak in the town, but he is a decent guy who has got to the end of his tether.

“He has to draw the line somewhere. I have sympathy for him.”