ICONS from Middlesbrough Football Club past and present attended the launch of an exhibition to mark the day the town nearly lost its football club.

Twenty-five years ago, the gates were locked at the club’s Ayresome Park ground with the club believed to be 37 minutes away from liquidation.

The Back From the Brink exhibition, at the Dorman Museum, in Middlesbrough, documents those dark days and the club’s subsequent revival.

Boro manager Tony Mowbray, who captained the side in 1986, visited yesterday, alongside former players Bernie Slaven, Steve Vickers, Gary Pallister and Gordon Jones, to launch the exhibition.

It forms part of the M86 project, which was funded by a Lottery grant.

Writer Alan Spence produced Boro’s 37 Minutes, a play performed at Teesside University last year.

He said: “There is so much history around, we focus on the weekly matches but there is another story there, that is the joy of it. It is important for football fans to see it. Middlesbrough is a community club, and there is that history which we should not forget.”

Mr Spence’s cousin, also called Alan, played for Darlington in the Sixties and can see similarities between his club’s situation in 1986 and the one facing the Quakers now.

He said: “It does worry me that a club can go out of business when it is an important part of local culture. If Darlington loses that, it is a money-driven game and it is hard to get back.”

Gary Pallister, who was a rookie player at the time of the club’s near-liquidation before going on to play for Manchester United, remembers that time well.

He said: “It was a pivotal moment in the club’s history.

It was a renaissance, it was as close as they’ll come to the brink.

“It put things in perspective for a lot of the lads. It made us all appreciate the living we earn from football. We were given a second chance and we grasped it with both hands.”

Pallister, who spent a short time as Darlington’s commercial director last season, said: “Hopefully Darlington can be saved as well – it is sad for any town to lose a football club because it gives them an identity, it gives the people of Darlington something to be proud of.”

Back From the Brink is open every day except Monday until April. Entry is free.