Bury are on the brink having been kicked out of the Football League this week, leaving their fans worried about what will happen next. Deputy Sports Editor Craig Stoddart says what has been achieved at Darlington since 2012 offers hope.

THESE are dark days for Bury, and supporters of Darlington can empathise with their plight but also offer encouragement.

At one stage Bury supporters probably felt they had witnessed the worst thing that could happen: Chris Brass’ embarrassing own goal against Darlington.

The defender managed to accidentally score past his own goalkeeper, Kasper Schmeichel, by kicking the ball into his own face and simultaneously break his own nose, quite the achievement.

A clip of the moment has been watched millions of times online, which took place at the Arena in 2006 with the infamous occasion making it the most well-known of the matches played between Darlington and Bury, the two clubs having shared a pitch over 50 times since first meeting in the 1920s.

Equally embarrassing was Dean Windass’ pathetic penalty against Bury for Quakers, the veteran’s weak attempt rolling to Wayne Brown during a match early in the 2009-10 season, but there was also the time Bobby Petta scored a beauty on his Darlington debut at Gigg Lane.

Quakers’ 4-0 win at Feethams in April 1996 when the two clubs were going for promotion remains a treasured memory, a day when Robbie Painter scored twice, the Shakers missed a penalty and their fans packed the Polam End.

Ultimately it was the Lancashire club who were promoted, but having been rivals so many times supporters of each club now know how it feels to suffer at the hands of someone without their best interests at heart, for their club to be cast aside by an owner who did not care as much as them.

Bury’s demise brings back memories for Darlington fans, who know exactly how angry, how upset and how helpless fans of the Lancashire club are feeling. They will be sick to their stomach, their situation will feel unfair – how has it come to this?

The circumstances of their respective demises differ, with Bury being kicked out of the Football League mid-season, whereas Darlington, under the stewardship of Teesside businessman Raj Singh, were relegated from League 2 in 2010, before administration followed two years later when in the Conference.

Singh walked away, leaving supporters to pick up the pieces and in achieving what they have since acts as an example of what can be done when fans stick together.

Bury’s situation is yet to be fully resolved, as is what level and which venue they play at in future, but they could do worse than look towards Darlington and they would see that this is not the end, but the beginning.

Should their club, or a phoenix version, find itself starting next season deep in non-league territory then they could take heart from Quakers’ rebirth and joyful journey back from the brink.

In the summer of 2012 they became a fan-owned club and despite starting without a home and no players the enormous will of their determined supporters meant enough funds were raised to build a team, managed by Martin Gray, that won promotion at the first attempt.

No Darlington follower would have chosen to be thrust into the muck and nettles of the Northern League, yet that season made for a fun adventure in which their team won most weeks, and that’s an enjoyable experience no matter what level the game is played.

The season created momentum that propelled Darlington to three promotions in four seasons as well as wonderful memories that stand alongside any of the Wembley visits or promotions under Brian Little and Cyril Knowles.

Ask any supporter for their top five all-time Darlington games and almost all would include the win at Whitby Town in 2016 to win the Northern Premier League title.

Having spent the first few years based in Bishop Auckland, they have since returned to the town, now based at Blackwell Meadows where the Tin Shed from Feethams, the home Quakers left in 2003, has been restored, symbolising Darlington’s resurrection.

Furthermore, a bond has been forged between the club and supporters which continues today, fans feel they have a greater say in the club’s destiny.

Not all are convinced that being fan-owned is for the best. Some would prefer a sugar daddy to appear from nowhere and pay all the bills and fund a drive to the EFL.

However, no longer are Darlington vulnerable to the whims of one man and the depths of his pockets or his level of interest, instead they are the masters of their own destiny.

Over £1.4m has been raised by Darlington fans since 2012.

Earlier this year £100,000 was raised inside a couple of months in an initiative to boost the manager’s budget, a clear indication that, seven years on from enduring the plight Bury find themselves in now, most of their supporters remain committed as ever.

The club is now in the National League North, the sixth level of football, one below where they were Singh put the club into administration, and a hoarding in the Tin Shed reads: Our football clubs are for life, not just for business.

The story does not end here. Quakers fight on and continue to look up, as one must always do.

It may feel like the end for Bury, but as Darlington, as well as Chester and Halifax and others have shown, the journey is just beginning.

Good luck to the Shakers from Quakers.