Darlington

[Barry the bird boggler]

From the BBC website

Darlington put squad up for free

'Worrying' time at football club
Crisis-hit Darlington, who are in administration, have confirmed that the majority of their playing staff are available on free transfers.

A statement said the decision was made to extend the life of the business and "allow any potential buyer as much time as possible in order to make an offer".

In a further move to save money the administrators have confirmed no interim team manager will be appointed.

Craig Liddle and Neil Maddison will take temporary charge of team affairs.

Only 17-year-old Josh Gray is exempt from the cull due to his age, while earlier this week assistant boss Martin Gray and his colleagues in the club's coaching staff were also released, as were administrative staff.

The Quakers entered administration in February, and have failed in two attempts to find a buyer for the club and the separately-owned assets such as the stadium and surrounding land.


It looks very possible that Darlington may actually fold in the summer. Their administrators describe the situation as dire, they are around £5 million in debt and a deadline to find a new buyer passed last Tuesday without anyone coming forward.

The supporter's Trust there are speaking with the Conference with a view to taking up a place in the Blue Square North, as a new entity, if the club does go into liquidation in the next few weeks.

No doubt if this does happen both Chester City and Woking will be celebrating as they are likely to be reprieved from relegation.

[Y21_Royal]

Really sad news - shows what can happen when a club doesn't invest money sensibly.

[Dirk Gently]

Really sad news - shows what can happen when a club doesn't invest money sensibly.

If they'd had money in the first place they could maybe have invested it!

[Alan Partridge]

ReynoLOLds

[Row Z Royal]

Really sad news - shows what can happen when a club doesn't invest money sensibly.

If they'd had money in the first place they could maybe have invested it!

Where did the money for their stadium come from?

[Dirk Gently]

Really sad news - shows what can happen when a club doesn't invest money sensibly.

If they'd had money in the first place they could maybe have invested it!

Where did the money for their stadium come from?

Reynolds! And no-one at Darlo wanted the stadium except him. Everyone was perfectly happy at Feethams, which was a superb little ground which suited them perfectly.

[Deathy]

Stupid red seats and their home colours are black and white. Bit like Oxford having bLOLue seats.

Oh and "During the summer of 2002, Darlington made approaches to sign two world famous players - Paul Gascoigne and Faustino Asprilla - but both bids failed."

ReynoLOLds.

[handbags_harris]

No doubt if this does happen both Chester City and Woking will be celebrating as they are likely to be reprieved from relegation.

That'd be nice, as £10 would be coming my way from Compo's Hat

[Hungerford Bee]

I was up there for our championship game (have to say that because we don't get the chance very often!) and there was really an air of desperation about the place. The stadium is excellent apart from being a little souless and on the edge of town with no facilities around it - sound familiar? They only opened one side and one end of it and had a programme that covered the last three games of their season in order to save money.

Still there were only around 3,800 there of which over a third were from Brentford for the game and the record attendance is less than half the capacity so it is hard to see what possible business case there was for building the thing. Running costs must be huge and they also gambled on a big wage bill.

Would be a real shame to see them fold as it is always a good away trip.

[Huntley & Palmer]

Stupid red seats and their home colours are black and white. Bit like Oxford having bLOLue seats.

Oh and "During the summer of 2002, Darlington made approaches to sign two world famous players - Paul Gascoigne and Faustino Asprilla - but both bids failed."

ReynoLOLds.

You really are a clueless oxf*rd

[TBM]

Stupid red seats and their home colours are black and white. Bit like Oxford having bLOLue seats.

[wolsey]

Stupid red seats and their home colours are black and white. Bit like Oxford having bLOLue seats.

Oh and "During the summer of 2002, Darlington made approaches to sign two world famous players - Paul Gascoigne and Faustino Asprilla - but both bids failed."

ReynoLOLds.

You really are a clueless oxf*rd

Although (based on his posts) I totally agree with you, it can't be denied that Reynold's involvement totally ruined Darlington.

He didn't understand the idea of Club membership (hence creating a stadium far bigger than the club could possibly hope to support - and in the wrong colours), and sought to create headlines (e.g. publically bidding for past-it big names) in an attempt to get national publicity.

In summary, he destroyed a totally decent little club.

[eddiegrundy]

I used to live in the North East and cut my teeth on the terraces at Feethams. There is a lot of general ignorance on show in this thread.

First of all George Reynolds is not the current chairman. He left the club a year or two back, and the club went into administration because he couldn't pay off the stadium debts. He subsequently spent time in jail although I think it was for something like tax evasion rather than his previous occupation of safe-cracking for which he also did time. It is true that he tried to sign Asprilla, but not Gazza as far as I am aware. The current chairman who has placed the club into administration once again is George Houghton. He is seen as a quieter and more cunning operator then Reynolds and the fans believe that he is genuinely trying to get the club wound up so that he can redevelop the stadium and the land around it. Prospective buyer Raj Singh is not prepared to take the club without the Stadium and the land, and that is the sticking point with Houghton at the moment.

Regarding red seats, it is true that the main club colours are black and white but previous strips have incorporated red flashes, and club scarves used to be red, white and black, so red is not totally wrong. I don't know the science behind it but not many clubs have black and white seats, and red and blue are more pleasing to the eye. Wembley also has red seats, but England only occasionally play in red.

Regarding the players being released, this statement originated from a cock-up invovling the administrator. The statement has now been corrected and the players have not been released after all.

[Dirk Gently]

I used to live in the North East and cut my teeth on the terraces at Feethams. There is a lot of general ignorance on show in this thread.

First of all George Reynolds is not the current chairman. He left the club a year or two back, and the club went into administration because he couldn't pay off the stadium debts. He subsequently spent time in jail although I think it was for something like tax evasion rather than his previous occupation of safe-cracking for which he also did time. It is true that he tried to sign Asprilla, but not Gazza as far as I am aware. The current chairman who has placed the club into administration once again is George Houghton. He is seen as a quieter and more cunning operator then Reynolds and the fans believe that he is genuinely trying to get the club wound up so that he can redevelop the stadium and the land around it. Prospective buyer Raj Singh is not prepared to take the club without the Stadium and the land, and that is the sticking point with Houghton at the moment.

Regarding red seats, it is true that the main club colours are black and white but previous strips have incorporated red flashes, and club scarves used to be red, white and black, so red is not totally wrong. I don't know the science behind it but not many clubs have black and white seats, and red and blue are more pleasing to the eye. Wembley also has red seats, but England only occasionally play in red.

Regarding the players being released, this statement originated from a cock-up invovling the administrator. The statement has now been corrected and the players have not been released after all.

Agree mostly with that, although a fair number of supporters suspect that Reynold's influence isn't fully gone away, and that George Houghton or other board members are acting as Reynolds's "proxy" in some way or other.

[papereyes]

Which club had a chairman who hired an ex-SAS man to commit arson on the stadium as part of an insurance scam?

[Dirk Gently]

Which club had a chairman who hired an ex-SAS man to commit arson on the stadium as part of an insurance scam?

Doncaster.