Darlington enter administration for third time

 

Liam Blackburn
Tuesday 03 January 2012 15:19 GMT
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Blue Square Bet Premier side Darlington have been placed into administration for the third time in nine years.

The Quakers were put under a transfer embargo last month after reports emerged that some of their players had not received their wages, with club captain Ian Miller terminating his contract as a result.

Chairman Raj Singh issued a statement on the club's official website saying: "It is with huge regret that we've had to place the club into administration today. I for one certainly didn't envisage this when I took over the club back in August 2009.

"Over the last two months we've been trying to make necessary cutbacks to be able to ensure the future of the club, including negotiating reduced players' wages and a settlement with [former manager] Mark Cooper.

"During this time we haven't been able to do that, while we also haven't received a viable offer to take the club over and its ongoing running costs."

As a result of entering administration, the Quakers have been handed a 10-point deduction which will see them slip to 16th in the table, five points above the relegation zone.

The club first went into administration under the ownership of George Reynolds back in 2003 as they struggled to repay the loans they used to finance their 25,000 all-seater stadium, then known as The Reynolds Arena.

Darlington survived the Reynolds era but the stadium remained his lasting legacy and continued to strain financial resources.

They were back in administration again in 2009, just two months after Teesside-born Singh arrived as vice chairman.

The resulting 10-point deduction kept the Quakers out of the League Two play-offs but they left administration in May, with Singh assuming the role of chairman from George Houghton during the summer.

They were relegated from the Football League the following season and entered the Conference with the largest capacity stadium the league has ever had.

PA

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in