A MILLIONAIRE businessman is expected to table a bid for Darlington FC that could end the club’s administration nightmare as early as next week.

Raj Singh, the Quakers’ former vice-chairman, said he hoped to have the deal tied up by this time next week, effectively meaning the club could be out of administration before the end of the season.

Speaking exclusively to The Northern Echo, Mr Singh said he would be meeting the club’s administrators tomorrow.

If the meeting goes to plan, he said he would submit a bid.

Although Mr Singh would not say how much he wanted to buy the club for, he confirmed that he is part of a small consortium.

Mr Singh said: “I’ll be meeting with the administrators on Wednesday and we’ll talk figures with a view to submitting a bid.

“I met with them a couple of weeks ago and I mentioned a few figures.

“There’s a lot of red tape that we need to cut through and we’ll see what happens.”

Mr Singh said that he was unable to reveal who else would form part of his consortium.

But he was optimistic the deal could be concluded.

He said: “This time next week we could be cooking on gas.”

The Teesside businessman was at the Northern Echo Darlington Arena yesterday afternoon, where he watched Quakers draw 2-2 with Bury.

He became involved with the Quakers last December, when he paid £1.2m for a ten per cent share in the club.

However, within months of him joining the board, the former chairman, George Houghton, placed the club in administration.

Mr Houghton has said the club is for sale for £2m and has said he would also listen to offers for the stadium.

Mr Singh owns the £30m Prestige Group and has business interests in residential care homes and investment properties across the Tees Valley.

He has always said he was interested in remaining involved at Darlington.

However, this is the first time he has confirmed he would be submitting a bid.

The keen football fan has continually stressed that if he rejoined Darlington, it would be done in the interests of the club.

Last month, he told The Northern Echo: “If I go in again it will be purely for football reasons. I could invest my money in much better places than football, but this would be for the love of the game.”

The news of Mr Singh’s proposed takeover is a timely boost for Darlington, who have now been in administration for nearly a month-and-ahalf and have recently endured a number of setbacks.

On-loan strikers Danny Carlton and Liam Hatch were unable to play a part in yesterday’s match after their eligibility was questioned because the club is in administration.

Yesterday, the Quaker’s commercial director, Christine Balford, said the club was also investigating the possibility of moving an All-Stars fundraising match because the three North-East Premier League clubs are playing televised matches on the same weekend.

The match, which will feature former England midfielder Paul Gascoigne, along with an array of footballing talent, is due to be held on Sunday, May 3, at The Northern Echo Darlington Arena.

If the football stars are still available, it may be moved to the bank holiday Monday.

The match will also feature Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate, former Boro striker Bernie Slaven and fans’ favourites Marco Gabbiadini and Kevin Ball.

However, following news that Newcastle United’s crucial trip to Liverpool has been moved to May 3 so that it can be screened on Setanta Sports, and Middlesbrough and Sunderland will both be on Sky Sports that weekend, club bosses have decided to reconsider the timing of the match.

All three Premier League teams are facing a relegation battle and there are fears that the chances of getting a record- breaking crowd at the arena could be reduced as fans stay at home to watch the matches on television.

Ms Balford said: “It was gutting to find out that the other matches have changed. We’ve made some inquiries to try and change it to Monday, but we can’t confirm anything.

“It’s something we’re considering, but it depends on the stars’ availability.”

When the Quakers were last in administration in 2004, a similar match attracted 14,500 people and raised about £180,000.