Football fans' crisis fund may buy shares in team

A crisis fund to ensure Darlington FC stayed open after it went into voluntary liquidation was launched by the club's supporters' trust earlier this year.

Volunteers held bucket collections outside the ground and in the town centre and the fund now stands at about £55,000.

The threat of closure was lifted from the club last week after a rescue package put forward by new owners, the Sterling Consortium, was accepted by creditors.

Sterling stepped in as a last resort to protect a £4m investment in the club.

The Quakers' future was secured after Sterling reached agreement with former chairman George Reynolds, who agreed to vote for the takeover deal provided the consortium lifted a threat of bankruptcy against him.

Trust board member Tony Taylor said that it was too early to start making decisions on how the fund should be used.

But he added: "Our attitude is very much that the fund was raised with a view to buying equity in the football club.

"We are still waiting to see the full extent of Sterling's involvement with the club.

"Until we know how long Sterling is planning to stay around, we are looking at it as still being very much part of that process."

He said the trust board planned to find out what members wanted the money to be spent on.

Mr Taylor said: "We are quite open about the fund. It's in an interest-earning bank account.

"As a trust board we are saying let's take stock of the situation before we rush into any major decisions."

Mr Taylor stressed that supporters still had a major role to play in helping the Quakers build a brighter future under the new owners.

He added: "We want to work with the football club and we are still looking at pursuing several fundraising issues."

The trust has been invited by the Sterling Consortium to nominate a supporter-director to sit on the board, whose make-up is still being considered by new Quakers' chief executive Andy Battison.

Read more about the Quakers here.