DUNCAN Bannatyne's comments about his possible involvement in the troubled affairs of Darlington Football Club are typically forthright if somewhat startling. The town's most successful businessman since the Peases would rather have a sex-change than put any of his money into the club.

The entrepreneurial Glaswegian, who has made a couple of fortunes already in his adopted home in the North-East, is not, as some have fondly thought, going to be a white knight charging to the rescue. He's got too much sense to invest in a small-town football business.

Still, on the bright side, the club has made it to the end of the season and tomorrow it will fulfil its programme of home fixtures against Swansea - a situation which looked highly unlikely at the turn of the year. The manager, David Hodgson, deserves credit for turning round the form of the team to the extent that the club has avoided relegation and may even reach mid-table respectability. The administrator also deserves credit for cobbling things together and keeping the creditors at bay long enough to ensure all the possibilities for the club's survival are explored.

But those possibilities are very limited and Mr Bannatyne's remarks this week have highlighted this fact. It is, for example, disconcerting for any potential investor that following the euphoria of the celebrity match in February which attracted more than 14,000 souls the crowds have dwindled once more.

At the heart of the drama lies the liability of the new stadium and the money that has been sunk into it. It is the stumbling block to any financial settlement and is a monumental challenge for any new owner.

Other ways have to be found to generate income from that magnificent white elephant, which doesn't involve turning it into an outpost of Las Vegas (which would be Mr Bannatyne's solution, we suspect).

Time and options are running out.