TWENTY-TWO years ago, when the Quakers were on the verge of extinction, Gateshead lad Lawrie McMenemy brought his team of Southampton superstars - including Kevin Keegan - to play a charity match at Feethams.

More than 11,000 turned out that April day, and their contributions helped swell the Quakers' coffers so that they could pay off their debilitating £95,000 debt.

These days, their debt is of an altogether different magnitude, which makes tomorrow's fundraising game even more important.

Darlington manager David Hodgson has done incredibly well to pull together a really appetising celebrity team. In fact, it is a team of fantasy proportions: Robson, Gazza, Dalglish, Beardsley, Waddle...

And if a crowd of 1982's proportions can turn out at the Reynolds Arena tomorrow, Darlington can begin the long haul back to solvency. The alternative is too terrible to imagine.

At the start of the troubles of 1982, the then chairman Les Moore stared into the black hole and declared: "I am the supreme optimist. I still believe something will save us and allow Darlington FC to flourish, but it's all down to how much the people of the town want us."

The same is true today.

So turn out tomorrow. Your club needs you.