"It doesn't get much worse," said a Darlington fan as he trudged out of the main stand at Feethams at the end of a miserable match on a nithering night.

"Ay," said his mate, "although tomorrow we might not be in existence."

It had been a passionless affair with little chanting, little singing, little bawdy comment and little good football.

The tone had been set when, a couple of minutes before kick-off, chairman George Reynolds had walked uncertainly on to the pitch.

Two years ago, his every move, every expansive wave of his scarf, would have been greeted with adulation.

But now he just stood there, hands firmly wedged into the pockets of his big brown coat as he chewed frantically.

He stared up into the main stand and stony silence poured down on him, driven on by a biting wind.

You had to admire his courage and resilience for just being there, but even he must have felt that the warmth had gone. The love affair was over.

The lowest crowd of the season - 2,700 - suggested that about 700 regulars did not care at all anymore, and had stayed at home in front of the fire. By contrast, the appearance of the players was greeted by a warm burst of applause.

But, after ten minutes, this initial enthusiasm faded and the supporters split into little groups, talking about holidays, cars and a forthcoming wedding.

It even took the Tin Shed until nearly half-time to shout out "Come on Darlo", and it was not until an hour passed that they broke into a tuneful "Haway, the lads, haway."

It was a brave, but half-hearted effort, and it petered out after a couple of choruses. Macclesfield scored soon afterwards and the crowd faded away.

"It's all about pounds, shillings and pence," said a supporter making an early exit.

"If you put more money into the team, you'll get more people paying to watch them."

It may be easy to say when it is not your millions being poured into a bottomless hole, but you certainly have the right to say it when you hand over ten hard-earned pounds to watch a team which gave its all in terms of sweat, but was utterly uninspired.

It was so flat at Feethams that few could even summon up the effort to boo at the final whistle.

The players ran off to a smattering of applause .

"I'm only clapping because he's my brother," said a man leaning against the advertising hoarding.

By the time they had reached the tunnel, the ground was all but empty.

Trudging past the bus station into the town centre, a supporter stopped and grabbed his mate by the lapel.

"You know what?" he said. "This time next season, we'll be walking down Neasham Road away from the new ground."

And the two of them fell about laughing helplessly.

As the half-time song said, you have to look on the bright side of life when you are a Darlington supporter

Read more about Darlington FC here.