DARLINGTON yesterday signed Bishop Auckland midfielder Danny Mellanby on a one-year contract.

Local lad Mellanby was one of the stars for Bishops as they finished a respectable third in the UniBond League and reached two Cup finals.

He has been signed initially on a one-year deal, with the option of a further year.

Football director Luke Raine said: "We think that Danny has got the ability to play at Football League level, and we are sure that we can help him make the grade. It's a big step up, but we think he can make the transition.

"We think he can do a job for us, especially in the position he playsbehind the front two."

Quakers haven't paid a fee for the player who is not on contract at Kingsway, but Bishops are sure to look for some sort of compensation for a player they recruited from Northern League club West Auckland two years ago.

Darlington boss Gary Bennett watched him in action several times last season.

Mellanby could play in Quakers' latest pre-season friendly at Queen of the South tonight, along with most of the recognised first team squad. Neil Maddison is almost certain to play as he continues to recover from injury.

* Darlington sent a team of mainly trialists to Whitby Town last night where Bennett's side went down 1-0. Full-back Paul Heckingbottom successfully played through an hour after a lengthy lay-off with a groin injury.

* Darlington could be about to land a cash windfall after it was revealed that their former defender Jason de Vos was about to quit Dundee United.

The Quakers have a sell -on clause entitling them to any profit made on the Canadian they sold for £400,000.

Despite having a year left on his contract, he has made it clear that he wants to leave Tayside, with Wimbledon and Wigan leading a £1m chase.

And Dundee United boss Alex Smith believes de Vos is likely to head down south just days before United's opening game of the season against city rivals Dundee.

Smith said: ''I would think that Jason de Vos will probably be moving on within the next day or two.

''There is nothing definite yet but we are hoping it will be sooner rather than later.

''I think he wants to play in England for a few years before going back to Canada.''

As de Vos plans to leave the club, the Tannadice boss revealed there could be more new faces arriving.

He has already signed former Kilmarnock man Jim McIntyre from Reading, although he claims the chances of rekindling his interest in Billy Dodds are slim. The Rangers striker's future at Ibrox was thrown into further doubt when manager Dick Advocaat failed to include him in the squad that travelled to face Maribor in the Champions League qualifier.

* The Football Association have refused to sanction plans by the Nationwide Conference to introduce promotion play-offs at the end of the coming season.

Proposals to introduce a two-up, two-down system with Division Three were thrown out by the Football League's annual meeting last month.

But at their own annual meeting, the Conference responded by introducing a play-off to decide the one and only promotion place.

However the plans were initially rejected by the FA some 12 days ago and are now dead in the water after an unsuccessful representation to the FA League Sanctions and Registration Committee on Monday.

A statement from the Nationwide Conference read: ''Members clubs are bitterly disappointed that once again they are unable to control their own competition with the intervention of the governing body of football."

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