Darlington FC could cease to exist "before the weekend"

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ajt09

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Death knell prepares to toll for Darlington FC | David Conn | Football | The Guardian

I've loved football 29 years, and this is just another tragic tale of wasteful spending and disgraceful mismanagement, which are by the looks of it, of fatal consequences. To spend so much money on a stadium, and name if after oneself, forcing fans to abandon a loved stadium, without giving a dam about fans. And watching one of the players on the local news, desperately looking for a job in the job centre to earn money to make ends meet, was just incredibly sad. The players haven't been paid in months.

This is not just going to affect the football club, but also the area if the worst comes to the worst. And one of the people involved with the administration process, has conceded that the he expects the club to be gone before the weekend. Which I find absolutely tragic. The fans involved in a trust group, have managed to raise £50,000 over the past few years for the club but, and with justificatin, are reluctant to hand it over, as it may not make to the club itself. All that's happening is a game of pass the buck. Club owners blaming the council, council blaming the club. And the Darlington council have already discussed plans to demolish the club, and are discussing wether or not to turn it into a supermarket or a car park. 129 year history demolished and turned into tarmac for shoppers and car owners.

I just find it deeply unsettling that while clubs and leagues are making enormous financial profits in the top flight, the lower tier of football, on which todays successful league system originated from, continues to crumble away and disintegrate at an alarming rate. Not many people will probably be bothered right now, but it will come to the point when that rot will have spread upwards through the divisions above just through sheer negligence, not just on the part of clubs and their owners, but also within footballs government body.

Fingers crossed for the club.
 
After what we've gone through the past 12 months, I feel sorry Darlington. I pray there is a solution, and they survive as a club. I know Argyle fans are planning a Fans Re-United day up at Darlington to help generate some funds & support.

Save Darlington FC- No football club deserves to die.
 
Real sad days, especially for me, as it is my hometown club, and a club I used to watch when I was younger. I hope the club do find a miracle, but I have to say it could be too late.
 
Giggles said:
After what we've gone through the past 12 months, I feel sorry Darlington. I pray there is a solution, and they survive as a club. I know Argyle fans are planning a Fans Re-United day up at Darlington to help generate some funds & support.

Save Darlington FC- No football club deserves to die.
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Fc United fans doing a simular thing, i can't go but will send a tener down to help
Hope they survive
 
StuW said:
Real sad days, especially for me, as it is my hometown club, and a club I used to watch when I was younger. I hope the club do find a miracle, but I have to say it could be too late.
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Very sad indeed. Been following this story since they got placed into admin by the chairman, which stunned me as there was no debt involved. Be following this tomorrow-hopefully there'll be some good news. But like you said, it could be too late sadly.

Following it on twitter too via one of the local journos who met up with the people involved. Asked him if there was any chance just waiting for a reply. But he told somebody else there was about a 5% chance. Still a chance though Better than nothing.
 
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I'm afraid that's what you get when you allow a convicted criminal to take over your club. And that's what I fear we may get if the situation gets desperate.
 
aww its a shame no football club should be left like that get some of the players on 200 grand a week to chip in to save it
 
Meanwhile just a couple of leagues above millions continue to be pumped into the the EPL gravy train. It needs to be spread out far more evenly.
 
Money should be awarded on the basis of the financial situation the club is in. Right now, the billionaire clubs are getting the 10's of millions which just isn't on.

The rich only get richer, greedy bastards!
 
W4FC B3N said:
Money should be awarded on the basis of the financial situation the club is in. Right now, the billionaire clubs are getting the 10's of millions which just isn't on.

The rich only get richer, greedy bastards!
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while i feel for them, why should money be awarded? The billionare clubs didnt take money from them. Darlington got screwed because of the folly of a 25M stadium
 
Mikes got it pretty much spot on tbh. To drag the fans away from the old stadium, to a new stadium that was named after the guy, that cost £25 million is just beyond belief. And the fact that 2,000 fans have to cram into one stand is just......

But at the same time at the risk of repeating myself from the past, these fit and proper tests have to be a lot, lot more thorough for the future. If the league cares about clubs and football as they claim, they have to really clamp down and do it now.
 
ajt09 said:
Mikes got it pretty much spot on tbh. To drag the fans away from the old stadium, to a new stadium that was named after the guy, that cost £25 million is just beyond belief. And the fact that 2,000 fans have to cram into one stand is just......

But at the same time at the risk of repeating myself from the past, these fit and proper tests have to be a lot, lot more thorough for the future. If the league cares about clubs and football as they claim, they have to really clamp down and do it now.
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I feel for them, and there is definitely a case for better money distribution in the long run ( a whole other argument mind). But what's killed them here is an irresponsible owner. This is where the FA has let them down, the fit and proper persons test is a running joke.
 
How can you blame the Premier League for this? I feel sorry for them as much as the next guy but it's nobody's fault apart from the ******** criminal who bought the club and the FA who allowed him to do so.. It was always going to end like this.

The Premier League can't just throw money at clubs in the Football League or Conference just because they have ran out themselves. If that was the case then you'd see clubs going bankrupt every other day and nobody wants that. A few clubs will go out of business but that's just the way it has to be.. It's much better than having a system so reliant on other peoples money that every club is investing £25m they don't have hoping the rich kids will bail them out.
 
I'm still staggered he got to be in charge of a club. How that was allowed to happen is just absolutely beyond belief.
 
Aannddyy said:
How can you blame the Premier League for this? I feel sorry for them as much as the next guy but it's nobody's fault apart from the ******** criminal who bought the club and the FA who allowed him to do so.. It was always going to end like this.

The Premier League can't just throw money at clubs in the Football League or Conference just because they have ran out themselves. If that was the case then you'd see clubs going bankrupt every other day and nobody wants that. A few clubs will go out of business but that's just the way it has to be.. It's much better than having a system so reliant on other peoples money that every club is investing £25m they don't have hoping the rich kids will bail them out.
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Moral Hazard much? lol


I think that their is a good case for better money distribution among the English League System but you cannot just ask rich clubs to donate their money to small clubs because they need it, in this case Darlington were ruined by a idiotic owner and nothing more... it was not the FA's fault except the fact that they allowed him to own the club in the first place
 
Alcaraz said:
Moral Hazard much? lol


I think that their is a good case for better money distribution among the English League System but you cannot just ask rich clubs to donate their money to small clubs because they need it, in this case Darlington were ruined by a idiotic owner and nothing more... it was not the FA's fault except the fact that they allowed him to own the club in the first place
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What?

I agree the money can be distributed better. My point was that people can't expect rich clubs to bail their teams out just because they are in trouble, football doesn't and couldn't work like that.

So, I have no idea what you mean by "moral hazard much"...
 
Aannddyy said:
What?

I agree the money can be distributed better. My point was that people can't expect rich clubs to bail their teams out just because they are in trouble, football doesn't and couldn't work like that.

So, I have no idea what you mean by "moral hazard much"...
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sorry moral hazard is financial jargon ... it means that someone keeps taking risks in the hope that if he suffers losses, the central banks will bail him out and I found a similar analogy in the sentence i bolded in your post
 
Stay of execution-til Monday at least. Meeting scheduled for Monday between administrators and potential investers. Have 3 days to draw up a suitable financial plan, regarding player insurance, match costs etc. Tall order but you never know-could yet be saved :)
 
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