Football club 'will find buyer'

The Quakers have struggled to attract fans to the Darlington Arena

Administrators say they are confident they can find a buyer for troubled Darlington FC.

Dave Clark, of Brackenbury Clark and Co, said they had received a number of firm offers for the Quakers.

His comments came ahead of Monday's deadline for submitting expressions of interest in the club.

Mr Clark's company will spend this week assessing the offers, but he stressed that it was not too late for potential buyers to put in last-minute bids.

We're confident we can find a buyer for the club and the club can continue

Dave Clark, administrator

Speaking on BBC Tees, Mr Clark said: "We're pretty confident we've got some firm interest as opposed to people just expressing general interest.

"We've got to look at people who are interested and look at the offers they're making in respect of what they need us to do in order for a deal to be formally acceptable.

"We're confident we can find a buyer for the club and the club can continue.

'Committed owners'

"We've got to spend the rest of this week looking at offers, verifying proof of funding, and decide which offer we think is best.

"And from there, enter into some firmer negotiations as to when and how we're going to achieve a sale."

Darlington entered administration in February, with chairman George Houghton blaming the situation on a "combination of circumstances compounded by the current economic recession".

Tony Taylor, chairman of the Darlington Supporters' Trust, said fans wanted to see "committed new owners with enough capital to make the club's 25,000-capacity stadium workable".