| Is it better the devil you know? 13:16 - Jan 17 with 2473 views | since1907 |
Go bust or get one of the previous jokers back?
BBC reporting.................
" 1306 FOOTBALL: Darlington are offered a potential lifeline as former chairman George Houghton enters discussions over a proposed takeover of the stricken club. Administrators Rowlands Accountants were reported to have set a deadline of midday on Tuesday for any interested bidders to submit their final offers. The 128-year-old club entered administration for a third time in 10 years earlier this month, with the subsequent 10-point deduction leaving them just above the Blue Square Bet Premier relegation zone" |  | | |  |
| Is it better the devil you know? on 15:14 - Jan 17 with 2366 views | macro |
That'd be a bizaree turnaround
From a fans point of view though Reynolds or no club at all, I'd imagine they'd go for Reynolds |  | | |
| Is it better the devil you know? on 15:16 - Jan 17 with 2355 views | Brierls |
| Is it better the devil you know? on 15:14 - Jan 17 by macro |
That'd be a bizaree turnaround
From a fans point of view though Reynolds or no club at all, I'd imagine they'd go for Reynolds |
Its Houghton, not Reynolds. Your point is valid though, as an outsider I can't help but feel they need to go bust then build a sustainable club from scratch. |  | | |
| Is it better the devil you know? on 15:18 - Jan 17 with 2346 views | SuddenLad |
| Is it better the devil you know? on 15:14 - Jan 17 by macro |
That'd be a bizaree turnaround
From a fans point of view though Reynolds or no club at all, I'd imagine they'd go for Reynolds |
I would have thought that ultimately, either of those choices amounts to the same thing.
They need to start afresh, without the burdens they have accumulated. |  |
| “It is easier to fool people, than to convince them that they have been fooled†|
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| Is it better the devil you know? on 16:10 - Jan 17 with 2284 views | fermin |
| Is it better the devil you know? on 15:18 - Jan 17 by SuddenLad |
I would have thought that ultimately, either of those choices amounts to the same thing.
They need to start afresh, without the burdens they have accumulated. |
From reading the Darlo forum for the past few days, I think the likelihood of a phoenix club is not promising, since there appears to be a lot of antipathy towards the Darlo Trust:
- Unlike the Dale Trust it has been left to fester and is in the hands of people who are not or who cannot be proactive - their communication skills leave a lot to be desired. They have not been active in keeping membership up and raising money and Darlo fans have not shown enough interest in it to ensure that suitable people are in charge. This seems odd since they have lurched from crisis to crisis recently. If you are in it you can change it, but there is little point in complaining too much about its ineptitude if you could not be bothered to keep it going properly;
- Also, there appear to be personality clashes between those in charge of the Trust and other groups of supporters, so there is no unified front (unlike, for example, Chester at the end). In fact the disabled board chairman recently resigned due to hate mail and has recently been badly attacked in his own house (though this might not be related) - http://www.darlofc.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=16489&sid=7524b0fdbfe7daf2474
- The trust has a fund of about £50k raised during a previous crisis, which it is unwilling to pump into the club in its current guise without seeing a proper business plan (though it questionable whether they have the financial acumen to assess this);
- this in turn has led some/many fans believe that the Trust actively wants the club to go bust so that they take the 'glory' of setting up a phoenix club (hence the hate mail etc). This seems to be a (deliberate) misinterpretation of the trust's aims to support a community club in Darlo, which to my mind does not necessarily exclude financially supporting the current club in the right circumstances. I think the trust has done the right thing in not chucking their money away, but others apparently want it given to anyone who can offer even a short stay of execution. In reality £50k would quickly get swallowed by the administrator and other expenses. The trust have not helped themselves by failing to explain themselves properly.
At the end in Chester there were a few who wanted to keep the old club going at all costs and were broadly opposed to starting again, but they were a minority and some were rumoured to be closely associated with Stephen Vaughan. There used to be different fan groups at Chester who disliked each other (as at Darlo) but at a certain point they realised they needed to be united against Vaughan. The people in charge causing the problems stood down and new blood came forward. Hence Chester's success, undoubtedly helped by having a suitable ground owned by a local council which was happy to lease it for a change to a genuine community club rather than a bunch of shysters.
As we all know Darlo do not have this luxury of a suitable ground, so even if they start again in a low league they will have to find somewhere else to play. The bitterness between the different groups will also hold them back. They are more likely to end up like Scarborough. Hopefully they will manage to sort something out.
Fortunately we are not in the same position as Darlo, but in the current economic environment we cannot afford to be complacent. Hence, the importance, in my view, of having a strong trust representing as many Dale fans as possible, producing a bigger pool of people with the necessary skills to keep it going. Join the trust and keep the board on their toes. [Post edited 1 Jan 1970 1:00]
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| Is it better the devil you know? on 17:14 - Jan 17 with 2184 views | Cooking_Lager |
Do they have a daro fans united? |  | | |
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