Darlington have been given permission by the Football League to come out of administration and will take part in the 2009/10 League Two campaign.

Teesside businessman Raj Singh will take over as chairman, and the club will start the season without a deduction of points.

"We're elated to finally cross the line," said Singh.

"We knew we'd get there in the end, but we also know this will still come as a relief to our staff and our fans."

The Quakers were initially placed in administration in February of this year under former chairman George Houghton, a move which resulted in a 10-point deduction and ended the club's promotion hopes.

606: DEBATE Are you confident about the future for Darlington?

Houghton failed to find a buyer before the end of the season and several high-profile players, including Franz Burgmeier and Pawel Abbott, departed as players were told they were free to find a new club.

Hopes were raised when Houghton applied for a Company Voluntary Agreement for creditors to accept 0.09p in the pound of monies owed, following Singh's interest, which was approved.

And the Singh consortium were confident enough to appoint manager Colin Todd in the interim period, as well as sanctioning contracts for players such as Dean Windass, Lee Thorpe and Jeff Smith.

Darlington kick off the League Two season with a trip to Aldershot on Saturday.

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version