Generous Darlington fans have raised £100,000 to help their club, in just three weeks!

The Darlington FC Supporters Group, with the advice of Supporters Direct, launched a Community Share scheme in March with the target of raising £100,000 by the end of May to help the club return to the town.

But a late surge on Wednesday saw the total rise from £75,000 to £100,000, meaning that the target was passed with over six weeks to spare.

There were almost 50 pledges on Wednesday evening, one of which was for £10,000, and another for £5,000.

DFCSG chairman Wayne Raper said; “We’re delighted to reach £100,000, and grateful to everyone who has invested. The generosity of our fans has been fantastic – we didn’t expect to get there on Wednesday night.

“We are now going to talk to Supporters Direct about what to do next – there are several options available to us, but we need to talk to them first.”

But the fund raising has by no means ended. Football club director John Tempest said; “It has been an amazing performance by the fans. It shows how much they love the club, and what we are trying to do. The fund raising doesn’t stop there. We still have other fund raising initiatives, such as the 500 club and lottery draw that people can participate in. There are further details on our website.”

On the field, Quakers are top of the table and on course for their third promotion in four seasons, and a 3-0 home win over Skelmersdale on Tuesday night has increased the feelgood factor around the club at the moment.