Darlington FC investment announcement

By John Tempest, director of Darlington Football Club

I would like to take this opportunity to update all Darlington FC 1883 Ltd shareholders and Darlington FC Supporters Group members of the progress made in relation to the potential investors with whom I have met over the last two weeks.

It is inevitable that it will take time to fully understand the implications of bringing in private investment, and in particular to ensure that the fan-owned model is able to sit alongside private investment. We are now in a position to announce that Raj Singh is one of the individuals who is looking to help the club move forward with the potential for longer term investment.

In the meantime however, it is crucial that we try and operate the business as usual and allow Martin Gray the best opportunity to shape his squad for the coming season. With this in mind, Raj Singh has offered to immediately invest a £40,000 contribution towards the 2017/18 playing budget. Raj commented; “I saw the shortfall that Martin was asked to take regarding the playing budget for next season and I was keen to help maintain the momentum he has built up over the last few seasons.”

In order to facilitate this, Darlington FC will shortly be writing to all its shareholders to seek approval to allot shares in DFC to Raj Singh in return for his investment. In order to do this, DFC’s shareholders will have to formally approve a resolution with at least 75% of those who vote being in favour of the proposal. Acquiring a shareholding of £40,000 is in accordance with the current Articles of Association, which limits the shareholding of an individual to 15% of the total issued share capital.

As you know, DFCSG owns more than 80% of the voting rights in DFC, and so it will be asking its members how they wish to vote on the proposal. If you wish to have your say, then we encourage you to join the DFCSG if you are not already a member.

For many fans the proposed involvement of Raj Singh will come as a surprise, and Raj is fully aware that he will need to answer fans’ concerns and questions relating to events in 2012. With this in mind, Raj will shortly be undertaking an online Netcafe Q&A with Ray Simpson. We will provide details just as soon as they are finalised.

Supporting the “Boost The Budget” fundraiser in the next two weeks will give a clear indication of the calibre of squad that can be built. Don’t forget that this fundraiser is a weekly or monthly direct debit so it can be spread across the entire season. With the play-off finalists now known in the Vanarama National League North, and in turn it being clear which clubs will remain in our league, the competition is only going to get tougher, and so it is vital that we provide funds to ensure our team squad is as strong and competitive as possible.

If DFC’s shareholders decide to accept Raj Singh’s offer to contribute to next season’s playing budget by acquiring £40,000 of equity in the club, he would then develop further proposals on how he would  like to increase his (and potentially that of others) involvement, whilst taking into account the fact that we are a community owned football club. The Board and DFCSG would liaise with Raj to understand his plans and the implications for the Club going forward. The fact that Martin would be able to progress with his plans for next season, means that there would be time for plans for further involvement to progress at an appropriate pace. These budget plans would be made on the expectation that the fans’ contribution would be also be £40,000 and the current total of pledges in the ‘Boost The Budget’ fundraiser currently stands at £23,500 – so we still have a little bit of work to do.

There remains the requirement to find the moneys to install at least another 206 covered seats, and to introduce an open terrace at the western end of the ground. These plans are being fully costed and will be shared with fans shortly.

Appropriate shareholder and member meetings of the football club and Supporters Group are now being called to seek views on how fans want to progress, and the approvals to proceed as outlined. Both the Board, and the Supporters Group look forward to engaging with fans in what is clearly a crossroads for the future of the club.

The club will not enter into any discussions on this announcement on any of its media outlets until the netcafe.

John Tempest