Leon Scott says that he is “overwhelmed” by all the messages of support following his departure from the club.

Leon was one of the original players who was signed by Martin Gray in the summer of 2012 after we’d been forcibly demoted to the Northern League, and went on to make 222 appearances, scoring 20 goals.

“I must admit, I was a bit emotional over the weekend after the news came out,” he said. “I received a lot of messages from the lads and fans, and Gary Brown and I were almost in tears when we had a chat. I was overwhelmed.

“We’ve seen a lot of ups and downs together, and had some great days and nights going all the way back to the first Northern League game when we were going into the unknown.

“I’ll never have any more experiences like it in my life, I’m delighted to have been a part of the club for the last six years and helped it to progress.”

Leon has many great memories of his time, in which has won two league winner’s medals and a play-off winner’s medal.

“From a personal point of view, the game against Salford in the EvoStik League season was one of the best. We were 2-1 down with three minutes left, and I managed to score the equaliser that gave us the momentum to go on and score the winner in stoppage time.

“As a team and as a club, the win at Whitby on the night when we won the EvoStik League was another big moment.  That night was surreal. If you wanted to write about a way to win the league, and how to win the league, then that was it. Maybe the scene was set, because Whitby is the only ground which has a stand that you can walk up to from the pitch, while we had a couple of ex-Whitby players in our team, and of course Whitby wanted to beat us.

“I don’t think anyone expected what happened next. Everything just clicked, as we all know, and I managed to score against my old club.

“I took that night in as much as I could, much more than the day we won the Northern League – all those fans coming on the pitch, walking up to receive my medal, celebrating. What a great night it was for everyone concerned with the club.

“When we won the Northern League, it seemed to pass by quickly, and I didn’t take it all in.”

Leon had always had a great relationship with Darlo fans, and he said; “I’ll miss them, but I’ll still come to games when I can. I intend to keep playing, I’ve still got a few years left in the tank!”

Everyone at Darlington FC would like to wish Leon all the best for the future.