Ex-Darlington forward Craig Liddle has called on businesses to help save jobs in the club's youth set-up.
Liddle wants help to keep jobs at relegated club
Former Darlington forward Craig Liddle has called on local businesses to help save jobs in the club's youth set-up.
Liddle is working on merging the club's centre of excellence with the Football in the Community scheme to help safeguard seven full-time and more than 20 part-time jobs in both departments.
More than £200,000 a year is needed to run the club's youth-set up, but a large section of funding through grants is likely to be cut over the summer, so Liddle is hoping for more public backing to help him maintain the level of funding required.
The club's head of youth, who played more than 300 games for the Quakers, said: "It's a precarious situation for us right now. The bottom line is if we don't get sponsorship and advertising money in from the local business community, jobs will have to go.
"There's only so much money the football club can plough into the youth set-up and funding for us and the Football in the Community is set to be cut this summer, which will make life even more difficult for us next season.
"Businesses large and small can all play their part in helping us, with a variety of advertising and sponsorship options available, while donations of any kind are always very gratefully received.
"The Darlington Supporters Trust sponsored two of our teams last season and it's that kind of support which has kept us going. But we need a big push now just to keep everyone in jobs and to maintain the development of our younger players."
