[9] Despite closing the west stand at the Darlington Arena to cut costs,[10] and fund-raising projects, which included a match between the club's 1999-2000 play-off team and an All-Stars team featuring former Darlington players Bernie Slaven and Marco Gabbiadini under the captaincy of former England international midfielder Paul Gascoigne that attracted a crowd of over 3,000,[11] no buyer for the club was found by a 5 May deadline.
[14] Shortly afterwards, a deal was agreed such that Raj Singh would become chairman with full control of club and stadium and he and Houghton would each own half of the surrounding land.
[1] After two matches with Liddle as caretaker – both defeats – former Republic of Ireland manager Steve Staunton took over until the end of the season, with Kevin Richardson as his assistant.
Foster had shown loyalty to the club by accepting a pay cut with a clause that guaranteed him the offer of a contract extension if he made 20 appearances during the season.
With two matches to go, Staunton confirmed that Foster would not be selected unless he rescinded that clause – the club's financial state precluded making that sort of offer when they might not even be in the Football League next season – and underlined his resolve by naming Ian Miller as captain.
[26] He also signed former Darlington defender Alan White on loan, and youngsters Gareth Waite, a midfielder from Spennymoor Town, and former Hibernian striker Patrick Deane on six-month deals.
Feeling there was no alternative, Singh sacked Staunton the next day,[2] recognising that "a lot of fans voted with their feet" – the attendance record fell to 1,296 at the next match – and he needed to appoint a manager to prepare for a promotion season in the Conference.