Backer pulls out after Quakers delay.

Byline: Mark Douglas 

DARLINGTON'S potential saviour Raj Singh has revealed that one of his two businessmen backers has pulled out after a decision on the club's future was mothballed.

Singh, the only party to publicly express his interest in saving the Quakers, re-opened talks with former owner George Houghton on Tuesday and said discussions had been "constructive".

But the deal on the table has been radically restructured after one of Singh's backers dropped out. The other is still undecided about whether to maintain his financial support for the deal, although Singh admits the delay has left him "50/50". A fortnight after the club completed it's League Two programme an air of uncertainty still hangs over the Arena.

The deadline set by administrators Brackenbury, Clark and Co has long passed and the fight for the club's future appears to have descended into bitterness and recriminations.

There is light at the end of the tunnel, however, with news Houghton and Singh are on speaking terms again and trying to find a way out of the impasse.

"We had a meeting on Tuesday, which I think has been well-documented, but that is about it at the moment. Everyone has gone away to think about it now," the Darlington-based businessman said.

"I would say the talks were 'constructive'.

I don't want to go into too much detail but they were helpful and they weren't. George has gone away on holiday but there are people that we can deal with to move the situation forward, so I'm not too worried about that.

"The whole deal that we're talking about now has been changed. One of the backers that I originally had has walked away completely, I would say the other is 50/50 at this stage. So, yes, the delay has affected things." Singh has maintained, however, that there is no joint deal to be done between him and Houghton.

"I don't think it will work with me alongside him," he said.

"It's got to be one or the other really. We need to gain the trust of the people and the public and I think it will look like a stitch up if I come back into it along with George.

"I think it is important that it gets sorted as soon as possible now. I wanted it to be resolved weeks ago and I think the longer it goes on the harder it is to resolve from a footballing point of view. Players will get sorted out with clubs, there is a manager to appoint - those things need to be done well in advance of the season." The administrators will certainly need to have made some progress by the time the Football League meets on June 12. The League Two fixture list is published on June 16 and the club will need to offer assurances about it's future in order to be included in the programme.

Given the slow progress so far, that is not a given and administrator Dave Clark confirmed to The Journal yesterday that nothing would be decided for 'at least six days'.

He said: "There won't be anything happening for at least the next six days. I wasn't aware that Mr Singh and Mr Houghton were meeting, to be honest, but that is a matter for them." Meanwhile, Chester City owner Stephen Vaughan - who's club stood to benefit if Darlington go out of business - has claimed that a mystery backer has been found to save the club. Vaughan was linked with a takeover at Darlington last month after talking to Houghton.

"We have been told that Darlington FC have found an investor so we have accepted that we are now a Conference club," he said..