Gazza & Darlo's Fundraising Game

Over 14,000 fans packed into the ground, beating the stadium's previous 11,600 capacity record (the opener against Kidderminster Harriers). Stars like Gazza and Chris Waddle were on display in what was a magical afternoon - kick-off was twice delayed.

The afternoon was split into two games - each lasting for one hour. The first games saw the current Darlington squad take on a celebrity team consisting of the likes of Gazza, David Fairclough, Bernie Slaven and Chris Waddle. At one stage Quakers only had nine players on the pitch against the celebs 13.

The second game saw Darlington's Wembley squads from 96 and 2000 combine to take on the stars of Coronation Street and Holby City. Glen Naylor, Robbie Blake, Neil Aspin, Phil Brumwell and Sean Gregan all turned out in traditional hoops for Quakers with Gazza (in a Darlo shirt!) and eventually manager David Hodgson playing for the opposition alongside Peter Beardsley and Lee Sharpe.

A fantastic time was had by all, with Gazza putting on his own comedy act - diving at his own player feet, and fooling the physio into thinking that he was seriously injured. Fingers crossed that all those fans who turned up will return for the club's next league game against Rochdale AFC this Saturday.

Funraising also took place last Saturday...

Players from Darlington Football Club were in the town's Marks & Spencers packing bags for shoppers, before arriving in the town center to collect money in a bucket for the Darlington Supporters Trust.

The M&S bag pack raised £1700, while the bucket collections in the town raised over £2100, with a further £387 from special "Trust '04 Survival" Shirt Sales. The Supporters Trust also managed to get over 80 new members.