Several people have mentioned that they missed David Johnston's programme notes on Saturday and the references to Reece Styche and new Commercial Director Craig Morley, so here they are:

As you’re aware, we accepted an acceptable offer for Reece Styche from Alfreton last week, and his transfer was completed before the Leamington away game.

The transfer was purely for prudent financial reasons. During the summer, we put together a financial budget based on the level of expected crowds for league games, commercial income and pre-season friendly income – we did not factor any FA Cup prize money into it.

Unfortunately, we didn’t get the pre-season crowds we expected for our friendlies – we were quite disappointed with them (but many thanks to those fans who did come along) and as a result, the level of commercial income wasn’t forthcoming, despite the best efforts of those concerned. Our league gates also aren’t high enough, albeit results play a part in this but ultimately we didn’t realise as much income as we expected.

As a director of the club along with John Tempest and Chris Stockdale from the DFCSG, we have a responsibility to fans to make sure that the club is sustainable and operates within its means. We looked at our financial forecasts and cash flow projections, and it was clear that our projected expenditure was going to be markedly more than our projected income based on the factors previously mentioned. We will continue to monitor this and make adjustments as appropriate. In realistic terms, this league is becoming more competitive with clubs spending more on wages and transfer fees making competition for players tougher each year. We need alternative sources of revenue to ensure we can compete at the top end of this division.

Alfreton made an offer for Reece which we found acceptable. Reece didn’t want to go because he loved the club, but we spoke long and hard, he could see our position and signed for Alfreton. There was no personality clash or problems off the field, the move was purely for financial reasons – we had to tighten our belts.

Reece has left with our best wishes for the future, and I was pleased that he scored on his debut against Chester last weekend – although obviously I don’t want him to score against us! Tommy appreciates our current position and in order to strengthen his squad, he will look towards the loan market, and I’m sure he’ll make inroads there when the time comes.

I mentioned commercial income and the need to increase this, and to achieve this we have appointed Craig Morley as commercial director. Thanks to Arthur Thompson, one of our fans, we were informed about Craig’s wish to come and work for this football club. He has been appointed on a full-time basis and bearing in mind his excellent record in a similar role at Durham County Cricket Club, his appointment was crucial for the ongoing development of the club.

Craig has a large network of contacts; he’s been in a sporting environment and he’s a Darlington fan of many years – he has suffered the ups and downs just like many others.

I believe that his appointment is a very positive move, and in his first fortnight Craig has brought in a four-figure sum in sponsorship money, as you may have noticed by the news on our official website. Several companies have agreed to place advert boards around the ground, and two have agreed to sponsor the York City game at Christmas.

Craig has some great plans to improve the matchday experience and increase revenue, and after talks with our rugby club colleagues – to whom we are very grateful -- he has put some of his ideas into practice today, as you might have noticed by now.

Please support Craig as much as possible and keep reading our website about his progress.

As for the Sporting Village/Blackwell Meadows schemes, work is continuing behind the scenes, and I hope to be in a position soon to announce the different options and associated expenditure to deliver. We have not been idle and there have been several meetings with the various parties which for obvious reasons we must keep confidential until the time to go public is agreed. This has taken up a considerable amount of my time and thinking but we have to ensure we consider all options to ensure that we secure the optimum outcome for our club.

On another note, it was nice to receive a letter from Kevin Webber from Prostate Cancer UK last week, praising us for the welcome the club gave him during his marathon walk from Blyth to Halifax in aid of Prostate Cancer UK. We were more than happy to assist, and particular thanks to Dave Watson and Tommy in that respect. We will be more than happy to assist Kevin in the future.

Finally, I would like to welcome the officials, players and fans from Guiseley for our first ever meeting in a league game and wish them a safe journey home.