Here are John's Tempest's notes from the boardroom for last Saturday's matchday programme.

In what has been a most eagerly anticipated match between the top two teams in the league, I wish the Directors and fans of Fylde a warm welcome to Bishop Auckland and a safe trip home this evening.

This could well be our last match at Heritage Park. The Darlington FC directors have several key meetings in the next ten days which will decide whether we are at Blackwell on the 3rd December or on Boxing Day. Richardson Contractors have performed extremely well in constructing the stadium and its facilities and all our work is on target so a huge thanks to Rob Morley and his team. Before we play at Blackwell Meadows, our facilities have to be inspected by all the relevant authorities to be sure that they meet all the necessary standards and requirements – it is not, as some people may think, a case of simply moving in and playing.

Please remember though not to trespass on the building site at Blackwell Meadows for safety reasons. Our project manager, Malcolm Cundick, has already explained at the fans’ forum and on our website about staying away. Nick Burton, one of our club photographers, has kept everyone up to date very well so far, and he will continue to do so as the big day approaches. We will also keep everyone informed on our official website about everything related to Blackwell Meadows,  and at the moment we are making a big push on our commercial activities, which will provide an important revenue stream for us.

Many local businesses have previously expressed a wish to get involved when we return to Darlington and with this now being a reality and the ground largely a blank canvass it’s a great opportunity to advertise your business whether big or small. You can find all the information on sponsorship within the pdfs on the main web site or please contact myself, Anthony McMaster or e mail commercial@darlingtonfc.org to discuss perimeter advertising or match day sponsorship packages.

We are quite willing to be flexible; we can offer advertising around the pitch, or on the back of the Tin Shed or the new seated stand. When you consider the amount of coverage that the club receives in the media and on our own media streams such as the website, programme and YouTube, then board advertising is a great means of getting your company noticed.

We have this week also launched the Quaker Club which will initially be open to 500 Club members in the Thomas Watson room (the downstairs room) at Blackwell Meadows. We have had to restrict the numbers for this room because of health and safety legislation and licensing law requirements. We are selling tickets for the Thomas Watson room, details are on our website.

In addition, car parking tickets for the rest of the season in the new car park have gone on sale, again details have been posted on the web site.

Match day hospitality is going well for the first few matches but if you would like to book a table or   places on a shared table then contact hospitality@darlingtonfc.org or see Joanne Cameron to discuss your requirements.  We can cater for 2 people or for 100 people, so it’s an ideal way of entertaining customers or just a few friends getting together.

A big thank you to those people that have offered their services as a volunteer, we could still do with more stewards, and car park attendants so please contact dave.watson@’darlingtonfc.org if you wish to discuss how you can help.  We always need people to help out, especially as attendances are hopefully going to increase substantially when we get back into the town.

As you can see there is an awful lot going on and we are all working to the best of our abilities to be back at Blackwell Meadows very soon. Thank you for your continued patience and diligence. We will try and make things happen as smoothly as possible. Obviously there will be glitches, so please bear with us while we try to resolve them.

Unfortunately, I must also mention the flare-throwing by so-called Darlington supporters at Harrogate a fortnight ago.

When flares are thrown on to the field of play, the referee is duty bound to mention them to the Football Association in his match report. In turn, the FA has now contacted us asking for our observations on the incident and what action we are taking as a club. Thank you for the assistance three fans gave us after the Harrogate incident, this was passed on to the police.

We have some evidence which we will use, but it is of paramount importance that if you see any unacceptable behaviour then please report it the club in confidence.

I would like to take this opportunity in my notes to thank everyone at Bishop Auckland FC for hosting our home games in the last four and a half years. They have been fantastic towards us, and provided some superb facilities. There have also been some great memories, certainly more than we had at the Arena. Who can ever forget those promotion celebrations in the NPL First Division North play offs and the Northern League, as well as some great matches in the NPL Premier Division last season and the Vanarama this season. As a club, we will always be grateful to them.

Enjoy the game.