In the latest of our series on the board members of the Darlington FC Supporters Group, we spoke to Tony Waters.

How long have you supported Darlington?

I’ve been a supporter as long as I can remember. However, my Dad worked away from Darlington so after having been born here a few years previous I spent a lot of time following him round the world so only really came back on visits to see family. My earliest memories of following the team were by looking at 3 day old newspapers when they arrived at our home in whatever country we were living in, hoping the results were in there.

Can you remember your first game, who was it against?

I can’t really remember my first game, as a child I would see that Darlington were playing locally and go see them play but would also go to games when I came back visiting family in Darlington. There were times when I didn’t see them for an entire season.

Who have been your favourite players over the years?

I guess I have had favourite players in all eras over the years, too many to mention here but for different reasons the list includes: Pawel Abbott, Glen Naylor, Lidds (Craig Liddle), Pawel Abbott, Jason De Vos, Glen Naylor, Garry Bannister – but no sooner do I type somebody’s name than somebody else pops into my head from a different season or different era  .

What have been your most satisfying moments as a Darlo supporter?

I’ve got to say my most satisfying moment as a Darlington supporter has to be the moment we realised in 2012 that the club was not (for the time being) going to die. Some of the things that led up to that point were absolutely remarkable. I remember the Uncovered request for donations to pay for a pre-match meal for players and Scott handing over brown envelopes of cash as fans just poured money in.

THAT match at Barrow; I still have a soft spot for them.

The will-he, won’t-he debacle of Raj Singh handing over, then not handing over, the football share.

Fans being asked to donate thousands of pounds each knowing that if the fans’ purchase of the club failed, they would get nothing back – yet they still handed it over in very large numbers.

Denis Pinnegar buying us champagne when the fans’ purchase of the club took place.

Caroline Liversedge buying traditional scarves from her own money, selling them and donating all the profit to the club.

And friends I made then who are still friends today.

What have been your most memorable matches?

The most memorable match for me has to be the 1996 play-off final at Wembley. I remember amongst all the pre-match euphoria amongst Darlington fans, my Dad and I just having a few moments talking about how proud his Dad would have been for the town’s club to be playing at Wembley. A disappointing end to the day but for me and Dad that day belonged to my Granddad.

What are your favourite away grounds?

To be honest, I don’t really have favourite away grounds, but I have favourite destinations. A number of things influence that including the availability of decent beer, the DAFTS who live locally and whom we run into occasionally close to their homes, the food available locally, either in the ground or on the way and in the more distant spots, the availability of decently priced accommodation!

From the Football League days, which trips do you miss the most?

Kidderminster and Macclesfield were always trips I enjoyed, also Lincoln and Notts County

Which Darlo occasions are the ones you would prefer to forget?

I don’t want to forget any Darlo occasions really, to be honest having so many low points make the high points so much more enjoyable.

Do you enjoy games more or less than say ten years ago? Why?

Ten years ago we were playing in The Arena and for me those were the worst times of my life supporting Darlington. I hated watching football in that place and for that reason much prefer squelching round the mud and puddles at small grounds at this level than anything I watched in the white elephant.

Why did you decide to join the DFCSG board?

Before I joined the Board I knew a number of the people who were on it at the time and I became aware they wanted to move the club onto the next rung of the ladder and make improvements to the infrastructure of the club. However, they needed fresh impetus and energy, they had done a mass of good during their tenure but they needed more people with new ideas and in some cases with new energy. That is absolutely understandable and they deserve all the plaudits they have received for their efforts. So, like quite a few others I decided it should be my turn to put something back in and that’s what I hope I am managing to achieve now.

What are you doing voluntarily for the club at the moment?

At the moment I’m focussed on a two-pronged approach to helping the Board. Firstly I’m looking at getting the football club back involved with the local community. Alongside the very energetic Geoff Gale, we’re looking at getting involved with the schools, promoting the club, hoping to create some ticket offers for schoolchildren and in time, hoping that we will be able to promote a newly revamped Junior Quakers Club. Hopefully there will be news on that front in due course. Keep buying the excellent matchday programme and you’ll find out how we are getting on.

Secondly I’m hoping to help the fundraising group to put in place a structure for our events. Hopefully we will receive more offers of support from volunteers; the more resources, the wider the variety of events, the more fun and the more money will be raised. Come on down – everybody’s welcome.

Where do you see the club being in five/ten years’ time?

I’ve no intention of predicting where I think the club will be in five or ten years’ time but I will tell you my hope. My hope is that the club will be fan-owned, will be self-sufficient financially and we will be competitive in whichever division we happen to be in. And perhaps, by then, we may have had a long cup run to look back on…