The club is very sad to learn about the sudden death of Darlo fan Paul Tate at the age of 55.

Even though Paul lived in Tbilisi in Georgia, he did a huge amount of work for the Darlington FC Supporters Group, particularly in the development of a new website and later with other ideas and initiatives.

Paul attended Hummersknott School and went onto work for Cleveland Engineering which took him abroad, and he settled in Tbilisi where he met Lana, his future wife. He was devoted to his family and his one aim in life was to give stepson Georgi, who suffers from encephalitis, the best quality of life that he could. His brother John says: "I am proud of my brother’s humanity and his devotion to his family and Darlington FC.”

Several figures involved in the club have paid tribute to Paul.

Wayne Raper: “Paul embraced his role of web developer for the DFCSG and embodied the values of what a volunteer should be, always pro-actively willing to offer support and ideas and a can-do attitude which made it a pleasure to deal with Paul on a daily basis during my time with DFCSG.

“Even after my retirement from the board I kept in contact with Paul , he was not only a great volunteer and an avid fan but a good friend. He'll be sadly missed flying the Darlo flag in Tbilisi, Georgia.”

Joanne Cameron: “This is such very sad news. Paul is a great loss to DFCSG and to me personally. I considered Paul a friend, we often chatted about our families swapping stories of what they had been up toPaul and I communicated regularly about DFCSG , he was always looking for the next project to take DFCSG forward, his drive and determination were second to none and he will be sadly missed.  I send my heart felt condolences to his son Georgi, widow Lana and the rest of Paul’s family.”

Neil Raper: “Through creating, operating and maintaining our website, Paul has made a massive contribution to the progress of the DFCSG. He was extremely responsive to DFCSG’s needs and therefore an absolute pleasure to work with. Paul’s  (and Georgi’s) enthusiasm for Darlington FC held no bounds (many of us also know him as Mr Tibbs on Uncovered) and as far away as he was in Tbilisi, he always found a way to support every fundraising initiative we came forward with, such was his dedication to Darlington Football Club.

“I had the pleasure of meeting Paul a couple of summers ago, when he was across to finalise the sale of his house – although it was our first meeting, it was like meeting an old friend, such was the relationship we had developed over the internet – he was that easy going.

“So very, very sad. My thoughts go out to Georgi and to Paul’s widow, and also to Paul’s mother – I’ve dropped off a few Darlo items at his Mum’s on a couple of occasions to be included in the regular parcels bound for Tbilisi.”

John Tempest: “I got to know Paul when we were migrating the CIC to the new DFCSG web site and in that time found him superb, his response time, although in a different time zone, was second to none and nothing was too much of an ask. Although I never met him, he was a true volunteer fan with the club always at heart.”

Everyone at the football club would like to pass on their sincere condolences to his family and friends, and as a mark of respect, the club will hold a minute’s silence before the home game against Bradford Park Avenue this weekend.