[caption id="attachment_19330" align="alignnone" width="271"] Kris Taylor salutes the Darlo fans at the end of Saturday's game.[/caption]

Kris spoke to Ray Simpson for Saturday's matchday programme about the difficulties of the 2011-12 season and his battle against testicular cancer.

Kris joined the club in the summer of 2011 when manager Mark Cooper was building a team for a promotion push from the Conference back to the Football League after winning the FA Trophy at Wembley a couple of months before.

“I signed a two year contract when I arrived, because the club said it wanted to go back to the Football League, but within four months, it had all gone wrong,” he said.

“The problems started in November, when we all thought that we would be paid, but most of us weren’t. Some lads decided to leave the club, but a few others and I decided to stay on.

“There was a great response from the fans, and they gave all the lads plenty of support. I lived in Darlington, and I went into the town a lot, and people who recognised me were always encouraging me. Personally, I felt hard done by, because only a few months before, I’d moved my family up to Darlington thinking that I would be playing there for two seasons, maybe longer. Obviously, life became rather difficult not getting paid, and sacrifices had to be made.”

Several players left the club of their own accord, others were sold to raise funds, which left only a handful of senior players.

“Lidds (Craig Liddle) took over, and brought in some of the youngsters from the youth team. He asked me to play here, there and everywhere. Left back, centre half, right back, midfield, up front – I think I played everywhere except in goal! As far as the team was concerned, we kept battling away as long as we had a chance of staying in the division. There were some good young players, but they were pushed into the team far too early and their development process wasn’t helped.

“Marc Bridge-Wilkinson and I did a lot of work in trying to persuade players to stay, and also to negotiate with the administrator, Harvey Madden. One or two lads didn’t care and left before Christmas, but Marc and I wanted to give a bit back to the club and the supporters.

“I actually gave up a clause in my contract which entitled me to another year on my contract, and financially that helped the club. I figured that leaving the clause in my contract wouldn’t have benefitted anybody, so I signed the clause out. .I could have just as easily sat out my contract if I wanted to, picking up what I was legally entitled to, but I didn’t see the point.

“It was fantastic that so many people turned up for the fund raising game against Fleetwood, and so there was enough money to pay the players something. It was really kind of the fans to do what they did, and also to organise whip rounds for us, such as the one before the Barrow game.

“At the end of the season, I thought the club and I parted on good terms. All I wanted was to go away with people thinking “fair play” and not leave a bitter taste.”

After his Darlo experience, Kris decided to stop playing full time, and instead turn part time.

“My main focus was then on my family. I didn’t want another house move, and so we returned to the midlands, and I joined Telford, which is only 25 minutes away from where I live. I then went to Hednesford and now Rushall Olympic, which is a real family club.

“It’s a good place to go and play. The chairman and his family really love the club, and there’s a really good atmosphere about the place.

“As a team though we’re not consistent enough, and we let ourselves down at times.”

It was when Kris was at Hednesford that he received some bombshell news.

“I felt what seemed like a lump in my testicles, and I went to see a doctor, who didn’t think it was serious, but sent me for a scan just in case.

“It was a good job he did, because the result of the scan revealed that I had cancer. Obviously the news was a bit of a fright and there was a scary time for a while, but at least I caught the cancer early. I even played the day after I was diagnosed.

“I had an operation and some chemo which happily has killed the cancer, but I’ve got to have a check every three months still just to make sure.

“My advice to all men is, if you detect something, don’t be embarrassed or worried about going to see your doctor. Better to be safe than sorry.”

Kris couldn’t play football for two months after the operation and he made a comeback for Hednesford, but he wasn’t anywhere near his previous match fitness level. “It took me until three months into the following season – November 2014 -- to be back where I wanted to be in terms of fitness.”

Kris has played as high as the Championship in his career, and he says of the standard of the EvoStik League: “In this league, sSometimes what stops people playing with some quality a lot of the time, is the state of the pitch.

“You can’t play with confidence if the ball is bobbling or you’re playing in a bog. You have to watch the ball come on to your foot before you pass it. The pitches change the way you play, and you have to play percentage football, rather than try and do things that you would usually do on a carpet.

“The higher up the ladder you go, teams have more of a cutting edge, and if you give them half a yard and they’ll hurt you.

“At this level, it’s a lot more friendly. We have people coming to watch us at Rushall who go and watch West Brom in the Premiership, and they say that non league football is more personable with the players and manager. They can have a chat with them at this level.

“I was really sad when Darlington were relegated as far as they were. When I knew that they were promoted into our division, one of the first fixtures I looked for was Darlington away."

All the best, Kris, we hope that everything goes well for you in the future!