Soggy Darlington have spent more than £70,000 on a new pitch cover following the controversial postponement of Monday's game with York City.

The Quakers have bought an inflatable hot air cover for the Feethams pitch, which leaves enough room underneath for the groundstaff to work.

Last season, nine games had to be either postponed or switched because the pitch became waterlogged.

Travelling City fans were left non-plussed when Preston referee Phil Richards called off Monday's game at Feethams just over an hour before the kick-off.

Darlington's public relations director Luke Raine said: "We've worked non-stop on trying to get the pitch right since last Monday's game was postponed.

"We're hoping to get have it installed next week ready for the next home game."

Raine apologised to fans who suffered a wasted journey on Monday.

He said: "Everybody at the club thought that the pitch would be playable, but we were proved wrong.

"I can only apologise to the fans for the inconvenience because everybody was looking forward to it.

"We want to show fans that we're trying to put things in place to avoid a repetition.

"Hopefully, when we have the new stadium, the cover will be able to come with us."

As reported in yesterday's Evening Press, the match has now been rearranged for Tuesday, Janaury 18, kick-off 7.30pm.

In tomorrow's Evening Press, we take a full look at how the events at Darlington on Monday unfolded.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.