City's League Two promotion rivals Darlington went into administration this afternoon.

It happened at 3pm when the running of the club's day-to-day affairs were taken over by administrator Dave Clark. Darlington are more than £4m in debt and losing £54,000 a week.

Darlington have budgeted on crowds of between 5,000 to 6,000 in their 27,000-capacity stadium to break even. But despite being among the promotion chasers again this season, they are currently averaging only 2,900 and plans to redevelop the land around the ground for a hotel and leisure development have been frustrated.

Out-going chairman George Houghton, who is owed £3m, said: "This is a sad day in the history of Darlington but was a result of a combination of circumstances compounded by the current economic recession."

Under Football League rules, Darlington will automatically be docked ten points for going into administration. That will drop them to 11th spot, 11 points behind the Bantams with two games in hand.