FORMER Darlington captain Steve Foster has left the club while veteran striker Lee Thorpe has also departed.
Foster and Quakers had been seeking a conclusion to a long-running impasse which meant he was no longer considered for firstteam matches.
The veteran defender had been out of the side in recent months due to a clause in his contract which entitled him to an extended deal should he start two more matches.
Darlington were reluctant to honour that deal and after weeks of wrangling have finally come to an agreement which brings Foster's time at The Northern Echo Arena to a close five months before his contract was due to end.
Quakers will today confirm Foster's exit, which comes two and a half years after he was brought to the club by Dave Penney.
He made 107 appearances in all competitions, the last of which was as a late substitute in the 2-1 win at Rotherham in January, while his final start was the 4-0 home defeat to Morecambe in November.
The 35-year-old has been in talks with Blyth Spartans, where former Quakers boss Mick Tait is manager, in Blue Square North, which is two divisions below League Two.
Thorpe, meanwhile, has also left the Arena following an unsuccessful spell at his 13th club.
A Colin Todd signing last summer, the 34-year-old made just ten appearances for Quakers with the winner against Lincoln in a Johnstone's Paint Trophy tie being his only goal.
Foster has been replaced as captain by Ian Miller, who and has spoken of the players' desire to avoid slipping into the Blue Square Premier.
Saturday's 1-0 defeat at Bradford City saw a determined Darlington leave Valley Parade without a point but pleased with their performance.
Miller said: None of us would be here today if we thought the season was dead and buried.
The season isn't over yet, and you could see that in the performance today from everyone wearing a Darlington shirt.
Everyone rolled up their sleeves and dug deep, but we didn't get the rub of the green and come away with any points.
We've got two home games coming up and we've got to be looking to be taking maximum points from them.
We owe Torquay massively on Saturday after they beat us 5-0.
Our home form has picked up recently.
The performances have been good even if the results haven't, and hopefully that will continue against Port Vale on Tuesday.
Source: Northern Echo
