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Darlington's playing budget for the coming season is to be over £2million, according to local press reports.
The Northern Echo carries an interview with chairman George Houghton, who notes that: "We've got the stadium, we've got the training facilities and now we've got the players. Also, I've doubled David's budget to make sure we got them" with the paper adding: "Although Houghton declined to be exact, he did say he had given Penney a budget of 'over £2m'".
The increased budget would give the side a budget of at least £40,000 a week. The Bulls, by estimate, would be looking at a budget of less than half of that with few of the remainder of the division likely to match that kind of spending power.
Darlington have already been the most prolific in the transfer market of all Football League clubs, with ten new faces coming in after a summer clearout saw 14 players leave. The club have pinned their financial future on further development at their Darlington Arena base after suffering heavy losses over the last two years, with Houghton already guaranteeing to plough in £2million to cover this season's losses.
