DARLINGTON’S Alan White is facing the prospect of having played the final game for his hometown club after being appointed as a coach – just one game short of his 200th Quakers appearance.

The veteran defender’s 199th game almost a fortnight ago, an FA Trophy defeat at Sutton Coldfield Town, saw White earn his fourth red card of 2015.

It was only his second game since being handed a final warning by the club over his discipline, an ultimatum issued days after his first red card of the season last month.

That warning came in light of White also serving suspensions for receiving two red cards in the latter half of last season.

While stopping short of jettisoning the 39-year-old, Quakers instead say they would like to “benefit from Alan’s undoubted skills in fitness conditioning”.

A statement read: “He has accepted a role in the club’s management and coaching staff working alongside Martin Gray and the other coaches.

“This job will involve working with the first team and youth team players throughout the club, especially in the light of the club’s ambitions on the field and the youth section’s steady expansion.”

However, The Northern Echo understands that White will remain registered to play, enabling him to be considered for first-team selection should Quakers need him to step into the breach during the remainder of the season.

White’s four reds have come inside 31 appearances, missing 15 matches through suspension as a consequence.

The first red came in the crunch encounter at Salford City in January, dismissed by referee Barry Cropp for receiving two cautions, earning a one-game ban. Two further matches were later added by the Football Association after Cropp reported him for using abusive/insulting language toward match officials.

The following month he saw red at Farsley, again for being booked twice, and was given a two-game ban, while White’s first dismissal of this season came at the beginning of last month.

It was in the immediate aftermath of a home defeat to Marine, the defender red-carded for pushing an assistant referee. The dismissal was punished with a three-match suspension and after several weeks of waiting for the FA to act he admitted a charge of violent conduct, punished with a four-game ban.

The game, coincidentally, saw White reach five yellow cards for the season, thus collecting a separate one-game ban.

Then came his red at Sutton earlier this month, again for receiving two yellow cards. Both were fouls, the second when conceding a penalty after using an elbow, and as a result the FA have notified Darlington that White will miss two matches in December – away to Stamford and at home to Salford.

That would take his total of games missed through suspension in 2015 to 15, however, Quakers say he is now a coach, bringing to a conclusion his third spell as a player with his hometown club.

After playing for various clubs across the country, he first signed for Darlington in the summer of 2007 when manager Dave Penney, with Gray assistant, was attempting to build a promotion-winning team, bringing in a number of proven pros such as Neil Austin, Rob Purdie, Pawel Abbot and Tommy Wright.

White formed a defensive partnership with the wily Steve Foster, the pair part of a side that reached the League Two play-offs in 07-08. Although missing out on automatic promotion was disappointing given the team Penney had built, injuries in the final stages of the campaign had cost Quakers dear.

White was twice sent off during his first season with the club, and his total dismissals in Quakers colours now stands at eight, while there’s been a many a caution for dissent along the way.

There has always been much more to White’s game, however, than engaging referees in hostile dialogue. He will be remembered as a never less than wholly committed defender who always made a difference in his three spells with Quakers.

He lost his place this season when the younger Kevin Burgess was brought in from Whitby Town. Yet White found himself making an impact as an emergency striker, scoring four times including a winner against promotion rivals Blyth Spartans, and, when goals were being conceded with alarmingly regularity, Gray eventually restored his experienced former pro to the centre of defence.

How well Darlington cope without him from now on will be a test of the team’s defensive capabilities.

Quakers, now fourth, are away to 16th-placed Barwell on Saturday.

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