MARTIN Gray has paid tribute to Laura Drew, Darlington’s director of football operations, who is stepping down after almost three years with the club.

She has been instrumental, playing a key role behind the scenes, and Gray went as far as saying there would not be a club were it not for her input and dedication.

Her involvement stretches back to the administration of the 2011-12 season, when Drew, then a concerned supporter, sent an email in which she offered to help and ended up becoming a driving force off the pitch.

Her decision, which comes at a time she is heavily pregnant and due to give birth next month, was made official at the annual general meeting last week.

Gray said: “She’s got a baby on the way so is stepping down, but what she has done for the club has been really important and without her there wouldn’t be a football club, so I want to go on record with my thanks, on behalf of myself and the club.

“She put a big cash injection into the club at the 11th hour during the administration, a big risk for a young woman. She came up with the money which shows how passionate she is about Darlington, but there was never any guarantee she would get it back. She’s only recently got the money.

“She’s done so much behind the scenes with the day-to-day running of the club. People probably don’t realise how much she has done with the admin side of things and she was often dealing with other clubs and the FA.

“I’d speak to her just about every day on the phone and she always doing something. It’s probably affected her own company the amount of time she’s spent working for the club.

“She deserves a big thank you from me and all the supporters and I hope we get a win for her on Saturday.”

Drew added: “I’m stepping back from the club because we’re expecting a baby boy, our first in a few weeks and I haven’t been able to commit the time necessary to the club in recent weeks. The AGM seemed like a natural time to step down.

“It wouldn’t have been fair on the Dave Mills [club development director] and Martin Jesper [CEO] to carry on knowing I wasn’t able to do the sheer number of hours needed to keep everything ticking along – particularly with the move back to Darlo, and the exciting commercial partnerships we are developing. They know I’m around if they need me though.

“It’s been nearly three years since I first got involved, and there’s been some good times and some rocky – I don’t think I would have predicted when I first sent an enquiry email what’s happened since though! I’ve had a good time, learnt an awful lot, and made some firm friends along the way and am very proud of what we’ve managed to achieve.

“I wish the team every good luck in the continued push for promotion – I’m looking forward to taking our son to the first game of the new season back in Darlo!”

The club are on the lookout to fill various roles by supporters able to get involved and would like to hear from anyone willing to commit their time.

Quakers face Radcliffe Borough at Heritage Park tomorrow, 3pm.