Local lad John Borthwick spent several seasons at his home town club in the 1980s. A hard-working forward, he struggled to endear himself to the terraces through his lack of goals and he left the club in 1989 having scored just 14 times in 117 league games. He joined rivals Darlington where he found his shooting boots, finished top scorer two seasons in a row as the Quakers won first the Conference title, and then the Fourth Division. He scored 40 times in 141 appearances for Darlington.