Darlington F.C.

Darlington

Full name	Darlington Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Quakers, Darlo
Founded	1883
Ground	The Northern Echo Darlington Arena, Darlington
Capacity	25,500) (Restricted to 10,000[A]
Chairman	Raj Singh
Manager	Steve Staunton
League	Coca-Cola League Two
2008–09	Coca-Cola League Two, 12th
Home colours Away colours

Darlington Football Club are an English football team based in the town of Darlington and play in Coca-Cola League Two. The club's main nickname is The Quakers in reference to the religious movement that had a historic influence on the town. Darlington have remained in the bottom tier of the league since 1992; they have played in the division for the second most number of consecutive seasons behind Rochdale. Their local rivals are Hartlepool United, York City and Carlisle United.

History

Founding and pre-war

In July 1883, a meeting was called in Darlington Grammar School to address concerns that so few Darlington-based football clubs were entering the major competition in the region, the Durham Challenge (Senior) Cup. The meeting agreed with the view expressed by the Darlington & Stockton Times newspaper, that there was "no club, urban or rural, sufficiently powerful to worthily represent Darlington", decided to form a new club, and elected one Charles Samuel Craven, a local engineer, as secretary. Darlington Football Club duly entered the Durham Challenge (Senior) Cup, reached the final in their first season, and won the trophy in 1885/. The following season Darlington entered the FA Cup for the first time, only to lose 8-0 to Grimsby Town. Craven was instrumental in the formation of the Northern League in 1889. Darlington were one of the founder members, and went on to win the league title in 1896 and 1900; they reached the semi-final of the FA Amateur Cup in the same two seasons.

The club turned professional in 1908 and joined the North Eastern League. The 1910–11 season saw Darlington reach the last 16 of the FA Cup, progressing through five qualifying rounds to lose to Swindon Town in the Third Round Proper, and two years later they won the North Eastern League. Ground improvements begun before the First World War left the club in financial difficulty during it; the chairman of Darlington Forge Albion financed the completion of the East Stand and cleared the debts, allowing them to continue to compete. When competitive football resumed after the war, Darlington finished second in the North Eastern League, and were champions for a second time the following year. This victory was well timed, as it coincided with the formation of the Northern Section of the Football League's Third Division, which Darlington were invited to join.

Their first season in the Third Division was a successful one and they ended up in second place. Three years later, in 1924–25, they were champions and won promotion to the Northern Section of the Football League's Second Division. Their 15th place finish in 1926 remains, as of 2010, Darlington's best League performance, but they were relegated back to the Third Division in 1927, where the remained until the Second World War put an end to competitive football. They came as high as third in 1929–30, but twice had to apply for re-election to the League, in 1932–33 and 1936–37, after finishing in last place in the section. In 1934, they enjoyed their first success in a nationally-organised cup competition, defeating Stockport County 4-3 at Old Trafford to win the Football League Third Division North Cup, and reached the final again two years later, this time losing 2-1 at home to Chester.

Post-war

Soon after the Football Association gave permission for competitive matches to be played under floodlights, Darlington beat Carlisle United 3-1 in the first floodlit FA Cup match between Football League clubs, a replay held at St James' Park, Newcastle United's ground, in November 1955^[B]. The 1957–58 season saw the club equal their previous best FA Cup run, reaching the last 16 by defeating Chelsea, Football League champions only three years earlier, in the Fourth Round. After letting slip a three-goal lead at Stamford Bridge, Darlington won the replay 4-1 after extra time, described as "a most meritorious win, earned by a combination of sound tactics and an enthusiasm that Chelsea never equalled" by The Times' correspondent, who felt it "surprising that extra time was necessary, for Darlington always seemed to have the match well in hand". In the League, Darlington's fourth place in 1948–49 was their only top-half finish in the first twelve seasons after the war, and when the regional sections of the Third Division were merged, they were allocated to the new Fourth Division.

The Supporters' Club raised £20,000 to pay for a roof at one end of the Feethams ground and for floodlights, which were first used on 19 September 1960. Later that night, the West Stand burned down. Darlington's attendance record, of 21,023 against Bolton Wanderers in the League Cup fourth round, was set two months later. Under the management of Lol Morgan, they won promotion to the Third Division in 1966. A crowd of 16,000 watched the draw against Torquay United on the last day of the season which ensured they finished as runners-up, but they were relegated the following year.

In 1982, the club faced a financial crisis but survived thanks to fundraising efforts of the town. Three years later the club won promotion by finishing 3rd in the league under manager Cyril Knowles. Darlington spent two seasons in the Third Division, their finish of 13th in 1986 their highest position attained in the Football League since the introduction of the present four-division structure in 1958, but they were relegated the following season.

In 1989, the team finished bottom of the league and was relegated to the GM Vauxhall Conference. However, they were only there for one season before winning the GM Vauxhall Conference title and returning to the Football League under manager Brian Little, who had been appointed in January 1989. A second successive promotion followed in 1990–91, this time to the Third Division as Fourth Division champions, but Little was then lured away to Leicester City and he was succeeded by Frank Gray. Darlington were relegated in bottom place the following season, and Gray was dismissed.

Since then, they have reached the play-off final on two occasions. The first visit to Wembley was in 1996 against Plymouth Argyle, however they were beaten through a Ronnie Mauge goal. They returned to Wembley in 2000 to face Peterborough United after throwing away automatic promotion which had at one point seemed a certainty. After a comfortable 3-0 aggregate semi-final win over Hartlepool United, The Quakers arrived in confident mood, however they wasted a host of chances and were again undone by a single goal, this time from Andy Clarke.

The 1999–2000 season was a notable one for Darlington. It was the first season under the ambitious new chairman George Reynolds, Also, they became the first team to lose a tie in the FA Cup and yet still qualify for the next round. Manchester United's involvement in the FIFA Club World Championship meant they did not enter the FA Cup. To decide who took their place, a "lucky losers" draw was held containing the 20 teams knocked out in the second round; Darlington were selected and lost their third-round tie 2-1 to Aston Villa at Villa Park.

During the summer of 2002, Darlington made approaches to sign two world famous players; Paul Gascoigne and Faustino Asprilla, but both bids failed.

In the summer of 2003, the club moved to its new stadium, the Reynolds Arena. However, a poor start to the season saw manager Mick Tait sacked and replaced by the popular David Hodgson, returning for his third spell in charge. On 23 December, 2003 however, Darlington went into administration and there were fears that the club would go out of business. At one stage there were rumours that the club would sell its new stadium and return to Feethams.

In January 2004, a charity game was organised featuring famous footballers such as Paul Gascoigne, Bryan Robson and Kenny Dalglish. This match attracted a crowd of over 14,000 and helped keep the club going. Despite all the off the field traumas, the team's performances on the field improved significantly. At one point, relegation looked to be inevitable but Hodgson turned things around with the team playing some excellent football along the way.

The end of the season saw George Reynolds hand over control of the club to the Sterling consortium with Stewart Davies taking over as chairman. Davies became popular with the supporters due to his fan-friendly approach, a stark contrast to that of Reynolds. After coming out of administration in September 2004, Hodgson signed a number of experienced players such as Craig Hignett, Alun Armstrong and Clyde Wijnhard; fans affectionately dubbed them the 'Galacticos'. The Quakers were in strong contention for the play-offs for most of the season but in the end just missed out on goal difference to Northampton Town and had to settle for eighth place in Coca-Cola League Two.

In 2005–06, Hodgson ditched the 'Galacticos' and brought in younger players like Simon Johnson, Carlos Logan and Anthony Peacock as well as putting reserve andf youth team player Sean Reay in the squad. After, a great start to the season, The Quakers faded and again found themselves scrapping for a play-off place. For the second season in a row they finished 8th.

Expectations were high for the 2006–07 season following the signings of experienced players such as Martin Smith, Michael Cummins and Gaetano Giallanza as well as putting reserve and youth team player Scott Pocklington in the squad. These expectations were raised even further after the first two games when Quakers found themselves top of the league following victories over Macclesfield Town and Accrington Stanley. However, this was followed by a poor run of form which culminated in a change of manager.

On Saturday 30 September 2006, David Hodgson was suspended by the club following a run of poor results and a possible approach from AFC Bournemouth, leaving Neil Maddison and Martin Gray in joint temporary caretaker charge for up to two weeks while an internal investigation was carried out. Hodgson was subsequently dismissed shortly after. Former Doncaster Rovers manager Dave Penney took over the manager's job with Martin Gray as his assistant.

Penney enjoyed a fantastic start to life at Darlington after winning his first six games. Unfortunately, the club was struck by a horrendous injury and illness crisis which decimated almost the entire playing squad and subsequently led to a terrible run of results. After Christmas, Penney went about strengthening the squad. Particularly, significant were the loan signings of David Wheater and Ian Miller. The Quakers looked a much stronger side and went on a thirteen match unbeaten run. However, once Wheater and Miller returned to their parent clubs, many of the old defensive frailties returned. In the end, Darlington had to settle for 11th place. On a positive note, it meant that The Quakers had finished in the top half of the table for three seasons in a row for the first time since the 1920s.

Not long after the season had ended, Penney began rebuilding his squad to challenge in 2007–08 season. The main area for concern, the defence, was addressed with the signings of Neil Austin, Alan White, Steve Foster, Ian Miller, Scott Wiseman, John Brackstone, Ryan Valentine and reserve and youth team goalkeeper, defender and striker Nick Liversedge, Wayne Clarke and Curtis Main were added to the squad respectively. They also signed goalkeepers Andy Oakes amd Przemyslaw Kazimierczak, midfielders Rob Purdie, Kevin McBride and Xavier Barrau, strikers Paweł Abbott, Ian Harty and Guylain Ndumbu-Nsungu and the loan signings of goalkeeper Corrin Brooks-Meade, defenders Lee Ridley, Paul Mayo and Ben Parker, midfielders Chris Palmer, Johann Smith, Joe Colbeck, Bryan Hodge, Jason Kennedy and Craig Nelthorpe and strikers Matt Green, Richie Foran and Kevin Gall. Darlington's main aim that season was to be promoted to Coca-Cola League One, but this did not happen after Darlington lost 5-4 on penalties in the play-off semi-final against Rochdale after both of the ties ended 2-1 to both home teams respectively and 3-3 on aggregate. On a positive note, it meant that The Quakers had finished in the top half of the table for four seasons in a row after finishing in 6th place.

2008 onwards

Not long after the season had ended, Penney began rebuilding his squad to challenge in 2008–09 season. Jason Kennedy became the first new signing for the new season after signing for the Quakers after an impressive loan spell last season with the club. The following second, third, fourth and fifth signings were Clayton Fortune, Adam Griffin, David Poole and Adam Proudlock as well as putting reserve and youth team players Corey Barnes, John McReady, Simon Todd, Jason Bradley, Danny Groves, Jonathan Hewitson, Josh Gray, Michael Smith and Dan Riley in the squad. Then Penney signed Brentford goalkeeper Simon Brown on loan for four months to act as cover for injured goalkeeper Andy Oakes. On 8 August 2008, Tommy Wright was sold to Aberdeen for a fee believed to be around £100,000. This allowed Penney to sign midfielder Robin Hulbert from Port Vale his sixth signing, and get striker Billy Clarke from Ipswich Town on loan for a month. On 21 August, Penney signed international Liechtenstein midfielder Franz Burgmeier making that his seventh summer signing in this years transfer window. On 28 August Penney also signed out of favour Peterborough United striker Liam Hatch on loan for three months. On November 1, striker Richie Foran re-joined the club for a second stint on loan for a month, to cover for the other on loan injured striker Liam Hatch. On 27 November, striker Huddersfield Town midfielder Michael Flynn came in for a month on loan. The next day on 28 November, midfielder Sébastien Carole signed a permanent deal for the club after being released from Leeds United in the summer. In early December 2008, the club announced that local businessman Raj Singh as its first ever vice chairman It was understood that Singh had been involved with the club for a number of weeks prior to the announcement. George Houghton although remained the majority shareholder of the club. On 14 January, 2009, they signed Carlisle United striker Danny Carlton on loan until the end of the season. The next day on 15 January, they signed Colchester United goalkeeper Dean Gerken on loan for a month. On 29 January, they signed Wrexham defender Carl Tremarco on loan for a month. Darlington officially went into administration on 25 February, claiming that the economic shift as well as being unable to draw crowds to their stadium as the main reasons and due to the rules of the FA the club had ten points deducted from the league table as the staff searched for a potential investor. On 30 April, Dave Penney resigned as manager, so that he could take up the managerial position at Oldham Athletic. On the next day 1 May, assistant manager Martin Gray took up the post as caretaker manager for the final game of the season against Chester City which they won. On a positive note, it meant that the Quakers had finished in the top half of the table for five seasons in a row after finishing in 12th place.

On 3 May, a charity game was played featuring famous footballer Paul Gascoigne, as well as former players Bernie Slaven and Marco Gabbiadini. This match attracted a crowd of more than 3,000 and helped keep the club going. On 8 May, Darlington's administrators Brackenbury Clark and Company released the "majority of the first-team squad" from their contracts to cut costs, with immediate effect, as well as the club's coaching staff and administrative staff including caretaker manager Martin Gray, leaving Craig Liddle and Neil Maddison as joint temporary caretaker managers. On 20 May, former chairman George Houghton returned to the club as owner and chairman and appointed former Middlesbrough boss Colin Todd as manager. However, he kept the club for sale and on 7 August, the club officially came out of administration and were given permission by the Football League to do so with Raj Singh officially taking over as new chairman of the club. New contracts for players such as Lee Thorpe and Jeff Smith and assistant player manager Dean Windass were sanctioned.. However, on 26 September, Todd left the club after failing to find a win during the first two months of the season. He was replaced by former Republic of Ireland manager Steve Staunton until the end of that season, with new assistant Kevin Richardson. Staunton brought in new players including Irish trialists, former St Patrick's Athletic's midfielder Gary Dempsey, former Shamrock Rovers’ striker Tadhg Purcell, teenage defender Simon Madden, a return for former Darlo player Alan White on loan, former Spennymoor Town midfielder Gary Waite and former Hibernian Scottish teenage striker Patrick Deane, also on six month deals until the end of the season. As well as those players previously Staunton bought in another Irish player but this time a new keeper on loan for a month who was Nottingham Forest’s Shane Redmond. And on the day of the winter transfer deadline 1 February about half an hour or so before the actual 5pm deadline it was announced that the club had signed another Irish player who was former Inverness Caledonian Thistle defender Richie Byrne ]].

Grounds

The Darlington Arena in April 2009.

Main articles: Feethams and The Darlington Arena

The club plays at the Darlington Arena, known for sponsorship reasons as The Northern Echo Darlington Arena, a 25,500-seat stadium that opened in 2003 and has been previously been known as the Reynolds Arena, the New Stadium, the Williamson Motors Arena, the 96.6 TFM Darlington Arena and the Balfour Webnet Darlington Arena. Though the stadium can seat up to 25,500 people, the club is restricted to just 10,000 because of county and local planning regulations. From 1883 to 2003, the club played at Feethams, which was located close to the town centre. Feethams has since been demolished and is due to make way for housing.

Colours and crest

Kit suppliers and sponsors
From	Manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
1975	Umbro
1976	Litesome
1977	Bukta
1979	Le Coq Sportif
1982		DONN
1984	Hummel	McEwan's
1987	Hobott	United
1988		I-S-L
1989	Jack Hatfield
1991		Hutchison Telecom
1995	ICIS	Orange
1996		Soccerdome
1997	On Time Sportswear	Darlington Building Society
1998	Biemme
1999	Xara
2007	Vandanel
2009	Erreà

In 1888, Darlington's kit consisted of a shirt with black and white vertical stripes, black shorts and black socks. Apart from a period between the 1910s and 1936, when blue shorts were worn, the basic colours of the home kit have remained black and white. The shirt design has varied, from the 1888 vertical stripes, through hoops, plain white, and back to hoops again in the 1990s. Sponsors' names have appeared on Darlington's shirts since the 1980s. A table of kit manufacturers (since the 1970s) and shirt sponsors appears on the right.

For the 2009–10 season, the kit is manufactured by Errea and bears the name of sponsors Darlington Building Society. The home shirt is white with black sleeves, shorts are black, and socks are black-and-white hoops, and the away kit is all yellow with red trim.Supporters were invited to vote for the 2010–11 kit; options for the home shirt both had black-and-white hoops, while the proposed away colours were either the traditional red or sky-blue and white.

The club crest is in the form of a shield, divided diagonally into two parts; the smaller section, to the upper right, is in the club's home colour of white, the larger is red, their traditional away colour. In the white section is a stylised Quaker hat, emblematic of the major role played by the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in the history of the town. The larger section depicts George Stephenson's Locomotion No 1, the steam locomotive that hauled the first train on the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1825, representing the importance of the railway industry to the area. Across the bottom of the shield is a ribbon bearing the club's nickname, The Quakers, and the whole rests on a bed of oak leaves, symbolic of strength and endurance.

Mascot

Darlo Dog is the club's official team mascot. He is a dalmatian and wears the home strip on matchdays. He was once ejected from the stadium for climbing on advertising hoardings in front of BBC cameras.

Honours

Darlington's honours include the following:

• Durham Challenge (Senior) Cup winners: 1885, 1891, 1893, 1897, 1920, 2000
• Northern League champions: 1895–96, 1899–1900
• Northern League runners-up: 1896–97, 1898–99
• North Eastern League champions: 1912–13, 1920–21
• North Eastern League runners-up: 1919–20
• Football League Third Division (North) champions: 1924–25
• Third Division (North) runners-up: 1921–22
• Third Division (North) Cup winners: 1933–34
• Third Division (North) Cup runners-up: 1935–36
• Fourth Division runners-up: 1965–66
• Fourth Division third place: 1984–85
• GM Vauxhall Conference champions: 1989–90
• Fourth Division champions: 1990–91

Records

Club

• Best league performance: 15th, Second Division (North), 1925–26
• Best FA Cup performance: Fifth Round, 1910–11, 1957–58
• Best League Cup performance: Fifth Round, 1967–68
• Most league points: 85, 1984–85 (three points for a win) 59, 1965–66 (two points for a win)
• Most league goals: 108, 1929–30
• Most league wins in one season: 25, 1965–66
• Best league win home: 9-2 v. Lincoln City, 7 January 1928
• Best league win away: 7-2 v. Durham City, 22 October 1921
• Best FA Cup win: 13-1 v. Scarborough, 24 October 1891
• Best league Cup win: 4-0 v. Halifax Town, 29 August 1966
• Best league run undefeated: 17, from 27 April 1968
• Undefeated league games home: 36, from 14 April 1923
• Undefeated league games away: 14, from 27 April 1968 and 9 December 1995
• Best run of league wins: 6, from 6 February 2000
• Best run of home League wins: 8 (three times)
• Longest run of league draws: 5 (three times)

Player

• Most league appearances: 439, Ron Greener (1955–67)
• Most league goals in total: 87, Alan Walsh (1978–84)
• Most league goals in one season: 39, David Brown (1924–25)
• Most international appearances: 7, Franz Burgmeier (Liechtenstein) (2008–09)
• Most league goals in a match: 4, David Cork 6-1 v. Boston United, 13 February 1990 & Billy Clarke 6-0 v. Macclesfield Town, 30 August 2008
• Youngest goalscorer: Curtis Main, 16 years, 246 days (2008–09)

Players

Current squad

As of 26 January 2010.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
2	DF	ENG	Paul Arnison
3	DF	ENG	Mark Bower (vice-captain)
4	DF	ENG	Alan White (on loan from Luton Town)
5	DF	ENG	Steve Foster
6	DF	ENG	Ian Miller (captain)
7	MF	ENG	Jeff Smith
8	MF	ENG	Chris Lumsdon
9	FW	ENG	Lee Thorpe
10	FW	ENG	Noel Whelan
11	MF	EIR	Gary Dempsey
12	MF	ENG	Josh Gray
13	GK	ENG	Nick Liversedge
14	MF	ENG	Gary Smith
15	FW	ENG	Curtis Main
16	MF	ENG	Danny Groves

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
18	MF	ENG	Mark Convery
19	FW	EIR	Tadhg Purcell
20	DF	ENG	Stuart Giddings
22	DF	EIR	Simon Madden
23	GK	EIR	Shane Redmond (on loan from Nottingham Forest)
24	MF	ENG	Nathan Mulligan
25	GK	ENG	Ashlee Jones
26	MF	ENG	Corey Barnes
27	MF	ENG	John McReady
28	MF	ENG	Gary Waite
29	FW	SCO	Patrick Deane
30	FW	FRA	Mor Diop
31	DF	ENG	Dan Burn
33	DF	EIR	Richie Byrne

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
17	MF	ENG	Dan Riley (on loan to Billingham Town until 1 March 2010)

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
21	DF	ENG	Rikki Bains (on loan to Gateshead until 30 June 2010)

Dream team

As part of the "Farewell to Feethams" celebrations, a competition in the club programme in 2003 selected the following "Dream Team"; Mark Prudhoe; Ron Greener, Craig Liddle, Kevan Smith, John Peverell; Andy Toman, David McLean, Alan Sproates; Alan Walsh, Marco Gabbiadini and Colin Sinclair. Liddle was chosen as captain; he had captained the team for seven of his eight seasons with the club. Gabbiadini, scorer of 53 goals in his two seasons at Darlington, was voted greatest ever player.

Staff

As of 21 January 2010.

• Chairman: Raj Singh
• Financial Director: Andy Wilson
• Managing Director: Graham Fordy

Commercial

• General Manager: Phil Preston
• Food, Beverage & Events Manager: Michael Robinson
• PR & Media Contact: Martin Walker
• Ticket Office Manager: Peter Cook
• Club Photographer: Les Hodge
• Head Chef: Helen Todd
• Community Liaison Officer: Damon Shaw
• Events Co-Ordinator: Mandy Sousa
• Sales Executive: Kate Sadler

Football

• First Team Manager: Steve Staunton
• First Team Assistant Manager: Kevin Richardson
• First Team Physiotherapist: Will Short
• Youth Team Physiotherapist: Ali Logan
• Head of Youth: Craig Liddle
• Centre of Excellence Manager: Neil Maddison
• Club Doctor: Dr R. S. Charlton
• Club Dental Surgeon: Nigel Kendrew
• Football Secretary: Lisa Charlton
• Groudsman: Gary Ventress
• Kit & Equipment Man: Andrew Thompson
• Football in the Community (FITC) Officer: Kevin Stonehouse
• Safety Officer: Stephen Wood
• Deputy Safety Officer: Carol Barnett

Notes

A. ^ The Darlington Arena was built to hold 25,500 seated spectators, yet a condition was imposed at the planning stage that "at no time should the owner of the property admit or permit the admission of more than 10,000 people to the new stadium". Capacity was for a time restricted to 6,000 for weekend events and 4,500 for midweek events unless prior written permission was granted to exceed those limits.

B. ^ Though not the first FA Cup match to be played under lights, as the club history suggests: a preliminary round replay between Kidderminster Harriers and Brierley Hill Alliance took place under floodlights on 14 September 1955, some two months before Darlington's match against Carlisle United.

External links

• site