Darlington F.C.: Difference between revisions

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	Mark Cooper
League	Blue Square Bet Premier
2009–10	Coca-Cola League Two, 24th (Relegated)
Home colours Away colours
Current season

Darlington Football Club is an association football club based in the town of Darlington in the north-east of England. The team will play in the Blue Square Bet Premier for the 2010–11 season after finishing bottom of Coca-Cola League Two in 2009–10.

The club was founded in 1883, and played in regionally-organised leagues until first admitted to the Football League when the Northern section of the Third Division was formed in 1921. Darlington won the Third Division North title in 1925, and their 15th place in the Second Division (North) in 1926 remains their highest league finish. Since their admission to the League, they have spent most of their history in the bottom tier. In 1934 they won the Third Division North Cup, their only victory in nationally-organised cup competition. They reached the last 16 of the FA Cup twice and the quarter-final of the Football League Cup once. In the early 1990s they won successive titles: the GM Vauxhall Conference in 1990 and the Fourth Division the following year.

For more than 100 years the club played at Feethams; they moved to The Northern Echo Darlington Arena a 25,500-seater stadium in 2003, but the cost of such a large stadium was a major factor in driving the club into administration. The club colours are black and white, and the crest bears the club's nickname, The Quakers, in reference to the religious movement that had a historic influence on the town. Their traditional rivals are; Hartlepool United, but from further afield their rivals are; Carlisle United and York City.

This article appears to be slanted towards recent events. Please try to keep recent events in historical perspective and add more content related to non-recent events. (June 2010)

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 Cup, reached the final in their first season^[1], and won the trophy in 1885^[2]. The following season Darlington entered the FA Cup for the first time,only to lose 8-0 to Grimsby Town^[3]. Craven was instrumental in the formation of the Northern League in 1889^[1]. 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^[4].

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^[3]. 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^[5]. 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^[6].

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 Football League Second Division. Their 15th-place finish in 1926 remains, as of 2010, Darlington's best League performance^[7], 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^[4]. 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^[3], and reached the final again two years later, this time losing 2-1 at home to Chester^[8].

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^[9][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"^[10]. 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^[4].

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^[5]. Darlington's attendance record, of 21,023 against Bolton Wanderers in the League Cup fourth round, was set two months later^[11]. 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^[11].

Darlington reached the quarter-finals of the 1968 League Cup; drawn away to Brian Clough's Derby County, they took the lead, only to lose 5-4. During the 1970s the club had to apply for re-election to the League five times, and by 1982 they were facing a financial crisis but survived thanks to fundraising efforts in the town^[11]. Three years later they won promotion by finishing third in the league under manager Cyril Knowles. Darlington spent two seasons in the Third Division; the 13th-place finish in 1986 was their highest position achieved in the Football League since the introduction of the four-division structure in 1958, but they were relegated the following season^[4].

Though Brian Little's appointment as manager in February 1989^[12], failed to stave off relegation to the Conference, he went on to lead them to successive promotions. An immediate return to the Football League as Conference champions preceded the Fourth Division title in 1990–91, but Little's departure for Leicester City^[13] was followed by relegation and a succession of short-term managers^[4][14]. They came close to a return to the Third Division via the play-offs in 1996; on their first visit to Wembley, against Plymouth Argyle, they were beaten by a Ronnie Mauge goal^[15].

The 1999–2000 season, the first under ambitious new chairman George Reynolds^[16], was marked by Darlington becoming the first team to lose an FA Cup-tie and 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 from 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^[17]. Their second Wembley appearance came later that season, facing Peterborough United in the play-off final after automatic promotion had once seemed a certainty. After a comfortable 3-0 aggregate semi-final win over Hartlepool United, Quakers arrived in confident mood, but they missed numerous chances and were again undone by a single goal, this time from Andy Clarke^[18][19].

In 2002, Darlington made unsuccessful approaches to sign world-famous players Paul Gascoigne and Faustino Asprilla^[20], and moved into their new stadium, named the Reynolds Arena, in summer 2003. Reynolds had paid the club's debts when he took over, but the cost of the stadium, partly financed with high-interest loans and built without realistic expectation of filling it, drove the club into administration six months later^[21][22][23]. Reynolds resigned as a director in January 2004 with the club under threat of imminent closure. A benefit match, featuring footballers such as Gascoigne, Bryan Robson and Kenny Dalglish, played in front of a crowd of over 14,000, raised £100,000 to help ensure survival in the short term^[24][25]. Despite the off-field problems, David Hodgson, in his third spell as manager, and his players produced some fine performances as the team avoided relegation^[26].

At the end of the season, Reynolds was obliged to hand over control to the Sterling Consortium to bring the club out of administration^[27], Stewart Davies taking over as chairman. He and his staff adopted a fan-friendly approach^[28], in contrast to the abrasive Reynolds^[22], before in 2006, the club was sold to former property tycoon George Houghton^[29]. For four consecutive seasons, under Hodgson, sacked in 2006, and then under successor Dave Penney^[30], the Quakers finished in the top half of the table, reaching the play-off semi-final in 2008 only to lose to Rochdale on penalties^[4].

In February 2009, Darlington again went into administration, triggering an automatic 10-point deduction^[31], without which they would have again reached the play-offs^[32]. Fundraising efforts kept the club going^[33][34], but when no buyer was found for the club by a May deadline, the administrators made the majority of the first-team squad available for transfer and cut staff numbers to a minimum, leaving players Craig Liddle and Neil Maddison in joint temporary caretaker charge^[35][36]. On 20 May, Houghton returned to the club as chairman, appointed former Middlesbrough boss Colin Todd as manager^[37], and brokered an agreement which led to the club coming out of adminstration and ownership passing to local businessman Raj Singh. On 7 August, the Football League confirmed that Darlington were free to compete in the 2009–10 season without any points deduction^[38][39]. After a poor start to the season, in which Darlington lost seven of their first nine games, Todd was sacked by the club^[40]. His successor, former Republic of Ireland manager Steve Staunton, achieved only 4 wins from 23 League games before he too was sacked by the club, as well in, March 2010 with the club 19 points from safety with only 12 games remaining^[41], and replaced by Simon Davey^[42]. Although Davey had a fantastic start to his managerial career with the club, after four games, he had two wins a draw and a loss, including this game, but still on 13 April 2010 they were relegated to the Blue Square Bet Premier after beating Rochdale 1-0, but Cheltenham Town drew 0-0 with Shrewsbury Town, and Torquay United beat Aldershot Town 2-0^[43]. On 16 June it was announced that, Davey had quit his job as manager, after 77 days in charge he’d sent an e-mail to the clubs chairman and owner, citing ‘personal reasons’, as the main decision for him to quit, as well as an offer of a coaching role at the Paul Scholes Academy in Orlando, not the managerial vacancy, at newly promoted Coca-Cola League One side, Hereford United, as it was originally reported^[44]. On the next day, 17 June, it was announced that, due to the clubs circumstances, that assistant manager, Ryan Kidd, would become Davey’s successor at the club, making sure they could tie down this manager to a two year, on top of the one year contract, he is still currently under, but as assistant manager^[45]. After just eleven days at the helm ofthe club, Kidd announced he was quitting the club, after speaking with chairman and owner Singh, about it, but there were a number of reasons, for this possible change of decision, the most likely believed to be that he wanted to join his former boss, in a different role to assistant manager, as it was announced that Davey was to become manager of newly promoted Coca-Cola League One side Hereford United with Andy Fensome to become his assistant at Edgar Street sparking outrage from the Quakers chairman, managerial director, and fans over both of these incidents^[46]. On the same day, Singh quickly turned his intentions to appointing a new manager, and focussed all his efforts on his original candidate, who he wanted to appoint as successor, to Staunton, but he turned it down as he was on the short-list in the running for the Barnet job; Mark Cooper, was revealed as the new manager, and successor to Kidd, taking over from him, after Cooper’s new assistant manager, former number two to Cooper at Tamworth and ex-Worcester City boss; Richard Dryden, making sure they could tie down these two, for sure, on one year permanent deals, respectively^[47]. On 9 October, during the first-half of the game against Hayes & Yeading, fears were allayed that manager, Cooper, had been sacked, after his then assistant manager, Dryden, was in the dug-out in charge of the players, for the game, but then after half-time, the boss appeared out of the tunnel with his players, and so did the chairman, and the board of directors, but out of the executive box, they hold instead. After the match Cooper was asked why he wasn’t in the dug-out today, and in reply he said he wanted to try something different, by giving Dryden, the reigns, for just one match, to see how he did, and mainly because he had a what he called ‘clear-the-air talks’ meeting, with the higher authorities, to discuss his future, and concerns he had about the club^[48].

This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

The club plays at the Darlington Arena, known for sponsorship reasons as The Northern Echo Darlington Arena, a 25,500-seater 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.

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^[49]. 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^[49].

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^[50], and the away kit is all yellow with red trim^[51].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^[52]. On 20 March 2010 it was announced that the clubs new shirt sponsors to don the new kits for the 2010–11 season would be the Morritt Arms after the company had won the clubs shirt sponsorship draw competition from the previous season^[53]. The kit had to be tweaked slightly for the following season, with the entire major black bits, having to be changed, to white, as not to clash with the referee’s colours, of black, in the Blue Square Bet Premier^[54].

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^[55].

Darlington's supporters consider Hartlepool United as their main rivals. The feeling is reciprocated: in a 2008 survey, 95% of supporters of both clubs named the other as their bitterest rivals. The clubs, based 25 miles (40 km) apart, with Middlesbrough directly inbetween the two towns, have met 147 times (as of 2009–10), of which Hartlepool have won 60 to Darlington's 57^[56][57]. The meeting between the two clubs in 2007 attracted a crowd of 10,121 to the Darlington Arena, the largest attendance for that League fixture for 50 years^[58], though the average League attendance at the stadium has declined from over 5,000 in its opening season to just under 3,000 in 2008–09^[59].

Darlington has an official supporters' club^[60] and an active group of exiled supporters, known as DAFTS^[61]. A Supporters' Trust was founded in 2002; it established a Disabled Supporters Group, tried to maintain a working relationship between club and supporters, and, together with the Darlington Camera Club, staged a "Farewell to Feethams" exhibition in celebration of the club's longtime home. Together with the supporters' club, the trust has been actively involved in fund-raising particularly during the club's periods of administration^[62][63].

Fanzines included Mission Impossible, first published in the early 1990s^[64], and Where's The Money Gone, whose teenage editor, Dan King, along with the editor of website Darlo Uncovered, Scott Thornberry, were among several supporters banned from the ground by chairman George Reynolds for criticising the running of the club^[65][66].

The team mascot was Mr Q, described as "a flat-looking cartoon man with a very big hat". In 2006, he was joined, and later replaced, by Darlo Dog, a Dalmatian^[67][68]. Darlo Dog was once ejected from the ground for climbing on the advertising boards in front of television cameras^[69]. After Darlo Dog itself was being ejected as the club’s official mascot after a competition was announced to design a new after the old mascot had announced it was hanging up its collar to make way for a fresher new one^{[citation needed]}. On 10 September, the winning entry was announced for the new team mascot, and its outfit was also unveiled, on Facebook, with the winning entry being called; Feethams the Panda, as this was the most liked mascots photo, on the social networking site, which was how the new team mascot was chosen, but the mascots official unveiling, would be to come, at the stadium, for the home game against, Southport, on 25 September^[70].

Darlington's honours include the following^[4]:

• Durham Challenge (Senior) Cup winners:^[2] 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:^[71] 1933–34
• Third Division (North) Cup runners-up:^[71] 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

Club and player records include the following^[72]:

• 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)

• Most league appearances: 439, Ron Greener (1955–67)
• Most appearances in total: 490, Ron Greener
• Most league goals: 87, Alan Walsh (1978–84)
• Most goals in total: 100, Alan Walsh
• Most league goals in one season: 39, David Brown (1924–25)
• Most international appearances: 7, Franz Burgmeier (Liechtenstein) (2008–09) ^[73][74]
• Most league goals in a match: 4^{[citation needed]}, David Cork 6-1 v. Boston United, 13 February 1990 & Billy Clarke 6-0 v. Macclesfield Town, 30 August 2008
• Youngest captain: Donald Ball^{[citation needed]}, 17 years, v. AFC Bournemouth, 5 August 1978 (“Football League Record”)
• Youngest player: Curtis Main, 15 years, 318 days, v. Peterborough United, 3 May 2008^[13]
• Youngest goalscorer: Curtis Main, 16 years, 246 days, v. Grimsby Town, 21 February 2009^[13]

As of 2 November 2010^[75].

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 4 MF  ENG Jamie Chandler 5 MF  ENG Michael Brough 6 DF  ENG Ian Miller (captain) 7 FW  ENG Liam Hatch (on loan from Peterborough United) 8 MF  ENG Gareth Waite 9 FW  ENG Tommy Wright 10 FW  ENG Chris Senior 11 MF  ENG Chris Moore 12 FW  ENG Curtis Main 14 MF  ENG Josh Gray 15 MF  ENG Corey Barnes 16 MF  ENG John McReady 18 DF  ENG Danny Hone (on loan from Lincoln City)

No. Pos. Nation Player 19 DF  TRI Kevin Austin 20 MF  ENG Gary Smith 21 MF  ENG Paul Terry (vice-captain) 22 MF  ENG Jamie Barton 23 GK  ENG Sam Russell 24 MF  ENG Joe Clarke 25 DF  ENG Aaron Brown 26 DF  ENG Phil Gray 27 GK  ENG Nick Thompson 30 FW  DMA Jefferson Louis (on loan from Gainsborough Trinty) 31 MF  ENG Marc Bridge-Wilkinson (on loan from Carlisle United) -- DF  ENG Dan Burn -- FW  ENG Jordan Marshall

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  TRI Kelvin Jack (on loan to Kettering Town until 1 January 2011)

No. Pos. Nation Player 17 FW  ENG Michael Smith (on loan to Workington until 29 November 2010)

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^[76]. Liddle was voted as greatest ever captain; he had captained Darlington for seven of his eight seasons with the club^{[citation needed]}. Gabbiadini, scorer of 53 goals in his two seasons at Darlington, was voted greatest ever player^[76].

• Jason de Vos
• Kasper Schmeichel
• Matthew Bates
• Andy Collett
• David Cork
• / Marco Gabbiadini
• Ron Greener
• Craig Liddle
• Neil Maddison
• David McLean
• Gary Pallister
• John Peverell
• Mark Prudhoe
• Kevan Smith
• Alan Sproates
• Kevin Stonehouse
• Andy Toman
• Ross Turnbull
• Alan Walsh
• Neil Wainwright
• David Wheater
• Billy Clarke
• Franz Burgmeier
• Bobby Petta
• Colin Sinclair

As of 16 September 2010^[77].

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

• General Manager: Phil Preston
• Food, Beverage & Events Manager: Michael Robinson
• Communications, Media & PR 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

• First Team Manager: Mark Cooper
• First Team Assistant Manager: Richard Dryden
• First Team Physiotherapist: Will Short
• Head of Youth: Craig Liddle
• Youth Team Physiotherapist: Ali Logan
• Goalkeeping Coach: Tony Elliott
• 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 (F.I.T.C.) Officer: Kevin Stonehouse
• Safety Officer: Stephen Wood
• Deputy Safety Officer: Carol Barnett

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"^[78]. 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^[79][80].

B. ^ Though not the first FA Cup match to be played under lights, as the club history suggests^[3]; 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^[81][82].

• site