Darlington F.C.
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| Full name | Darlington Football Club | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nickname(s) | Darlo, The Quakers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Founded | 1883 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | Balfour Webnet Darlington Arena Darlington (Capacity 25,294) |
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| Chairman |  George Houghton |
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| Manager | Dave Penney |
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| League | League Two | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2007–08 | League Two, 6th | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Darlington Football Club (also known as Darlo or The Quakers) are an English football team based in the English town of Darlington, currently playing in Football League Two. The club's nickname is the Quakers, in reference to the religious movement that had a historic influence on the town. Darlington are currently sponsored by local company Darlington Building Society.
The club plays at the Balfour Webnet Darlington Arena, a 25,000-seat stadium that opened in 2003 and has been previously known as the George Reynolds Arena, the New Stadium, the Williamson Motors Arena and the 96.6 TFM Darlington Arena. The club previously played at Feethams, which is located close to the historic town centre.
The club was placed in administration on 23 December 2003 but were taken over and came out of administration by the start of the 2004-05 season.
George Reynolds had built such a huge stadium - one of the largest and most impressive outside the Championship and the biggest in League Two - because he was intent on bringing Premiership football to Darlington. But he had failed to invest enough money in players to achieve even promotion from Division Three (now League Two). Following his resignation as Chairman, Reynolds was arrested and charged with offences relating to irregularities in his personal finances, which later saw him imprisoned for over a year.
Darlington were relegated to the Conference in 1989 after they finished bottom of the Fourth Division. Just before this setback, Brian Little had been appointed manager. He took them back into the Football League at the first attempt as Conference champions, and a year later they won the Fourth Division title. Little then moved to Leicester City and Darlington's spell in the Third Division lasted just one season. They have remained in the bottom tier of the league ever since; they are the league's second-longest inhabitants after Rochdale.
Their local rivals are Hartlepool United and, from a little further afield, Carlisle United and York City.
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[edit] History
Darlington Football Club was founded at Darlington Grammar School in 1883. In 1889 it joined the new Northern League, which they won in 1896 and 1900. The club turned professional in 1908 and joined the North Eastern League.
In 1919–20 the side managed to finish second in the North Eastern League and the following year were champions. This was a stroke of good look as their victory coincided with the forming of the Northern Section of the Football League's Third Division, which Darlington were elected to. Their first season in Third Division was a successful one and they ended up in 2nd place. In 1925, they were champions and won promotion to Division Two but were relegated two seasons later.
In 1957–58 they attained their best ever FA Cup run, reaching the last 16. This was not enough to stop them being put into the new Fourth Division with the reorganisation of the League and the end of the Third Division's Northern and Southern Sections. In 1966, they won promotion to Division Three after finishing the season as runners-up, but 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 third 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 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, 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 1999–00 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 2003, as part of the Farewell to Feethams celebrations, the club programme ran a competition to decide which Darlington’s best ever team would be. The top 11 players that made the team were: Mark Prudhoe, Ron Greener, Craig Liddle, Kevan Smith, John Peverell, Andy Toman, Alan Sproates, David McLean, Alan Walsh, Marco Gabbiadini and Colin Sinclair. Marco Gabbiadini won the overall award and was voted Darlington's Greatest Ever Player. During his two seasons at Darlington, Gabbiadini scored 50 goals.
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 League Two.
In 2005–06, Hodgson ditched the 'Galacticos' and brought in younger players like Simon Johnson, Carlos Logan and Anthony Peacock. After, a great start to the season, Quakers faded and again found themselves scrapping for a play-off place. For the second season in a row they finished eighth.
Expectations were high for the 2006–07 season following the signings of experienced players such as Martin Smith, Michael Cummins and Gaetano Giallanza. These expectations were raised even further after the first two games when Quakers found themselves top of the League following victories over Macclesfield 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 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 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. 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, (getting thrashed on the final day of the season 0-5 at home, for the second time in a season, by Stockport) something of a disappointment given the pre-season hype. On a positive note, it meant that Quakers had finished in the top half of the table 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. 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 and Ryan Valentine, and youth team players Wayne Clarke and Lewis Hardman were added to the squad. They also signed goalkeepers Andy Oakes and Przemyslaw Kazimierczak, midfielders Rob Purdie, Kevin McBride, Nick Liversidge, Xavier Barrau and 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 have recently moved down the league a few places, but have finished 6th place this season, above Wycombe on goal difference, having secured a play-off place this season, after a draw with Chesterfield, with only two league games remaining. Darlington's main aim this season is to be promoted to League One, this did not happen after Darlington lost 5-4 on penalties in the play-off semi-final against Rochdale after the ties ended 2-1 to both home teams respectively and 3-3 on aggregate.
The plans for the new training ground and leisure complex are still in the mix, with the go-ahead expected later in 2008.
Not long after the season had ended, Penney began rebuilding his squad to challenge in 2008–09. He told three players that they had no future left at the club and these players were: John Brackstone, Kevin Burgess and Guylain Ndumbu-Nsungu. Then a few days later he told another six players that they also had no future left at the club and these players were: Michael Cummins, Julian Joachim, Clark Keltie, Sean Reay, Neil Wainwright and Scott Wiseman. But Penney has yet to buy, make or name any new signings or possible signings to replace the nine released players and to strengthen his depleated squad. Jason Kennedy became the first new signed player for the new season after signing for the Quakers after an impressive loan spell with the League Two club.
[edit] Grounds
Darlington play at the Darlington Arena, known for sponsorship reasons as the Balfour Webnet Darlington Arena. From 1883 to 2003 the club played at Feethams, which has since been demolished.
[edit] Honours
- Runners-up, Third Division (North), 1921/22
- Champions, Third Division (North), 1924/25
- Winners, Division Three (North) Cup, 1933/34
- Runners-up, Third Division (North) Cup, 1935/36
- Runners-up, Fourth Division, 1965/66
- Champions, GM Vauxhall Conference, 1989/90
- Champions, Fourth Division, 1990/91
- Runners-up, Division Three Play-Offs, 1995/96
- Runners-up, Division Three Play-Offs, 1999/00
[edit] Player records
- Most league goals in a season - 39 David Brown (1924-25)
- Most league appearances - 439 Ron Greener (1955-67)
- Most league goals in total - 87 Alan Walsh (1978-84)
- Most international appearances - 3 Jason De Vos (Canada)
[edit] Players
[edit] Current squad
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[edit] External links
- Darlington F.C. on BBC Sport: Club News - Recent results - Upcoming fixtures - Club stats
- Official Site
- Official Quaker TV site
- Darlo Uncovered
- Loidland
- The Tinshed
- Quakers Mad
- Darlington Vital Football Network First for Breaking News
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