Darlington History

Dusan did his ages ago, now the forum isn't active as much here I go with mine. P.s The start will be main points off wiki until it gets to my era of knowlage.

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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 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 the Third Division 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 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 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.

Right now my bit the latest promotion final was in 2000 against Peterbourgh United, But despite scoring 3 goals in the semi fnal against Hartlepool they failed to take their chances and a goal from andy clarke undid them. (I was at that game) In that season a man called George Reynolds bought the club and became chairman.During the summer of 2002, Darlington made approaches to sign two world famous players - Paul Gascoigne and Faustino Asprilla - but both bids failed. The team then moved out of Feathams and went into the new Reynolds arena with could hold over 25,000. Later in that year caretaker manager Mick Tait was replaced by David Hodgson who was in his third spell as manager at the club 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 as well as putting reserve team player Sean Reay in the squad. 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 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 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. 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.

Darlington's main aim last 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. The plans for the new training ground and leisure complex are still in the mix, with the go-ahead expected later in 2008. (I was at the home semi final, we were the better side)

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 with the League Two club. The following second, third, fourth and fifth Quakers signings were Clayton Fortune, Adam Griffin, David Poole and Adam Proudlock as well as putting reserve team player Simon Todd in the squad. Since then he and Sean Reay have gone out on loan for the season to gain first-team football experience with Blyth Spartans and Harrogate Town respectively. Then Penney signed Brentford goalkeeper Simon Brown on loan for four months to act as cover for injured goalkeeper Andy Oakes. Then on August 8, 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 and get striker Billy Clarke from Ipswich Town on loan for a month. Then on August 21, 2008, Penney signed international Liechtenstein midfielder Franz Burgmeier making that his sixth summer signing in this years transfer window. Then on August 28, 2008, Penney also signed out of favour Peterborough United striker Liam Hatch on loan for three months. Then on September 2, 2008 defender Tim Ryan went out on loan to Harrogate Town like Sean Reay but in an attempt to regain his full fitness.
lets hope for a quick promotion this year to get out of their 17/18 year stay in that division. They are currently fighting for top spot in league 2 and doing a good job of it. But nowadays it looks like it has done for most of my life, stuck in the rut of playoffs position. Unless they can perform more consistantly under the managing of Dave Penny. Recently they have bought Sebatian Carole from Leeds, who is without doubt one of Darlingtons Key Players to date. Carole soon left as he only had a month-to-month contract. Results became better and better and edged towards the playoffs picking up a fairly steady campain for possible automatic promotion. Then Raj Singh became the club's first vice chairmen, but he soon left when he found out what state darlington where in. On the 25 February 2009 darlington went into administration for the second time since George Reynolds. It was down to the economic shift, and the inhability to draw crowds to the massive stadium. As well as getting a 10 point deduction, Darlington hit a losing streak with all the loan players barr 2 leaving (3 left), and many of the first team was injured. This made Dave Penny pick youngsters out to play proffesional teams. They managed to scrape some victories, but the playoff dream had spiraled since the administration. The season finished with Darlington finishing with a 5th place finish, there 5th time in a row at the top half of league 2. Dave Penny went to oldham on the second last game of the season, as he could not be assured of anything.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 over 3,000 and helped keep the club going. But lots of staff went despite this, many player where given a notice that they can leave if they give a weeks notice. Things where looking grim, as Raj Singh's offer was rejected due to his disagreements with Houghton. The administrators claimed the fans (me included) for scaring off potential buyers, by insulting the chairmen verbaly: (well kind of we just chanted that he was a C*NT constantly) because of the way that if the deduction didn't happen then we would probably be in the playoffs. Despite this Houghton came back and on the 20th of May it was published that Houghton would 'not let the club die', and appointted ex boro/bolton manager Colin Todd in the Darlington hotseat.


(c)Wikipedia (at some parts)