Darlington: Quaking all over

Words: Martin Lindsay

Images: Martin Lindsay

On a bright, early autumnal afternoon during the season’s first international break, part-time Darlington FC (aka ‘Darlo’) are hosting north-east rivals Hebburn Town in the pyramid’s sixth tier.

The game is being played at a rugby ground in front of a crowd of 1,801. It finished 1-1.

Darlo’s former home, the state of the art stadium down the road, the Darlington Arena, was built by then club chairman George Reynolds in 2003.

Under an ambitious and wholly unrealistic plan, this was to be the club’s base when it reached the Premier League, he suggested.

What transpired was a sobering story of financial strife for the North-East club formed in 1883.

©Martin Lindsay/ Terrace Edition. Darlington supporter.

The stadium was Darlington’s home for almost a decade. It didn’t host a game above League Two, and produced average crowds of just a few thousand

Darlington are nicknamed the Quakers after the religious sect called the Religious Society Of Friends who were mocked for their trembling in worship. The Darlington Arena’s running costs has club accountants living up to the nickname.

Amid the financial turmoil, controversial businessman Reynolds placed Darlington into administration and resigned in 2004.

The following year he was jailed for tax evasion after being found with £500k in cash in his car. He died in 2021.

Despite the chaos, Darlington were Football League regulars. For the majority of the two decades spanning 1990-2010 they proudly occupied Division Three and then League Two.

But even still, they twice entered administration following Reynolds’s departure, including in 2009 while occupying a League Two play off position. A points deduction derailed their season.

The club never recovered and were relegated to the Conference the following year, before going out of business in 2012.

Darlington as we knew it, in the Football League only two years earlier, were dead. Facing the very real possibility of having no club to support at a weekend, their fans rallied.

They led a rescue mission and reformed as a supporter-owned Darlington 1883, not only saving a football team, but preserving a town’s cultural asset for the next generation.

The new owners cut their losses and left the Darlington Arena, which had become synonymous with their decline.

It was a home from hell and they could no longer afford the mortgage. In fact, could they ever afford it? The biggest crowd during the club’s time at the ground was for an Elton John gig.

©Martin Lindsay/ Terrace Edition. Darlington supporters.

If the Circle of Life’ wasn’t penned by Sir Elton for the Lion King, it could have soundtracked Darlington’s summer. A new club was born and quickly looking to establish itself in football’s ecosystem.

The reformation, though, was rocky. A controversial FA decision to demote the club by four divisions to the Northern League was a painfully large first hurdle to overcome.

They have been on the journey back ever since, winning promotion three times.

Today, after regaining the name Darlington FC, the club shares their ground - Blackwell Meadows - with a rugby team. These are humble surroundings compared to those Premier League dreams. But no one here cares.

The vocal home fans in the terrace behind the goal - known as the Tin Shed - go to the beat of a drum. Young, old and even older are in harmony and replica shirts.

Many know each other’s faces, rather than names. That doesn’t matter at a club like Darlington, which only exists because of them. “It’s more fun than the Football League, this”, shouts Gary, a supporter of 30 years.

He’s got plenty of time to saviour the present given the Quakers play in the National League North. But the club are ambitious and know there’s more to life than the sixth tier.

They narrowly missed out on the play-offs last season and want to go one better this time. It would be an incredible achievement for a club backed with £1.1m from its supporters in nine years.

In another world they could very easily be heading to watch either Newcastle, Sunderland or Middlesbrough when the international break finishes.

Instead, they will be here, where they belong. It may not be a 25,000 seater stadium. It may not be the Premier League. But it’s their club. It’s their community, and while the road back to the EFL maybe long and points few though far this season, the Darlo fans will do the hard miles, as they always have done.

©Martin Lindsay/ Terrace Edition. Darlington FC vs Hebburn Town.

©Martin Lindsay/ Terrace Edition. Darlington ink.

©Martin Lindsay/ Terrace Edition. Darlington FC supporters.

©Martin Lindsay/ Terrace Edition. Darlington flag.

Martin is on Instagram: @martinlindsayphotography and @with_drift

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