DARLINGTON FC 1883 (Blackwell Meadows)

CONFERENCE NORTH, DARLINGTON 1-3 CURZON ASHTON, ATTENDANCE: 1,761

When, in January 2012, after 129 years of history, Darlington FC were placed in administration by their former owner, this ultimately lead to the club going under. The assets of the club were then bought by Darlington 1883 Ltd, but they could not prevent the original club from being dissolved, as an agreement to pay the outstanding debts could not be reached.

Under FA rules this meant that the club were classed as a new entity had to rename itself, in this case Darlington 1883, and were forced to regroup in the lower reaches of the pyramid, in this case the Northern League. This was despite the "new" club reaching agreements with to pay back what owed by the "old" club, which they were now not legally obliged to do.

The dissolution meant Darlington 1883 were now homeless and had no players. All that was left was the club crest. A groundshare agreement was reached with Bishop Auckland, meaning Darlington were now playing their "home" game games twelve miles down the road. Originally Darlington FC played at Feethams from their formation in 1883 until 2003, when they moved to the Darlington Arena. The arena is now used for rugby as it was bought by Darlington Mowden Park.

Heritage Park was "home" until Boxing Day 2016, when the football club finally returned to Darlington. Blackwell Meadows is the home of Darlington Rugby Club and a 20 year groundshare deal was agreed in 2013.

Much work was needed to bring the ground up to Conference North standards, including the enclosing of the pitch (previously it was all open) and the building of a 250 seat stand. There are plans to add another similar sized stand in the very near future.

However the standout feature is the 1,000 capacity "Tin Shed" which was has been reassembled, behind the goal, at the new ground and has been built using the original steel from the "Tin Shed" at Feethams, the framework having been in storage at a local builders for the last 14 years.

The "Tin Shed" from Feethams, resurrected after 14 years in storage

There was a capacity crowd of 3,000 for the grand opening versus FC Halifax Town but crowds have levelled out to a still healthy average of around 1,900 for subsequent home games. That was partly behind my thinking of visiting sooner rather than later as it may prove problematic getting in as the club continues to rise up the pyramid.

It was a good trip up to the North East as the train took the strain. It meant I was able to enjoy some beer in the superb York Tap (whilst waiting for my connection) and also in the excellent clubhouse at the ground.

Whilst walking around the ground pre-match I had a brief chat with ex-Hull and Sunderland goalkeeper Tony Norman. He is from my part of North Wales and seemed genuinely surprised that someone from there would travel all the way up to watch Darlington, especially as they had no affinity to either team.

After three promotions in four seasons the club are now back at the level where they would have been back in 2012 and are in the play-off mix for a possible return to the Conference. The game went against the form book as Curzon Ashton came away with the spoils. Despite Darlington having the majority of the play, Curzon produced a consummate away performance.

The visitors took the lead after 10 minutes when the Darlington defence failed to deal with long clearance and Matthew Warburton crossed the ball for Ryan Hall to fire home from just outside the six yard box. Darlington had plenty of possession but never really troubled Hakan Burton in the Curzon goal.

Curzon doubled their lead after 56 minutes when Warburton was played through one-on-One to fire past Ed Wilczynski, after the goalkeepers initial sliced clearance, admittedly under pressure, led to the move in the first instance.

The points were effectively sealed for Curzon after 67 minutes when Warburton bagged his second goal of the game, side footing home from inside the six yard box after a great run and cross from Hall.

After 70 minutes, Darlington substitute Nathan Cartman headed home from close range to pull one back but, despite late pressure, the homesters could not find a way through and Curzon held on for a deserved victory, sending the small band of travelling Nash supporters into raptures.



Match highlights can be found on Darlington's You Tube channel 

There's life in the old "Tin Shed" yet!