Feel for the fans, but on the bright side, if there is such a thing. Wimbledon nearly went down the plughole, but re emerged as MK Dons, so all is not lost, but the fans will be well and truly gutted.
Bill, AFC Wimbledon got back into the league, most consider them the true continuation of the club. Still, shows there is hope. Nuneaton are another recent example, without that massive stadium holding them back I reckon Darlo can get back to the BSN fairly sharpish, beyond that I'm not so sure...
Similar thing happened to Chester a couple of seasons ago, club reformed and has had back to back promotions and is averaging over 2000 crowd per game, Darlo have to believe they cam do that
I don't think they have the fanbase to be a league club, everyone in the area supports one of the two big clubs. I mean, look at when they arranged a special fundraiser match, billed as possibly the last in their history. Less that 3k turned up and the chairman actually came out and said that proved Darlington doesn't care about it's football team. I see them bouncing back but probably to Blue Square level. On the plus side, it means Blyth are likely to have a few league fixtures against them over the next few years.
The club is not extinct, the fans will always be the fans. from the ashes rises THE PHEONIX,,,,,,,,which is DARLINGTON. Will take time, but it will happen.
Necro thread! Here we are 12 and a bit years later and Darlington still haven't recovered. Just thinking about Wrexham being bought by the Americans and probably increasing their value 10 fold after a little time and investment. I wonder if someone could do this for Darlington? Probably could be bought out for comparatively cheaply considering which league they're in, they have a very nice stadium in town, probably needs a decent amount of repairs at this point (always looks poor when i drive past), but the potential is there, Darlington is also the biggest town in the modern County Durham boundaries (93,000, double the size of wrexham). I have no idea why some rich American hasn't seen this as a money spinner yet.
Whatever happens they need to get out of the rugby ground. Good core fanbase and are consistently getting over 1000 through the door at every home game which is very good for that level. Good opportunity as you say for someone with money. Need to get back there soon to watch Kelly.
Wrexham had a lot more history and growth potential. Much as it would be great to see, there’s no appeal in Darlington as a club at all. There’s non-league clubs with far more potential unfortunately for them.
Fun fact, broke my arm playing on the pitch at Mowden park, was always a good pre season friendly down there too, be good if they could get back up the leagues
Can you expand on that, I don't see it myself. A town of 93,000 should be able to pull in 9,300 if they're flying.
When I lived in Northamptonshire, Rushden & Diamonds were just getting known. Their ground, Nene Park, was fantastic for the level they played at. Max Grigg, who was the British side of Dr Marten was bankrolling them. They had a couple of decent seasons in the Football League, but all it took was one crap season and they began to fall through the leagues eventually going out of existence. Nene Park stood derelict for a few years before being demolished. As you say, similar to Darlington, just no appeal.
There’s nothing to support that mate. They never got crowds really even when they were in the league, you have clubs even locally like Gateshead who are higher up the pyramid. Wrexham were getting 4-5k attendance even before the takeover, there’s just more local interest in them. You have York, Hartlepool, Southend, they’d all be far more viable and that’s just top of my head.
Those are all above Darlo in the pyramid. What's wrong with Darlington then? Is it just not a football town? It's located in a decent sized town and the closest clubs south of them is Harrogate and York, nowt to their west either (Carlisle? Barrow?), on paper it looks like a club that should be able to sustain league status.
Exactly as you say mate, just never been a football town really. You’d never get a return on that club realistically. They are a non-league size club, and that’s likely where they stay. The other clubs are higher up, that’s part of my point. They are further up, have far bigger potential and are way more likely to appeal to an investor. There’s just too many clubs of a bigger potential than Darlo for anyone to put money into it.
