Darlington Football Club History
2006-07 Season
11th in League Two
League Cup: 2nd round; Reading a. lost 4-2 on penalties.
FA Cup: 2nd round; Swansea City h. 1-3
JP Trophy: Northern Semi Final; Doncaster Rovers a. 0-2
Highlight:
3-1 win at Lincoln City, 18/11/06
Low Spot:
0-5 home defeat to Rochdale, 6/10/06
Good:
Neil Wainwright
Tall, elegant right winger who has good dribbling and passing ability. Good to watch.
Sam Russell
Stood as firm as he could as the defence in front of him imploded on more than one occasion. With better protection would surely be able to prove himself one of the best keepers in the section.
In Brief:
This was another frustrating season for a club that has shown more ambition than most to get out of this division but have so far been unable to get things right.
There was a decent enough start. The first two league games were won and there was a fine win at Stoke in the League Cup before an extremely unlucky exit at Reading in round 2. Having led three times the Quakers finally succumbed in a penalty shotout after having a man sent off.
Six wins in all competitions from the end of October set the club up nicely to challenge but this sequence was followed by eight successive defeats.
Despite remaining around the fringes of the play off places the club was unable to force its way back into real contention. Will next season bring any genuine consistency?
Darlington Football Club was formed in 1883 and maintained a prominent position among the amatuer clubs of the North East and North Yorkshire before turning professional in 1908.
Darlington gained entry into the Football League as original members of Division Three North in 1921. In 1925 the Quakers were the champions of that division thereby winning promotion to Division Two.
Their stay in the second division only lasted two seasons before the club dropped back into Division Three North. Darlington then stayed in that division until the north and the south sections merged in 1958 when they were placed in Division Four.
The 1957-58 season did see Darlington's best effort in the FA Cup, however. The Quakers won away from home at Norwich City 2-1 in the 3rd round and managed a fine 3-3 draw at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea in the 4th. They topped that performance by then thrashing the Londoners 4-1 at Feethams in the replay.
Unfortunately they then crashed to a 6-1 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers, who were on their way to becoming league champions that year, in the 5th round.
Darlington won promotion to Division Three in 1966 as runners up behind Doncaster Rovers but slipped to an immediate relegation the following season.
The Quakers then spent eighteen seasons in Division Four before winning promotion back to the third division in 1985 after finishing 3rd.
Again their stay at the higher level was shortlived, lasting just two seasons before dropping back into the fourth division in 1987.
In 1989 Darlington capitulated to finish bottom of the entire league which saw them drop into the Conference. Happily they were able to reclaim league status at the first attempt by winning the Conference title in 1990.
The Quakers returned to the Football League with a bang, winning the fourth division title at the first time of asking. They were again unable to cope at the next level, however, suffering a comprehansive relegation in 1992.
After a few seasons of struggling Darlington made the play offs in the fourth tier in 1996. This was a fine side which included the likes of Mike Pollitt, Matty Appleby, Sean Gregan, Gary Bannister and Robbie Blake.
The Quakers defeated Hereford United in the semi finals but then lost by the only goal of the game in the final against Plymouth Argyle.
The club were unable to keep this side together and slipped back towards the lower reaches of the division. In 2000 they recovered to finish just outside the automatic promotion places. This was due in no small part to the 25 goals scored by Marco Gabbiadini.
The Quakers then enjoyed beating Hartlepool United in both legs of their play off semi final but lost 1-0 to Peterborough United in the final.
Since that time the club have again slipped lower down the table but improved significantly last season when they only missed out on a play off place on goal difference after finishing level on points with both Lincoln City and Northampton Town.
Darlington's best effort in the League Cup came in 1968 when they reached the 5th round. The Quakers saw off York City, Southend United, Portsmouth and Millwall before falling to a remarkable 5-4 defeat at Derby County.
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