Darlington United

[Muttley]

When Mowden sold their old ground they got millions for the land. This allowed them to buy the Stadium and still have a significant amount left.

The original plan was to take Mowden Park into the Rugby top flight (Premier?) and they brought in some top players on big wages to try to make it happen. Not sure how close they got, egg chasing is not my thing. One of my mates is involved in the "other" rugby club Darlington RFC and tells me they have blown most of their windfall now. Not sure how true that because there is some inter club enmity to factor in.

At some point someone is going to have to do some maintenance work on the "Arena" and the longer it is left the bigger the bills are going to be.

 

[Corcaigh_the_Cat]

Why though? Darlo 1883 are a fan owned club so surely they'd turn down the opportunity to be solely owned again given this potential Darlington United FC owner had a few quid to throw about.
I don't see how they can go from north riding to northern premier League east in three years mind. The maths doesn't work.

It could work if the North Riding League or Wearside League offered them First Division status from the off. Three promotions will have them in the Northern Premier East. It's some ask though.

They're only doing what Stockton have done,, albeit in a shorter time frame. If they already have a strong junior set up (possibly under a different name) there will be a good revenue base already in place.

Also, by renting Mowden Park they will have no ground development to carry out, which is a massive task for any new club started off with ambition to go much higher.

 

[Randy]

It could work if the North Riding League or Wearside League offered them First Division status from the off. Three promotions will have them in the Northern Premier East. It's some ask though.

They're only doing what Stockton have done,, albeit in a shorter time frame. If they already have a strong junior set up (possibly under a different name) there will be a good revenue base already in place.

Also, by renting Mowden Park they will have no ground development to carry out, which is a massive task for any new club started off with ambition to go much higher.

Surely other clubs in the wearside would have a say about that though.
I do remember when Darlo 1883 had to start again and there were some who kicked off about the league they started up again in. Also let's not forget Stockton had a lot of help from the council and the school to get to where they are currently.

 

[newyddion]

Surely other clubs in the wearside would have a say about that though.
I do remember when Darlo 1883 had to start again and there were some who kicked off about the league they started up again in. Also let's not forget Stockton had a lot of help from the council and the school to get to where they are currently.

Darlington United suggested the amalgamation of two clubs.. Darlington RA & Spraire maybe?

a guy called Chris Ward is said to be involved in someway

 

[Davey_C]

1883 are looking to build a new stadium 2 sites were identified. I think they're going for the one on the outskirts just off the A68

Scarborough tried to come back with 2 teams when they folded. Athletic which are still on the go and Scarborough Town who didnt last very long

 

[Corcaigh_the_Cat]

Surely other clubs in the wearside would have a say about that though.
I do remember when Darlo 1883 had to start again and there were some who kicked off about the league they started up again in. Also let's not forget Stockton had a lot of help from the council and the school to get to where they are currently.

They did kick off but what happened?

 

[newyddion]

1883 are looking to build a new stadium 2 sites were identified. I think they're going for the one on the outskirts just off the A68

Scarborough tried to come back with 2 teams when they folded. Athletic which are still on the go and Scarborough Town who didnt last very long

Weren't 1883 denied promotion even though the Arena was there.. just sounds mad that they couldn't have used the Arena for the purpose of playing up a league.

What would the owners of the Arena have to do to pass the planning requirements of a 25k seater stadium?

 

[FishofContemplation]

Weren't 1883 denied promotion even though the Arena was there.. just sounds mad that they couldn't have used the Arena for the purpose of playing up a league.

What would the owners of the Arena have to do to pass the planning requirements of a 25k seater stadium?

They were denied a playoff place, in 2017 if memory serves. Think it was for not having enough seats for away fans or something similarly obscure.

 

[Muttley]

What would the owners of the Arena have to do to pass the planning requirements of a 25k seater stadium?

Eh? It is a 25k seater stadium...

On the subject of the new stadium for the football club. It has to be a realistic size and affordable. The best example I have seen is Morecambe's Mazuma Stadium (formerly known as the Globe Arena) One big stand with all the facilities required and three sides of modern safe standing with space to perhaps mirror the main stand if required in the future. Capacity of about 7-10k.

Darlington will never fill a 25k stadium. 10k is the most I would imagine, yes they could take more to a big final but not turning up for league games every other week.

They were denied a playoff place, in 2017 if memory serves. Think it was for not having enough seats for away fans or something similarly obscure.

That sounds about right

 

[Corcaigh_the_Cat]

They were denied a playoff place, in 2017 if memory serves. Think it was for not having enough seats for away fans or something similarly obscure.

They had been there since Boxing Day that season. The rugby club still own Blackwell Meadows as far as I'm aware, so it was a little soon for modifications, both for planning them and quite possibly affording them.

 

[newyddion]

They were denied a playoff place, in 2017 if memory serves. Think it was for not having enough seats for away fans or something similarly obscure.

Something about covered seating? Needing 500 and Blackwell Grange only having 380.. or something like that.

Eh? It is a 25k seater stadium...

On the subject of the new stadium for the football club. It has to be a realistic size and affordable. The best example I have seen is Morecambe's Mazuma Stadium (formerly known as the Globe Arena) One big stand with all the facilities required and three sides of modern safe standing with space to perhaps mirror the main stand if required in the future. Capacity of about 7-10k.

It was more the fact they needed a minimum sized stadium for promotion and the arena seemingly wasn't seen as an option!

 

[Kevcharben]

This is a new club with a backer similar to the Wrexham situation.

 

[NYboro]

They had been there since Boxing Day that season. The rugby club still own Blackwell Meadows as far as I'm aware, so it was a little soon for modifications, both for planning them and quite possibly affording them.

The rugby club are quite happy to take the money, but don't want to do anything else. That is one reason why Darlington are looking to build a new ground.

 

[Muttley]

Something about covered seating? Needing 500 and Blackwell Grange only having 380.. or something like that.

It was more the fact they needed a minimum sized stadium for promotion and the arena seemingly wasn't seen as an option!

As I mentioned there is considerable enmity between Mowden Park RFC and Darlington RFC so the fact that Darlo are in a relationship with DRFC might have had something to do with it? to be honest I can't remember but I think that it was a requirement that games in the league above needed those extra seats so they would have had to move back to the Arena for the season and lose their investment in Blackwell Meadows.

The rugby club are quite happy to take the money, but don't want to do anything else. That is one reason why Darlington are looking to build a new ground.

There is also a problem with some sort of pipe (possibly sewers?) that passes under the pitch which means that it would be prohibitively expensive to build a full length stand there.

As you can see the stand is offset to one end of the pitch because of this

 

[Corcaigh_the_Cat]

The rugby club are quite happy to take the money, but don't want to do anything else. That is one reason why Darlington are looking to build a new ground.

Which is fair enough. They shouldn't have to support a football club but in renting out their ground to share they're only doing what many football clubs do.

 

[bittersweetb]

This looks like a pipe dream to me and I'd be very surprised if anything comes of it. People comparing it to what Stockton have done but:

A) Stockton started playing on a School field, not in a 25k seater stadium
B) There wasn't a non league team playing in the town at the time so they had an inbuilt potential fanbase and a massive opportunity to create a community club which they and the council have done a great job of. Darlo has 3 non league teams one of which is the main club of the town, the other 2 get basically negligible attendances.

There isn't a market for another Darlo team. If this is a serious thing they want to look at what Boro Rangers are doing and try and go that route

 

[Corcaigh_the_Cat]

This looks like a pipe dream to me and I'd be very surprised if anything comes of it. People comparing it to what Stockton have done but:

A) Stockton started playing on a School field, not in a 25k seater stadium
B) There wasn't a non league team playing in the town at the time so they had an inbuilt potential fanbase and a massive opportunity to create a community club which they and the council have done a great job of. Darlo has 3 non league teams one of which is the main club of the town, the other 2 get basically negligible attendances.

There isn't a market for another Darlo team. If this is a serious thing they want to look at what Boro Rangers are doing and try and go that route

They are doing what Boro Rangers have done and are doing. They have to play at an out of town ground, firstly Durham and more recently Stokesley and have had negligible attendances up until their last few games.

If someone with money wants to put a club together they can, but they'll have to have deep pockets.

How have Boro Rangers paid rent for a season with few watching?

 

[bittersweetb]

They are doing what Boro Rangers have done and are doing. They have to play at an out of town ground, firstly Durham and more recently Stokesley and have had negligible attendances up until their last few games.

If someone with money wants to put a club together they can, but they'll have to have deep pockets.

How have Boro Rangers paid rent for a season with few watching?

Boro Rangers have been around a long time, created a good name for themselves in the youth game and gradually evolved into mens football. That seems to be going very well for them and I hope it continues to do so. What they didn't do is try to rent the Riverside and start announcing kit sponsorship deals before they had a single junior or senior player registered to them or were accepted into a league.

Honestly can't see this amounting to anything

 

[American_Mary]

Basically they've taken over Redcar Newmarket's position in the North Riding League and will more than likely be in Northern League 2 this time next year.

I believe they'll get decent financial backing, what this does to Darlington Town who could well be promoted into the Northern League themselves by winning the Wearside League is probably the most pertinent question.

 

[Craggsy2]

Yes there are too many teams for a relatively small place, they need to ‘Unite’