Darlington United

bittersweetb said:
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
Click to expand...

created a good name for themselves in the youth game
Click to expand...
Boro Rangers??? Created a good name for themselves??

You must be involved with them then as believe me, speaking with a lot of other TJFA clubs, the Boro Rangers youth teams and the general behaviour of their teams, players, managers and parents at the Sports Village is usually not spoken about in a good light.

Also ‘Good clubs coach, bad clubs poach’. Definitely relatable towards Boro Rangers Youth teams.
 
NortonExile said:
Boro Rangers??? Created a good name for themselves??

You must be involved with them then as believe me, speaking with a lot of other TJFA clubs, the Boro Rangers youth teams and the general behaviour of their teams, players, managers and parents at the Sports Village is usually not spoken about in a good light.

Also ‘Good clubs coach, bad clubs poach’. Definitely relatable towards Boro Rangers Youth teams.
Click to expand...
Not involved with them, no idea what their reputation is like. Maybe should have said they'd established themselves as a big name in youth football on Teesside.

It's hardly relevant though as I was just trying to suggest this new Darlo team should try walking before they run (into a 25k seater stadium).
 
Muttley said:
Why?

Nothing in it for the football club
Click to expand...
they've already had to knock back going up a division because they didn't have a stadium that was fit for purpose.


speaking of which.. can't the council pull their finger out to make the area suitable for a 25k seater stadium? makes no sense just to have it rotting away.
1694172211796.png
 
Council should not get involved at all. It is a huge white elephant that will never be economical to run no matter how many teams you pile in there. Basketball on a Wednesday night anyone? The steel work is already visibly rusting, I'm told that they have never fully kitted out the stadium to hold 25k (not that that is ever likely to happen anyway). The very last thing that the football club needs is to re-encumber itself with that idiocy.

Oh and that aerial shot is well out of date there is building going on opposite the stadium (houses) and the area you have highlighted holds the pitches that the rugby club train on and their second team play on. In ten years time I reckon that will all be houses and Mowden Park RFC will go the way of the Football Club. But no one will care enough to do anything about it.

I think Dominoes Pizza are wanting to build a restaurant in the stadium car park? Or in the stadium?
 
newyddion said:
they've already had to knock back going up a division because they didn't have a stadium that was fit for purpose.


speaking of which.. can't the council pull their finger out to make the area suitable for a 25k seater stadium? makes no sense just to have it rotting away.
View attachment 63359
Click to expand...
No more subsidies for failed ego trips. If it's not being used, and there's obviously no demand for it, the owners should keep it in good order or face repossession by the local authority . Then it can be demolished and turned into grassland or a wood.
 
Muttley said:
Council should not get involved at all. It is a huge white elephant that will never be economical to run no matter how many teams you pile in there. Basketball on a Wednesday night anyone? The steel work is already visibly rusting, I'm told that they have never fully kitted out the stadium to hold 25k (not that that is ever likely to happen anyway). The very last thing that the football club needs is to re-encumber itself with that idiocy.

Oh and that aerial shot is well out of date there is building going on opposite the stadium (houses) and the area you have highlighted holds the pitches that the rugby club train on and their second team play on. In ten years time I reckon that will all be houses and Mowden Park RFC will go the way of the Football Club. But no one will care enough to do anything about it.

I think Dominoes Pizza are wanting to build a restaurant in the stadium car park? Or in the stadium?
Click to expand...
The stadium is in need of some maintenance yes..

as far as housing in the area.. many grounds have housing in and around the area.. luton's stadium is housing lol

the green line to the right going onto the A66 does not have housing on it.. nor is it on an area where the rugby club trains.

the green line to the top would be access alongside the fields.. it could be moved to the right to connect with what already is an access path/road despite it not being conected to the stadium area.

as for Dominoes Pizza wanting a slice of the action.. many stadiums have successful mixed uses.. like york's stadium for example.

I do believe that the land that the stadium is built on is subject to a covenant meaning the land should only be used for sporting purposes.. Raj Sing wanted to develop an retail area around the stadium and was knocked back.. I think that's why he pulled out tbh (and why he pulled out of Hartlepool)

the whole situation is a mess and very much of Reynolds doing.. however.. maybe with a little bit of compromise here and there a sustainable outcome could be achieved.
 
A white elephant built by a crook.
If you want Darlo to go bankrupt - the best way to do it is move to the Reynolds Stadium
 
Corcaigh_the_Cat said:
No more subsidies for failed ego trips. If it's not being used, and there's obviously no demand for it, the owners should keep it in good order or face repossession by the local authority . Then it can be demolished and turned into grassland or a wood.
Click to expand...
a former ego trip maybe.. but it's only the local area and local sporting teams that are missing out on the stadium not being resolved.
r00fie1 said:
A white elephant built by a crook.
If you want Darlo to go bankrupt - the best way to do it is move to the Reynolds Stadium
Click to expand...
I'm not saying anything the guy did was right..

"It was the largest Conference National venue with a capacity of 25,000. Attendances for football matches were restricted to 10,000 by local planning regulations, because of poor access roads around the stadium, although the club was allowed to apply for an exception for special occasions."

Just by improving the access then the stadium could operate at capacity..
 
newyddion said:
Just by improving the access then the stadium could operate at capacity..
Click to expand...
It sounds so simple when you put it like that. I would expect that the problem lies in the railway bridge on Neasham Road, all town traffic passing through that bottleneck so perhaps a few more railway bridges possibly including one over or under the East Coast Mainline, then we have the A66 bypass which it sits next to. If that is the problem then all you have to do is convert it to dual carriageway...

The stadium is badly built, badly located and poorly maintained. And then there is the small issue of the fact that the damn thing is far too big. Last time Darlo struggled into the third tier they never got anything like 10k so why should the council spend anything on improved access?

The only time it ever gets over 10k is for one or two "events" during the summer, which they can get exemptions for. There are better things for the council to spend the money on and better options for Darlington Football Club that don't involve anything to do with that pile of carp.
 
Muttley said:
It sounds so simple when you put it like that. I would expect that the problem lies in the railway bridge on Neasham Road, all town traffic passing through that bottleneck so perhaps a few more railway bridges possibly including one over or under the East Coast Mainline, then we have the A66 bypass which it sits next to. If that is the problem then all you have to do is convert it to dual carriageway...

The stadium is badly built, badly located and poorly maintained. And then there is the small issue of the fact that the damn thing is far too big. Last time Darlo struggled into the third tier they never got anything like 10k so why should the council spend anything on improved access?

The only time it ever gets over 10k is for one or two "events" during the summer, which they can get exemptions for. There are better things for the council to spend the money on and better options for Darlington Football Club that don't involve anything to do with that pile of carp.
Click to expand...
League Two average attendence for Notts County is 10,990
League One average attendance for Blackpool is 11,011
Championship average attendence for Rotherham United is 11,087
Premier League Luton Towns Capacity at Kenilworth Road is 11,500

I agree that the stadium's design and location is flawed.. but it can't just sit there rotting away. If Pizza Hut are after a slice.. why not just give them a corner? all four corners could sold off without impacting the required capacity and it would go someway into bringing the money required to give it a much needed overhaul. Darlington FC sitting on their hands in a lower league did not make sense at the time to me when that stadium was there.
 
fmttmadmin said:
The running costs of that stadium must be enormous - or would be even if it was maintained for half its intended capacity. They would cripple Darlington FC.
Click to expand...
they must be crippling for Mowden Park too.. I know there's a boxing gym in one corner and there has been a crossfit gym under the unused stand.. maybe a crèche/nursery further on. Mowden has a bar in one corner also..
 
newyddion said:
a former ego trip maybe.. but it's only the local area and local sporting teams that are missing out on the stadium not being resolved.

I'm not saying anything the guy did was right..

"It was the largest Conference National venue with a capacity of 25,000. Attendances for football matches were restricted to 10,000 by local planning regulations, because of poor access roads around the stadium, although the club was allowed to apply for an exception for special occasions."

Just by improving the access then the stadium could operate at capacity..
Click to expand...
Operate at capacity for who?

Darlo weren't filling Feethams when at the top of their game. Few want to watch rugby.

Why keep it?
 
newyddion said:
they must be crippling for Mowden Park too
Click to expand...
They are. They have long ago given up on their plan to make it to the top tier of Rugby (premiership?) the money they made from selling their old ground is largely gone. Crowds to watch them are little more than friends and family. You can't maintain a ground by turning it into some sort of fast food roundabout.

newyddion said:
League Two average attendence for Notts County is 10,990
League One average attendance for Blackpool is 11,011
Championship average attendence for Rotherham United is 11,087
Premier League Luton Towns Capacity at Kenilworth Road is 11,500
Click to expand...
So what? Even if they could attract 11k average (they can't) it wouldn't be anything like enough to pay for maintenance on the stadium.

Corcaigh_the_Cat said:
Why keep it?
Click to expand...
The only remaining reason is that it exists. Someone may as well use it. But I'm pretty sure the football club will never again get involved in it. At some point in the future there will be a BIG repair bill and at that point there will have to be some serious consideration given to knocking it down.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top