One thing is clear. Darlington FC, Darlington 1883, Quakers
United – whatever they will be called – will have to arrest this alarming slide
immediately. As things currently stand, Northern League football could
represent an opportunity. In the weeks leading up to the season, curiosity and interest
in the club’s activities will be heightened. Stay away fans may decide that a
trip around Northern League grounds – especially at prices no more than £8 –
represents an attractive proposition. So
long as they are winning. The last sentence is the crux of the matter. If
Darlington can get off to a winning start, interest and enthusiasm will be
retained. It is not my intention for this to be a pointed comment, but more a
statement of fact when I say that the winning bug is not something Darlington
fans have recently been at risk of catching. But apathy and disinterest can
soon evaporate when a side is winning. When you watch a winning team, each victory
puts an extra spring in your step as you leave the ground and there is an odd,
self-satisfied feeling at seeing your side perched at the top of a league table
with every other name beneath you.
One irony is that had
Darlington been placed in the Evostik League (as was their wish), they might
have found life no more difficult than they are likely to in the Northern League. I would certainly make this argument for the
Evostik First Division, where many Northern League teams would more than hold their
own. The Northern League, however,
presents an awkward proposition. Where will Darlington source their players
from? The best Northern League sides have their players tied to contracts and
Darlington would have to find funds to release them. Darlington could bring in
players from higher levels, but would they be motivated and up for midweek
trips to tightly packed Northern League grounds in November when a sodden pitch
where the ball refuses to run true is a great leveller? The third problem that
Darlington have is the timescale they are operating in. Once their personnel is
established, they have a small window of time for their side to gel and to
build in the awareness and understanding between players that only comes from time
in a competitive game environment.
Darlington should finish somewhere near to the top of the
division, but how they start will mean everything. They need the revenue and
they need to move upwards from the Northern League as quickly as possible. In
the same way as Manchester United fans can no longer be sure of winning a trophy
each year, Darlington cannot take promotion for granted. They are entering
unknown seas, where competing vessels will always raise their game a notch or
two when they play them. It promises to be exciting, unpredictable and high on
drama. As a side so used to being in more hot water than a pot noodle, Darlington
should perhaps feel well and truly at home.