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Season Reflections & Planning Ahead

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Ken Smith
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As news filters though that Darlington FC are to leave Blackwell Meadows and look for a new home within the town and hopefully build a new stadium with a capacity of between 5,000 to 8,000, so I thought I’d delve into the history of County Durham’s almost forgotten club. Like Boro and several Teesside clubs the Quakers joined the Northern League in 1889 and were Champions in 1896 and again in 1900 before joining the North Eastern League in 1908 where they were Champions in 1913 and again in 1921.

They then applied for inclusion in the newly formed English Football League and finished runners up to Stockport County, but in those days only the Champions of Divisions North and South were promoted to the Second Division. However in 1925 they were crowned Champions and encountered Boro for the first time since those Northern League days. They were relegated after two seasons the second of which Boro were Champions with 62 points and scoring 122 goals with George Camsell scoring 59 of them. During that short stay the Quakers lost all 4 matches against the Boro but enjoyed a crowd of 17,625 against Boro at Feethams in their relegation season. 

Darlington remained in the Third Division North until 1958 but had a sensational FA Cup run in that season winning 2-0 at Rochdale, 5-3 at home to Boston United, winning away to Norwich City 2-1 and then drawing 3-3 at Stamford Bridge in the Fourth Round. But that wasn’t the end of the FA Cup run for in the replay they took the lead against the Pensioners though Tommy Moran and although Chelsea equalised to take the match into extra time, they then scored 3 times in 6 minutes with another Moran goal and further goals from Dave Carr and Ron Harbertson giving the Quakers a 5th encounter at Molyneaux against Wolves but sadly were beaten 1-6. That was the season when the top 12 clubs from the two Third Divisions North and South  made a new Third Division and where effectively the bottom 12 of each Division were demoted to the new Fourth Division. However Darlington finished 20th and missed the cut. Whether the long FA Cup run was the cause of being demoted is open to conjecture, but Darlington had missed the cut whilst Hartlepool had survived the cut mark.

In 1960 a record crowd of 21,023 at Feethams watched Darlington lose to Bolton Wanderers in the Fourth Round in the Football League Cup, and six years later Darlington finished runners up to Doncaster Rovers and missed being Champions only on goal average but were still promoted as Boro were relegated so two more encounters ensued with Boro winning both. Two years later Darlington reached the Quarterfinals of the Football League Cup and scored first against Derby County in an away tie, but eventually lost 4-5. However another 18 years were spent in the Fourth Division until they met Boro again this time in the FA Cup 3rd Round. After a goalless draw at Ayresome Park, Darlington won 2-1 at a snow covered Feethams in a fractious match where rioting took place. It was quite out of character as both clubs had had a reasonable cordial existence up till then. But on this occasion the referee had to take the players to the sanctuary of the dressing rooms for a few minutes as a pitch battle took place between fans on the pitch. After the match resumed and had finished there were street riots in the town centre which the Evening Gazette described as shameful. 

But back to the history of Darlington FC and under the management of Cyril Knowles they met Boro again in the Third Division with the match at Ayresome Park finishing in a 1-1 draw whilst Darlington lost the encounter at Feethams 0-1. In 1996 Darlington made their first appearance at Wembley in the 3rd Division playoffs but lost 0-1 to Plymouth Argyle, and four years later became the first club in the 20th Century to advance to the 3rd Round as a ‘lucky loser’. It all came about as Manchester United withdrew from the FA Cup to participate in the FIFA Club World Championship and Darlington were picked as a ‘lucky loser’ but lost to Aston Villa.

Then by 2003 Chairman George Reynolds had built a new 25,000 all seater stadium named the Arena Stadium, but the cost of running it became a millstone for the club and started the downfall of the club and relegation to several tiers in the pyramid system. One bright moment however occurred in 2011 when Darlington won the FA Trophy by beating Mansfield Town with Chris Senior scoring the only goal during extra time at Wembley before a crowd of 24,688.

Nevertheless the Quakers seem as far away as ever in matching their fierce rivals Hartlepool in returning to the English Football League.

This post was modified 2 years ago by Ken Smith

   
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Clive Hurren
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Great post, Ken. Thank you. 

I remember some great ‘battles’ against Darlo in our 1966 3rd division season (I think it was). We played them on something like Boxing Day at Feethams (Boro won 3-0) and then either the following day or just a couple of days later at Ayresome, where Boro won 4-0. In the second game, Darlo had a goalkeeper injury crisis and had to bring in Ray Snowball on a special dispensation from Crook Town. I seem to remember the first of these two games was marred by crowd trouble - or perhaps that was another occasion? 

Can you confirm any of this, Ken? 

 

 


   
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Ken Smith
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Clive   

Bang on, Clive. Boro won 3-0 on Boxing Day at Feethams with goals from Derek Downing 2 minutes, John O’Rourke 17, and David Chadwick 85 minutes - attendance 18,144.

Following day 4-0 at Ayresome with goals from John Hickton penalty 25 minutes, Arthur Horsfield 29 and 35 minutes, Jim Lawson 55 minutes - attendance  25,213.


   
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Apparently Banfield want to re-sign Martin Payero and interestingly Payero is currently on holiday with the managers son!

OFB


   
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Posted by: @original-fat-bob

Apparently Banfield want to re-sign Martin Payero and interestingly Payero is currently on holiday with the managers son!

OFB

I would like to see Martin have another full season as I think there is a decent player in there.

Come on BORO.


   
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Ken,

I went to that Darlington-Chelsea replay in 1958 and saw perhaps the most famous game in the club's history, a marvellous 4-1 win with (as you say) three goals in extra time.  I nicked off school with my mate Dave Bingham, though nobody seemed to notice our absence (It was a Games afternoon). Our plan if discovered was to plead that we were suffering from a fever-- Cup fever.

Coincidentally over 50 years later, the late Bob Cass, doyen of north-east sports' writers, who was himself a Darlington lad told me that he had done exactly the same thing, nicking off school and being so inspired by the occasion that it set him on the road to football journalism.

We were all expecting to see a young Jimmy Greaves turn out that day, but maybe he didn't fancy it. The Darlington star was an inside forward, Ronnie Harbetson, who was a Redcar lad.. He worked shifts down the pit and on match days he would work from midnight 'til 8.00am, play in the afternoons and be back on shift by midnight. An example worth remembering when we hear of the hardships suffered by today's pros.

Thanks Ken for provoking some unforgettable memories.

This post was modified 2 years ago by lenmasterman

   
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jarkko
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England manager Gareth Southgate invited Arsenal striker Folarin Balogun to train with the Three Lions on Tuesday.

The English Football Association informed this evening that four Young Lions players were involved in today's workout, the others being Morgan Gibbs-White, Jacob Ramsey and Taylor Harwood-Bellis.

I think there is a player in Balogun. He was still a bit raw last season. We could see a much more mature player next season, if we could have another loan for him next season.

Up the Boro!


   
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Ken Smith
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Clive 

I remember Ray Snowball playing in goal for Crook Town in the FA Amateur Cup Final at Ayresome Park against Hounslow Town in 1962.  It was a replay and Crook won 4-0. Apparently there have been 9 Amateur finals   at Ayresome Park, the most famous being the second replay against Bishop Auckland in 1954 which Crook won 1-0 and almost 200,000 saw the three matches. I saw both of them as well as Bishop’s 4-1 win over Corinthian Casuals in 1956 as I was a Bishop’s fan in those days.

This post was modified 2 years ago by Ken Smith

   
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Ken Smith
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I can’t see how a possible move for Gareth Bale would make Cardiff a shoein for next season’s playoffs unless of course they can supplement their playing staff with a couple more Welsh International players also.


   
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Clive Hurren
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Posted by: @ken

Clive   

Bang on, Clive. Boro won 3-0 on Boxing Day at Feethams with goals from Derek Downing 2 minutes, John O’Rourke 17, and David Chadwick 85 minutes - attendance 18,144.

Following day 4-0 at Ayresome with goals from John Hickton penalty 25 minutes, Arthur Horsfield 29 and 35 minutes, Jim Lawson 55 minutes - attendance  25,213.

Excellent Ken, thank you! (I’m also impressed with my own memory! ) 


   
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Ken Smith
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Hartlepool fans seem pleased with the appointment of Paul Hartley as their new manager, and why wouldn’t they be? He took an ailing Alloa Athletic back up to the Scottish Second Division at the first time of asking after relegation in 2011, and did the same with Dundee to the Scottish Premier League 3 years later. Cardiff City approached him to become their manager in the next season but he stuck to his guns and declined and took the Taysiders to mid-table in his first season. His only failure was at Falkirk, but when approached by Highland League side Cove Rangers he guided them to two or their three successive promotions as his reputation soared north of the border.

The Aberdeenshire club will now spend next season in the Scottish Championship, so for a club of Hartlepool’s stature to obtain his services is a real coup and as long as the owners back him with the finance, I can forsee at least a playoff place for Pools next season.

This post was modified 2 years ago by Ken Smith

   
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Ken Smith
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It has been announced that Gary Liddle a club legend in the history of Hartlepool United is to leave the club. He rarely had a bad game for Pools and was instrumental in winning the playoff match against Torquay that saw Pools regain their EFL status last year. Perhaps he with 363 appearances will go down with Watty Moore who made 447 appearances from 1948 to 1960 as Pools most famous players in my lifetime. He is now 35 years old so perhaps has a couple of years left in him to catch Moore, but two stalwarts of the game in my opinion.

This post was modified 2 years ago 2 times by Ken Smith

   
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There are reports that Dwight Gayle is joining Boro on a season long loan.

Come on BORO.


   
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Maybe it's best that the Boro should do its transfer business quietly and in the background without any leaks.  In an ideal world the first we would hear about a new player joining the club would be when we see an announcement showing a picture of the player signing his new contract, or the obligatory "wearing the new shirt" photo.  The public "eating his first Parmo" shot can follow later.

That's better than rasing supporters' hopes only to find that the transfer of Player X has been hijacked by another club stepping in at the last moment.


   
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Philip of Huddersfield
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Dwight Gayle of Newcastle doesn’t fill me with great excitement as he’s hardly played in the last 2-3 seasons and is coming up to 34.

He’s a gamble and at best a championship player but not good enough for the Premiership.
Why would he come to Boro?   Obviously no future at Newcastle  - so perhaps coming for a season or two before retiring?

 

Philip of Huddersfield 


   
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Posted by: @philip-of-huddersfield

Dwight Gayle of Newcastle doesn’t fill me with great excitement as he’s hardly played in the last 2-3 seasons and is coming up to 34.

He’s a gamble and at best a championship player but not good enough for the Premiership.
Why would he come to Boro?   Obviously no future at Newcastle  - so perhaps coming for a season or two before retiring?

 

Philip of Huddersfield 

I agree entirely. The season will be over before he is up to speed. Leave well alone in my view. 😎


   
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Ken Smith
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I didn’t really know where to post this article because it involves various sports, but clearing out my thoughts before I expire this is my preferred option. I’m only going to refer to World sports stars during my lifetime so here goes with my selections as I’ve travelled the World talking about them.
 
Although I’m not particularly a boxing fan everyone has heard of Muhammad Ali and internationally recognised as a hero in those countries particularly with a predominately black population. He had that charisma that arguably set him apart from most other black sportsmen. When I visited South Africa I was surprised though how many of the black population wanted to talk about Tiger Woods as Golf is often still regarded as an elitist sport by some, although personally I don’t particularly find him charismatic at all but still acknowledge that rhe was one of the World’s greatest golfers of his generation. Nevertheless I think that Pele would be my choice amongst the favourite amongst the black community.   

Looking at individual sports my favourite international golfer was Jack Nicklaus and I remember when attending the 1971 Open Championship at Muirfield almost in awe at almost being within touching distance of him, but have to acknowledge that he hadn’t got the charm of one of his contemporaries Arnold Palmer. At that Open Championship though it was Lee Trevino who had charisma in spades as he demoralised Tony Jacklin with an eagle 4 at the 17th hole when his drive and second shot both found the rough, his third into a green side bunker, and his fourth straight in the hole for an eagle whilst Jacklin’s second shot almost reached the green, chipped his third just passed the hole but then missed the first putt and recorded a level par 5.

 I later became a great fan of Nick Faldo, but it was Seve Ballesteros who I remember watching at Lytham St Anne’s in 1979 who not only caught my attention but the whole World’s as I had to avoid his drive at the 17th hole which finished in a car park. Seve had charm, which Faldo almost completely lacked. I then became a Lee Westwood fan and he still is well respected amongst the current golfing community that I suspect Colin Montgomerie never was.

In the Coronation year of 1953 we had a double sporting achievement as Gordon Richards having been the flat racing jockey champion 26 times and still recognised as the greatest jockey of all time and the only one to be knighted, at last won the Derby at Epsom on a horse called Pinza, and in football and with almost the whole country willing him to get a Cup Final winners medal having come close in 1948 and 1951 with Blackpool, eventually succeeded in what was known as the Matthews Final as his dribbling style set up a hat trick for Stan Mortensen after being 1-3 down to Bolton Wanderers. Sir Stan also became popular on the African Continent as were Bobby Charlton, Franz Beckenbaur and David Beckham throughout the World, but not so much Diego Maradona especially in England.

Finally on to Cricket where Gary Sobers and possibly Clive Lloyd were popular wherever they played, but not so much Viv Richards especially at Headingley. Australian cricketers probably were not well liked in England, but in my opinion three stood out -  Keith Miller the Australian all rounder who lived life to the full and an RAAF pilot during the Second World War.  Don Bradman perhaps had the respect of the cricketing world, but not the charisma to go with it. Richie Benaud particularly for his TV commentaries, but the doyen of them all, Shane Warne where it was quite emotional how the crowd and both England and New Zealand cricketers responded to his career at the Lord’s Test match.

Yorkshire have produced at least three fine batsmen in my time, but whereas Len Hutton and Geoff Boycott have been worshipped in the broad acres, neither have received the affection of the whole country that Joe Root has received. More about him in the cricket section when time permits.

This post was modified 2 years ago 3 times by Ken Smith

   
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Martin Bellamy
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Posted by: @philip-of-huddersfield

Dwight Gayle of Newcastle doesn’t fill me with great excitement as he’s hardly played in the last 2-3 seasons and is coming up to 34.

He’s a gamble and at best a championship player but not good enough for the Premiership.
Why would he come to Boro?   Obviously no future at Newcastle  - so perhaps coming for a season or two before retiring?

 

Philip of Huddersfield 

I think he wants to continue living in the NE - there’s always Hartlepool if we don’t want him. 😉


   
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Dwight Gayle has an excellent record at Championship level and is the sort of busy forward that I could see fitting in nicely at Wilder’s Boro.

I’d be happy with him coming on a season long loan.


   
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Posted by: @andy-r

Dwight Gayle has an excellent record at Championship level and is the sort of busy forward that I could see fitting in nicely at Wilder’s Boro.

I’d be happy with him coming on a season long loan.

I could go along with your proposal of a loan basis but not a permanent deal at this stage. Whilst he has an impressive record at Championship level, past performance is not always a good guide to future performances especially for some one who has hardly played in the last few seasons; we don’t want an ageing replacement for Connolly. 😎

This post was modified 2 years ago by K P in Spain

   
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Rather than signing Gale, I am more excited about the reports from Sky and now the EG that we are intending to sign Darragh Lenihan on a four year deal. 😎


   
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Posted by: @k-p-in-spain

Rather than signing Gale, I am more excited about the reports from Sky and now the EG that we are intending to sign Darragh Lenihan on a four year deal. 😎

Agreed, Sky Sports report Lenihan will join Boro at the end of the month, when his contract expires with Blackburn, other reports state it is a four year deal, not a bad free signing.

Come on BORO.


   
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Yes, Lenihan would fill the left-sided centre-back role and would be a very good addition I think. That's third priority for me though after strikers and a keeper.


   
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Posted by: @andy-r

Yes, Lenihan would fill the left-sided centre-back role and would be a very good addition I think. That's third priority for me though after strikers and a keeper.

They are all priorities so it does not make a lot of difference in which order they are secured, as long as they are all secured in good time for next season, including pre-season to my mind. 😎


   
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Posted by: @andy-r

Yes, Lenihan would fill the left-sided centre-back role and would be a very good addition I think. That's third priority for me though after strikers and a keeper.

I believe he's right-footed. According to transfermarkt he played 41 times at centre back on the right and twice as a right-back.

Currently that implies that our 4 first-choice CBs are

Dijksteel: RCB

Lenihan: CB, RCB

Fry: CB

McNair: LCB, RCB

Admittedly McNair is weak on the left so we have a very clear and obvious gap at LCB. At this point I can well believe that we are trying to see if we can do a deal for Gibson. If we can make a deal work, Gibson does look to be the kind of wide centre-back Wilder is looking for. 


   
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Posted by: @deleriad
Posted by: @andy-r

Yes, Lenihan would fill the left-sided centre-back role and would be a very good addition I think. That's third priority for me though after strikers and a keeper.

I believe he's right-footed. According to transfermarkt he played 41 times at centre back on the right and twice as a right-back.

Currently that implies that our 4 first-choice CBs are

Dijksteel: RCB

Lenihan: CB, RCB

Fry: CB

McNair: LCB, RCB

Admittedly McNair is weak on the left so we have a very clear and obvious gap at LCB. At this point I can well believe that we are trying to see if we can do a deal for Gibson. If we can make a deal work, Gibson does look to be the kind of wide centre-back Wilder is looking for. 

My excitement has just been moderated as I thought he was left footed. We need square pegs in square holes. 

Is there any substance in the Gibson rumour or is this just some of us hoping it might be possible? 😎


   
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That's interesting Deleriad, I was sure he was left-footed but seemingly not.

Can't say I'm fussed about signing him in that case tbh though with Bamba and Peltier gone, another head is welcome enough.

The signings that will get me interested are the ones that I think can make a tangible difference. That's strikers and a keeper for me. McNair is the weakest spot on the back three but he's perfectly ok there and I don't see plugging that gap as being the difference between promotion and not.


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Reference Lenihan, have Boro received a bid for Fry or McNair 🤔

Come on BORO.


   
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Pedro de Espana
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Just dipping in taking a break and holiday in the sun. 😎 

Not too fussed over Gayle as he has probably lost the pace that got him his goals. 

Lenihan would be fine only he is right footed, but is 6ft 2in apparently.

Darragh Patrick Lenihan (born 16 March 1994) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a defender for Middlesbrough..

Baring in mind that Fry has only a year left on his contract, along with Tav, then if either have itchy feet and are not willing to extend their contracts then a sale may be the best option.

Fry I would let go for a decent fee, but that may only be 6/8 mil? Tav, I would possibly expect a little more.

We still need a LCB either way, but not as urgent as a goalkeeper and scoring forward.


   
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Philip of Huddersfield
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The attraction of Lenihan to me, is that he’s a leader and played virtually every game last season, although I share others disappointment that he’s not a left sided centre back.

I wouldn’t  be too worried if Boro accepted a sizeable fee for McNair as it must be difficult for Fry when a  Boro attack breaks down and  the opposition attack with  McNair ‘ at the other end of the pitch’.

Assuming that Lenihan comes then hopefully we can get a decent goalkeeper and two forwards with a recent record of scoring a few goals .

There’s another challenge of moving 5 or 6 players out,  who still have  time left on their contracts. Some of them might want to sit tight and see out their contract to move next year on a free transfer.

Philip of Huddersfield 


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