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First County Visit:	Tuesday 27th March 1979
Competition:	Football League Division 4 – (Tier 4)
Result:	Darlington 0 – 1 Stockport County
Attendance:	1,086
Away Trip:	11
Away Day:	12
County Line-up	1 David Lawson; 2 Andy Thorpe; 3 John Rutter; 4 Paul Edwards; 5 Graham Smith; 6 George Armstrong; 7 Phil Henson; 8 Mike Summerbee; 9 Les Bradd; 10 Carl Halford; 11 Stuart Lee
Scorer:	Les Bradd
Manager:	Mike Summerbee
County Visits:	6

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THE TWIN TOWERS OF DARLINGTON

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It can hardly fail to be given the competition afforded by the Darlington Arena – a truly soulless affair.  Watching football in the 25,000 capacity Reynolds Folly, with a couple of thousand rattling around like marbles in a tin can, and huge tracts of the arena sealed off from public access, was an awful experience … but more of that when Away Trip 109 appears on the horizon. Heritage Park, Bishop Auckland, was decent enough for a temporary home, and Blackwell Meadows may not be too bad either (*), but give me Feethams any time.

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* Postscript (March 2020)

I got to Blackwell Meadows in September 2018. We’d already been there a year previously but right at the moment Jason Oswell secured us a point I was lying in a hospital bed!! Read about my thoughts on the Quakers new home in Away Trip 177

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It’s an unusual experience to fish your money out at the turnstiles, pay for entrance and find yourself around 150 yards from the field of action.  It was a short walk around the cricket ground to get to the football enclosure. 

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But unlike Northampton, the two playing areas weren’t conjoined.  A small covered terrace provided the division between the winter and summer games.  But sufficiently small enough to ensure that a squadron of ballboys were stationed ready to recover errant shots which sailed over the stand and ended up in the middle of the cricket square.  The cricket ground itself was reasonably neat, and in good enough order to host County Championship games when Durham entered the 1^st class game, but before the construction of the Riverside stadium.

Onwards to Feethams itself.  Barrel roofed stands covered maybe around a half of the length of each touchline, and at the far end was a decent uncovered terrace.  It was a quaint ground, with lots of character, and served Darlo well as they ploughed their furrow around the lower reaches of the Football League.

I always enjoyed trips to Feethams.  It was a decent drive and once off the M1 the A1 provided the sort of scenery which would encourage those weekend drivers out for their Sunday afternoon ‘run-out’.  It always seemed to me to be best when we were called upon for a midweek game up in the North East.  The drive North was generally in the setting sun, and being a fan of night football, always appeared to engender a greater sense of anticipation than at a weekend.

The first Away Day to Feethams coincided roughly with my acquisition of a car with sufficient reliability to do the 200 mile round trip, and so it’s reasonable to describe this trip to Darlo as the first of any distance under my own steam.  A test run for many hundreds to follow, which turned out to be far easier drives, as my income rose and commensurately the quality of vehicle improved.

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Feethams capacity was purportedly 8,500, but this came nowhere near being tested on any of my visits.  Indeed the combined gate for the first four games was 4,756.  I never understood the lack of interest from the local population.  A bit of close competition from Hartlepool maybe, or more than likely the call to St James Park; Roker Park or Ayresome Park.  As well as that, rugby seemed to have a bit of a hold in the area at the time.  Well before the days of the professional game the names Hartlepool Rovers and West Hartlepool always seemed to be popping up on the predecessor to the vidiprinter on Grandstand. 

40 years later, with the Darlington Arena home to Mowden Park Rugby Club, Darlington 1883  are due, at the time of writing, (November 2016), to be leaving their temporary home at Bishop Auckland in the next week or two to move into Blackwell Meadows where their landlord will be Darlington RUFC.  Obviously there’s still plenty of RU attraction up in the North East, although being more of an adherent of the 13 a side game, I’m a little surprised that the latter code hasn’t gained more traction in the area. All of personal opinion of course, but “league” is by far the better game.  Frankly I’ve never understood how a game where the ball spends more time out of play than in has the slightest attraction…

Anyway, in my 6 visits there was once when the turnstile operators found themselves a little more occupied than was normal.  Rather than loafing around awaiting the trickle of spectators they were put more to the test as a gathering of 4,046 came together on 2^nd March 1991.  The Quakers sat proudly on the top of the table, (with 55 points from 30 games), with County 8 points behind but a game in hand.  After the play-off debacle against Chesterfield 12 months earlier, hopes were high amongst the Hatters faithful that the team that Danny Bergara had put together would move upwards.  A first promotion and indeed championship in 24 years was certainly on the cards.

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I originally wrote this piece back in November 2016. The stand remained in situ well after Feethams was abandoned, (see photo below). But it’s had a second lease of life since then – being relocated to the Quakers new home at Blackwell Meadows.

How a decent result at Feethams that bitterly cold afternoon would have changed things.  A single point at Darlo there would have left County champions come the end of the campaign.  The Quakers finished a point ahead in the final standings taking the title, leaving County certainly to rejoice in a promotion but maybe a slight feeling of disappointment that they hadn’t topped the tree.  In a hard fought and fractious game Darlington came out on top by the single goal.  It was a muted trip back – a drop of a place in the table, and an 11 point cushion for the hosts.  My brother, an avowed City aficionado, had travelled with me that day. 

Howard, I’m afraid you were a bad luck omen.  Three away trips in all of these years, and you possess a 100% record of seeing County defeats …the aforementioned play-off hammering at Saltergate; this one at Feethams, and then, in our very first game at Wembley a little over 12 months later seeing Stoke undeservedly holding aloft the Autoglass Trophy courtesy of a Mark Stein offside goal!  Keep away please!!

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Many years later, on a trip to the Darlington Arena, time permitted a detour back into the town centre and a look at the abandoned Feethams.  A truly sad sight.  The cricket ground obviously still in use, but the sole vestige of a former football ground, was that small covered terrace.  Grass feet high.  All this abandoned for a move which led Darlo into administration and subsequently into oblivion.  Late in 2016, having started at the bottom of the football pyramid they now stand reasonably proudly near the top of National League North.  I’m truly glad for their long suffering fans – proper football followers supporting their local club.  It’s the lifeblood of the game outside of the Premier League bubble.

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Postscript (March 2020)

Feethams is of course no more for the reasons outlined above. In this short video extract there’s some pretty stark images of the ground after it had been abandoned, (plus a shot or two of the Darlington Arena and Blackwell Meadows), and concludes with a picture of the Tin Shed being dismantled prior to its relocation . Click Here. It’s from the NYLT You Tube Channel – “Top 10 Abandoned Non-League Stadiums)

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By the way – that first trip to Feethams saw a victory – one of only two that were witnessed in 6 visits.  For the record it was by a single goal from Les Bradd, he who “…scored a hat-trick at Barnsley”

November 2016

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VISITS

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Day	Date	Competition	Tier / Round	Opponents	Res	F	A	Crowd	Away Day
Tues	27/03/79	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Darlington	W	1	0	1,086	12
Sat	07/11/81	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Darlington	L	0	2	1,556	50
Sat	26/03/83	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Darlington	L	1	3	1,012	75
Wed	02/05/84	Canon League Division 4	Tier 4	Darlington	L	0	1	1,102	96
Sat	02/03/91	Barclays League Division 4	Tier 4	Darlington	L	0	1	4,046	207
Tues	03/03/92 (Highlights)	Barclays League Division 3	Tier 3	Darlington	W	3	1	2,384	226

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ON MY JOURNEY WITH COUNTY AROUND 180 GROUNDS

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Previously – SPRINGFIELD PARK Next stop – LEEDS ROAD