Expectation was in the air at the Darlington Arena in August. Having narrowly missed out on promotion last year, in what was their best season for a long time; Darlington started this campaign as one of the favourites for promotion. Despite a significant budget, manager Dave Penney was able to bring in quality additions to the Quaker’s squad, Liechtenstein international Franz Burgmeier being the most high profile. With a reduced budget, Penney had to utilise the loan market, drafting in 4 players during the summer. Strikers Billy Clarke, Richie Foran and Liam Hatch, as well as keeper Simon Brown all joined until the end of 2008. There was real optimism and positivity surrounding the Quakers at the start of the season, a belief that Darlington were in for a great season. Instead, Darlington fans had to endure on of the most turbulent and dramatic campaigns in the club’s 125 year existence.

In August, Darlington’s campaign got off to a steady, but not overly spectacular start. After failing to record a victory in their opening 3 games, the Quakers registered their first win in some style, hammering Macclesfield 6-0, with on loan striker Billy Clarke scoring 4. By the end of September, the Quakers were in 8th place in the league, having won 3 of their opening 8 fixtures.

A 1-1 draw at home to Shrewsbury at the start of October was the catalyst for a surge up the table. October yielded a total of 4 wins and 2 draws, including the Shrewsbury result. The other draw came at league leaders Wycombe, where Darlington conceded a 98th minute penalty to be denied all 3 points in what was arguably their best performance so far. The Quakers good run continued into November, when Darlington reached the top of League 2 with a 2-1 win at strugglers Grimsby. Darlington were beginning to look like serious candidates for not only promotion, but perhaps even the title. A home victory against Lincoln seemed to reinforce this idea. Having been reduced to 10 men early on, Darlington dug in and secured an impressive 2-0 win. All the pre-season confidence and optimism was seemingly being justified.

A run of 11 league and cup games without defeat was ended in mid-November by the most unexpected of teams. Droylsden of the Blue Square North beat the Quakers 1-0 in an FA Cup 1st round replay to end an unbeaten run that had lifted Darlington to the summit of League 2. Despite the Droylsden defeat, Darlington didn’t fare too badly in the other cup competitions, reaching the regional semi finals of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy, and taking Championship side Watford to extra time in the 2nd round of the Carling Cup, before going down 2-1, having knocked out League side Walsall in round 1.

The Quakers defeat to Droylsden sparked a worrying run of results, with Darlington failing to manage a win in the next 7 games and not registering a victory until the 1st game of 2009. A scrappy 2-1 win over Bournemouth at the Arena revitalised Darlington’s promotion bid. The next game, the Quakers thrashed Luton 5-1, and despite a defeat at Shrewsbury, back to back 1-0 wins over Rotherham and Dagenham and Redbridge meant Darlington ended January in 4th place, just 1 place behind the automatic promotion spots. The Quakers were well poised for an assault on the top 3.

A string of postponed matches at the start of February meant Darlington didn’t get a game until February 17th. Once they resumed playing though, the Quakers continued to churn out good results. A 1-0 win over Grimsby at the Arena put Darlington in 7th place with several games in hand. If they won all of those games in hand, Darlington would be top. And then disaster struck.

On Wednesday 25th February, the morning after a 2-1 home defeat to Rochdale, chairman George Houghton placed Darlington FC into administration. The Quakers incurred a 10 point penalty, ending any title and automatic promotion hopes. Darlington plunged into mid table, going from potential title contention to mid-table mediocrity with only an outside chance of the play-offs. All the hard work of the previous 7 months had been undone within a matter of hours.

With morale crushed, the last thing Darlington needed was an injury crisis, but they duly got one. An expected lull in form occurred, as any lingering play off hopes were destroyed by a run of 4 losses in the 5 games immediately after going into administration.

Once the injury crisis subsided and the shock of going into administration began to wear off, Darlington’s players, coaching staff and fans joined together, and the teams on the pitch performance began to improve. Instead of putting their heads down and letting Darlo sink into the bottom half, a quite remarkable display of determination saw Darlington win 5 of their remaining 11 games, a tremendous feat under the circumstances. This show of courage, resilience and spirit enabled Darlington to pull off some good results, like the 2-0 win at Rochdale. However, the Quakers were dealt another major blow before the final game of the season, when manager Dave Penney departed to take over at Oldham. The last game of the season was a 2-1 win at Chester, where the Quakers determination saw them grab a last minute winner, finishing 12th overall. The season was over, a season which had started so promisingly, but, through no fault of the players or the coaching staff, ended with no reward. Without the 10 point penalty, Darlington would have finished 6th in the league, enough to secure a play-off spot, a cruel reminder of what could have been This season will be remembered as the season that could have been. But will it also be remembered as Darlington’s last ever? The club is engulfed in a crisis, with its future hanging by a thread. A popular takeover bid, led by former vice-chairman Raj Singh, has twice been rebuffed by George Houghton. Houghton’s actions at the end of February have led to him becoming public enemy number 1 amongst Darlington fans, who are understandably frustrated that events beyond their control have once again conspired against the club.

A charity game between the 2000 play-off final side and a team of all-stars, a match designed to raise enough money to get the Quakers through the summer, attracted a turnout of 3400. This may not seem massive, and the turnout has been lamented by some. But what it does prove is that there are thousands of people out there who want the club to be saved. Although most of the coaching staff have now left, and a mass exodus of players is expected, any potential investor will inherit a club with bags of potential, a stadium that wouldn’t look out of place in the Premiership and most importantly, a loyal fan base. For 125 years, Darlington fans have suffered had to endure agony and ecstasy, pain and joy, success and despair. Yes it maybe tough to bear, but every single Darlington fan would give absolutely anything to ensure that the club next year is playing its 126th season.

Chris Sykes