Jump to content

Durham City A.F.C.

Coordinates:54°42′31″N1°41′27″W/ 54.708650°N 1.6908807°W/54.708650; -1.6908807
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected fromNew Ferens Park)

Durham City
A shield with a red cross on it
Full nameDurham City Association Football Club
Nickname(s)The Citizens
Founded1918
GroundLeyburn Grove,Houghton-le-Spring
ChairmanGary Hutchinson
ManagerWayne Gredziak
LeagueWearside LeagueDivision One
2023–24Wearside LeagueDivision One, 9th of 14

Durham City Association Football Clubis afootballclub based inDurham,England. Members of theFootball Leaguefrom 1921 until 1928, they currently play in theWearside LeagueDivision One.

History

[edit]

The club was established in 1918 and initially competed in the Victory League, which was set up in celebration of the end ofWorld War I,[1]finishing bottom of the table.[2]In 1919 they joined theNorth Eastern League,finishing fifth in their first season.[3]Despite a mid-table finish in 1920–21, they were one of fourteen clubs automatically elected to the newly formedThird Division Northof theFootball Leaguein 1921.[4]They finished bottom of the division in1922–23,but were re-elected.[4]In1925–26the club reached the second round of theFA Cupfor the first time, losing 3–0 at home to Division Three North rivalsSouthport.After finishing second-from-bottom in1927–28,the club failed to winre-election,gaining only 11 votes to the 22 received by the newly electedCarlisle United.[5]

Durham dropped back into Division One of the North Eastern League, replacing their reserve team.[6]They finished bottom of Division One in 1928–29 and were relegated to Division Two. However, after finishing as Division Two runners-up in 1930–31, they were promoted back to Division One.[6]In 1933 the club was renamedCity of Durham.[7]After three consecutive finishes in the bottom three between 1934–35 and 1936–37, they ended the 1937–38 season bottom of the league. They dropped into theWearside League,but folded in November 1938, partly due to the introduction of greyhound racing at theirHoliday Parkground.[1][3][8][9]

The club was re-established in 1949,[10]and joined theWearside Leaguefor the 1950–51 season.[9]After two seasons they were admitted to theNorthern League.The club finished bottom of the league in1954–55,but thefollowing seasonsaw them reach the first round of theFA Cupfor the first time as a non-League club, eventually losing 3–1 at local rivalsBishop Auckland.In1957–58they went one better, reaching the second round, where they lost 3–0 at home toTranmere Roversin front of Ferens Park's record crowd.[1]The club finished bottom of the Northern League again in1960–61,1963–64and1965–66,but were runners-up in1970–71.[3]After the league gained a second division in 1982, they were relegated to Division Two at the end of the1983–84 season.However, a third-place finish in1987–88saw them promoted back to Division One.[3]

After three seasons in Division One, Durham were relegated back to Division Two at the end of the1990–91 season,which had seen them finish bottom of the table.[3]However, they were runners-up in Division Two thefollowing season,and were promoted back to Division One. They went on to win their first league title in1993–94,also winning the league's Cleator Cup.[10]Although the club were relegated at the end of the1997–98 season,they won Division Two thefollowing seasonto make an immediate return to Division One. They won the League Cup and the Cleator Cup in2001–02and finished as Division One runners-up in2003–04.[10]After winning the league for a second time and the Cleator Cup for a third time in2007–08,they were promoted to Division One North of theNorthern Premier League.

Durham'sfirst seasonin the Northern Premier League saw them win Division One North, earning promotion to the Premier Division;[3]they also won the league's Chairman's Cup.[10]However, their main sponsor withdrew in the summer of 2009 after theFootball Conferenceruled that they would not accept clubs with artificial pitches, which Durham had.[11]As a result, the club lost most of its players and won only two league matches during the2009–10 season.They finished bottom of the table with zero points after having six points deducted for playing a player under a false name,[12]and were relegated back to Division One North. Although they managed to finish in mid-table in the following two seasons, they resigned from the league at the end of the2011–12 seasonand returned to Division One of the Northern League. In 2013 the club was purchased by former Premier League playerOlivier Bernard,with a stated aim of making them a talent development club for local professional teams.[13]After finishing in the bottom three in2015–16,the club were relegated to Division Two.[3]

Durham continued to struggle, winning only one game in four years between April 2019 to May 2023, resulting in them being labelled "England's worst football club".[14]The2019–20and2020–21 seasonswere not completed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and club avoided relegation.[15]However, in2021–22they finished bottom of Division Two and were relegated to Division One of the Wearside League.[16]The following season saw them finish bottom of Division One, resulting in relegation to the second tier of the Wearside League (renamed Division One for the 2023–24 season).

Season-by-season record

[edit]

Ground

[edit]

The club initially played at Garden House Park before moving toKepier Haughsin 1920.[17]Due to its distance from the city centre, the club relocated toHoliday Parkin 1923.[8]

After being reformed, the club played at Ferens Park until the end of the 1993–94 season. During the 1994–95 season they played atChester-le-Street Town'sMoor Park, before moving to New Ferens Park in 1995.[1]The ground has a capacity of 2,700, of which 270 is seated and 750 covered.[18]An artificial pitch was installed in 2006.[11]However, a dispute with the landlord led to the club moving toConsett'sBelle View Stadium in 2015,[19]where they played until the end of the 2016–17 season. They then moved toWillington'sHall Lane ground prior to the 2017–18 season.[20]In 2022 the club relocated to Leyburn Grove inHoughton-le-Spring.

Honours

[edit]
  • Northern Premier League
    • Division One North champions 2008–09
    • Chairman's Cup winners 2008–09
  • Northern League
    • Division One champions 1993–94, 2007–08
    • Division Two champions 1998–99
    • League Cup winners 2001–02
    • Cleator Cup winners 1994–95, 2001–02, 2008–09
  • Durham Challenge Cup
    • Winners 1971–72[10]
  • Durham FA Benevolent Bowl
    • Winners 1955–56[10]

Records

[edit]
  • BestFA Cupperformance: Second round, 1925–26, 1957–58[3]
  • BestFA Trophyperformance: Second round, 2008–09[3]
  • BestFA Vaseperformance: Semi-finals, 2001–02[3]
  • Record attendance: 7,886 vsDarlington,FA Cup fifth qualifying round, 3 December 1921[17]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^abcdeHistoryArchived25 March 2017 at theWayback MachineDurham City A.F.C.
  2. ^1918-19: Northern Victory LeagueThe Stat Cat
  3. ^abcdefghijDurham Cityat theFootball Club History Database
  4. ^abDave Twydell (2001)Denied F.C.: The Football League election struggles,Yore Publications, p14
  5. ^Twydell, p16
  6. ^abNorth Easter League 1906–1933Non-League Matters
  7. ^City of Durhamat theFootball Club History Database
  8. ^abcPaul Smith & Shirley Smith (2005)The Ultimate Directory of English & Scottish Football League Grounds Second Edition 1888–2005,Yore Publications, p66,ISBN0954783042
  9. ^abWearside League 1919–1960Non-League Matters
  10. ^abcdefDurham CityNorthern League
  11. ^abSponsor pulls out after ruling on club’s pitchArchived29 January 2018 at theWayback MachineDurham Advertiser, 21 August 2009
  12. ^City Football Club Official Statement[permanent dead link]Marine F.C.
  13. ^Townsend, Joe."Olivier Bernard: Ex-Newcastle defender buys Durham City".BBC Sport.Retrieved14 June2023.
  14. ^Simms, George."It's a car crash': Inside England's worst football club, on course to concede 315 goals this season".The Independent.Retrieved14 June2023.
  15. ^Simms, George."Resignations, record-low attendances and an 11-hour time difference: inside Durham City AFC's new 'global' management".Palatinate.Retrieved14 June2023.
  16. ^Carruthers, Mark."Durham City in crisis: Ex-Newcastle United defender breaks silence after club resigns from Wearside League amid desperate decline and 'England's worst team' jibe".Sunderland Echo.Retrieved14 June2023.
  17. ^abSmith & Smith, p72
  18. ^Mike Williams & Tony Williams (2012)Non-League Club Directory 2013,p646ISBN978-1-869833-77-0
  19. ^Durham City AFC to groundshare with ConsettNorthern Echo, 11 November 2015
  20. ^Durham To Groundshare At WillingtonNon-League, 19 May 2017
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related toDurham City A.F.C..

54°42′31″N1°41′27″W/ 54.708650°N 1.6908807°W/54.708650; -1.6908807

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Durham_City_A.F.C.&oldid=1253599810#Ground"