The Darlington Arena, Darlington, August 2012 (Pitchside only)
So, this has been hovering around the top of my list for a long time now, since before the intrepid explorers before me had full reign of the place for what looks like a whole day. Unfortunately on this occasion I could only make it pitch side as, on this day at least, the rest of the stadium appeared to be locked down.
I've done many a lap of the place without giving it a proper go. This time it was a case of balls out and go for it.
History
The Darlington Arena is a football stadium that hosted Darlington Football Club's home fixtures between 2003 and 2012.
Prior to moving to the ground in 2003, Darlington had been playing at Feethams, located near to the town centre. The current stadium is built on a greenfield site next to Darlington's A66 bypass.
Upon completion the arena was originally called the Reynolds Arena, after the club's then-owner, George Reynolds. However, following Reynolds' bankruptcy and arrest on charges of money laundering, the name was changed to The New Stadium in April 2004. Since then the club have sold the naming rights for the stadium to sponsors, firstly as the Williamson Motors Stadium then as the 96.6 TFM Darlington Arena between November 2005 and September 2007, and then as the Balfour Webnet Darlington Arena between September 2007 and February 2009. The ground took its current name in February 2009 when The Northern Echo began sponsorship. It was the largest Blue Square Premier venue with a capacity of 25,000, although attendances were restricted to 10,000 by local planning laws.
A crowd of 11,600 watched the first game in the new stadium for a 2–0 defeat to Kidderminster Harriers. Since then the ground has averaged a gate of around 1,500 to 2,000 supporters, although certain fixtures such as derby match against local rivals Hartlepool United in March 2007 (10,121 spectators), have pulled in a significantly larger turnout.
It was announced in May 2012 that Darlington would no longer play at the Darlington Arena, instead signing a ground share arrangement with Bishop Auckland. The stadium has stood empty since this time.
security room, with monitors (empty)
Just as the last shot was finishing I stood up and turned around to see the lights in one of the offices next to the security office pop on. It was time to gtfo.
Cheers for looking
So, this has been hovering around the top of my list for a long time now, since before the intrepid explorers before me had full reign of the place for what looks like a whole day. Unfortunately on this occasion I could only make it pitch side as, on this day at least, the rest of the stadium appeared to be locked down.
I've done many a lap of the place without giving it a proper go. This time it was a case of balls out and go for it.
History
The Darlington Arena is a football stadium that hosted Darlington Football Club's home fixtures between 2003 and 2012.
Prior to moving to the ground in 2003, Darlington had been playing at Feethams, located near to the town centre. The current stadium is built on a greenfield site next to Darlington's A66 bypass.
Upon completion the arena was originally called the Reynolds Arena, after the club's then-owner, George Reynolds. However, following Reynolds' bankruptcy and arrest on charges of money laundering, the name was changed to The New Stadium in April 2004. Since then the club have sold the naming rights for the stadium to sponsors, firstly as the Williamson Motors Stadium then as the 96.6 TFM Darlington Arena between November 2005 and September 2007, and then as the Balfour Webnet Darlington Arena between September 2007 and February 2009. The ground took its current name in February 2009 when The Northern Echo began sponsorship. It was the largest Blue Square Premier venue with a capacity of 25,000, although attendances were restricted to 10,000 by local planning laws.
A crowd of 11,600 watched the first game in the new stadium for a 2–0 defeat to Kidderminster Harriers. Since then the ground has averaged a gate of around 1,500 to 2,000 supporters, although certain fixtures such as derby match against local rivals Hartlepool United in March 2007 (10,121 spectators), have pulled in a significantly larger turnout.
It was announced in May 2012 that Darlington would no longer play at the Darlington Arena, instead signing a ground share arrangement with Bishop Auckland. The stadium has stood empty since this time.
security room, with monitors (empty)
Just as the last shot was finishing I stood up and turned around to see the lights in one of the offices next to the security office pop on. It was time to gtfo.
Cheers for looking
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