![]() The arena as pictured in 2009 | |
![]() | |
Location | Darlington, England |
---|---|
Owner | Darlington Mowden Park |
Capacity | 25,500 [1] [2] [3] |
Field size | 110 by 74 yards (101 m × 68 m) |
Surface | Grass |
Construction | |
Opened | 2003 |
Construction cost | £18 million [3] |
Tenants | |
Darlington F.C. (2003–2012) Darlington Mowden Park R.F.C. (2012–) |
The Darlington Arena is a rugby union stadium, located in Darlington, County Durham.
The arena was opened in the summer of 2003, as the new home ground of Darlington F.C., following the decision to leave their previous ground, Feethams, after the 2002–03 season. With a seating capacity of 25,000, the arena rarely attracted large crowds, with the usual attendance being around 2,000. The cost of the arena caused the club to go into administration three times. Eventually, the club decided to leave the arena after nine years following the 2011–12 season.
In December 2012, after rumours that the arena could be closed down and be replaced with different reported purposes, rugby union team, Darlington Mowden Park RFC purchased the arena for £2 million; the owner of the club later stated that he believed that the arena could lead to much more success for the club. [4]
Prior to moving to the ground in 2003, Darlington F.C. had been playing at Feethams, located near to the town centre. The current stadium was 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, Reynolds was declared bankrupt soon afterwards and arrested on charges of money laundering. As a result of this, the stadium’s name was changed to the New Stadium in April 2004.
The Arena consists of four equally sided stands. The West Stand, located behind the goal, was generally the more vocal of the two sides used by home supporters.
A crowd of 11,600 watched the first game in the new stadium for a 2–0 defeat to Kidderminster Harriers. [5] Since then, the ground averaged a gate of around 1,500 to 2,000 supporters, although certain fixtures such as the derby match defeat against local rivals Hartlepool United in March 2007 (9,987 spectators), pulled in a significantly larger turnout. [6]
The club has sold the naming rights for the stadium to various sponsors: Williamson Motors, 96.6 TFM, Balfour Webnet, and in 2009 The Northern Echo ; since Darlington Mowden Park RFC have used the arena, it has been named The Northern Echo Arena, rather than the previous name The Northern Echo Darlington Arena.
It was the largest Conference National venue with a capacity of 25,000. [1] Attendances for football matches were restricted to 10,000 by local planning regulations, [2] because of poor access roads around the stadium, although the club was allowed to apply for an exception for special occasions - namely cup ties against bigger clubs.
It was announced in May 2012 that Darlington would no longer play at the Darlington Arena. The club initially agreed a ground share deal with Shildon A.F.C., [7] before deciding to share with Bishop Auckland F.C. instead. [8]
Following the announcement that the football club would no longer play at the arena, it was reported that the arena may be closed down and be replaced by a housing estate. [9] However, in December 2012, Darlington Mowden Park R.F.C. bought the arena for £2 million, as well as 17 acres (6.9 ha) of adjoining land, with the intention of developing a multi-sports facility; the club owner stated that he hoped that playing at the arena would improve Mowden Park's performances. [4] This would be proved to be true, as they were promoted to National League 1, the third tier of English rugby union, beginning in the 2014–15 season. [10]
The club played their first game at the arena on 2 February 2013, in front of a crowd of over 1,000 spectators, defeating Bromsgrove 62–7 in a National League 2 North league game. [11] Regular attendances would bring in around 700–1,300 spectators.
The Arena also played host to the first professional rugby league match to be played in County Durham, when Gateshead Thunder used the ground for their fifth round 2009 Challenge Cup game against Oldham due to a fixture clash. [12]
Darlington planned to use the stadium for musical concerts to increase club revenue. Elton John was the first act to play at the stadium, on 5 July 2008, attracting a crowd of 17,000. [9]
In 2018 Steps and A-ha performed at the arena, followed in 2019 by Jess Glynne. [13]
Act | Date(s) | Attendance |
---|---|---|
Elton John | 5 July 2008 | 17,000 |
UB40 | 28 May 2017 | unconfirmed |
Steps | 27 May 2018 | unconfirmed |
A-ha | 17 June 2018 | 5,000+ [14] |
Jess Glynne | 2 August 2019 | unconfirmed |
Tom Jones | 28 August 2021 | unconfirmed |
Olly Murs | 29 August 2021 | unconfirmed |
Simply Red | 13 August 2022 | unconfirmed |
James | 5 August 2023 | unconfirmed |
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the arena was used as a large vaccination centre. [15] It was able to vaccinate up to 7,700 people per week. [16]
Cardiff Arms Park, also known as The Arms Park, is situated in the centre of Cardiff, Wales. It is primarily a rugby union stadium, but it also has a bowling green. The Arms Park was host to the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1958, and hosted four games in the 1991 Rugby World Cup, including the third-place play-off. The Arms Park also hosted the inaugural Heineken Cup Final of 1995–96 and the following year in 1996–97.
Darlington is a market and industrial town in County Durham, England. It is the main administrative centre of the unitary authority Borough of Darlington. The borough is a constituent member of the devolved Tees Valley area.
Darlington Football Club is an association football club based in Darlington, County Durham, England. As of the 2023–24 season, the team competes in the National League North, at the sixth level of English football.
Mowden is an area of west Darlington in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. Nearby areas include Hummersknott to the south, Branksome to the north and Cockerton to the north-east.
George Reynolds was a British businessman best known for his time as chairman of Darlington Football Club. He was found guilty of tax evasion in 2005.
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Victoria Park is a football ground in Hartlepool, County Durham, England, which is the home of National League club Hartlepool United.
A groundshare, also known as a shared stadium or shared arena, is the principle of sharing a stadium between two local sports teams. This is usually done for the purpose of reducing the costs of either construction of two separate facilities and related maintenance.
Feethams is a cricket and former football grounds in Darlington, England. The cricket ground has hosted Durham CCC matches.
Darlington Mowden Park is a professional rugby union club, based in Darlington, County Durham, England. They currently compete in National League 1, the third division of the Rugby Football Union domestic league competition pyramid, having achieved promotion on 3 May 2014, after defeating Ampthill in the 2013–14 play-off. The club's former name, Darlington Grammar School Old Boys, was changed when they moved to Yiewsley Drive, which was located in Mowden. They relocated to The Darlington Arena, a 25,000 all-seater stadium in Darlington, purchasing the previously-vacated ground for £2 million; Yiewsley Drive had previously been sold to a housing estate company, and the Arena was previously owned by Darlington Football Club. They played their first game at the arena on 2 February 2013, in front of a crowd of over 1,000, comprehensively defeating Bromsgrove 62–7 in a National League 2 North league game.
Ronald Greener was an English footballer, who played as a centre half. Born in Easington, County Durham, he played his entire career in his native North-East. He started his career with Newcastle United, before he moved to Darlington in 1955. He spent most of his playing career with Darlington, and set the club's appearance record of 490 first-team appearances.
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John Richard Peverell is an English former professional footballer who made more than 400 appearances in the Football League for Darlington, playing primarily at right back. His total of 465 appearances in all competitions for the club is second only to Ron Greener's 490. He was part of the team that won promotion to the Football League Third Division in 1966, and was selected as a member of the Darlington all-time "Dream Team" in 2003.
Canal Street was a sports stadium used by Runcorn RFC and later Runcorn FC, in Canal Street, Runcorn, a town now within the borough of Halton in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, and on the southern bank of the River Mersey. It was also used for other sports.
Darlington Mowden Park Sharks Ladies Rugby Football Club is a women's rugby union club in Darlington, County Durham, England founded in 1996. Their top try scorer Louisa Ramsey became the first player to score over 10 tries for Scotland. They are the ladies team of Darlington Mowden Park R.F.C. and played in the Allianz Premier 15s until 2023. They also play their home games at The Darlington Arena.
The 2013–14 National League 2 North was the fourth season of the fourth tier (north) of the English domestic rugby union competitions since the professionalised format of the second division was introduced. The league system was 4 points for a win, 2 points for a draw and additional bonus points being awarded for scoring 4 or more tries and/or losing within 7 points of the victorious team. In terms of promotion the league champions would go straight up into National League 1 while the runners up would have a one-game playoff against the runners up from National League 2 South for the final promotion place.
Keith George Finch is an English footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played in the Football League for Darlington and in non-league football in the north-east of England for a variety of clubs, which included eight years with Northern League club Shildon.
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The Durham County RFU Senior Cup is an annual rugby union knock-out club competition organized by the Durham County Rugby Football Union. It was first introduced during the 1880-81 season, with the inaugural winners being Sunderland Rovers who defeated Houghton 3 tries to 0 in the final.
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