Durham City A.F.C.

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Template:Short description Template:EngvarB Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox football club

Durham City Association Football Club is a football club based in Durham, England. Members of the Football League from 1921 until 1928, they currently play in the Template:English football updater.

History

The club was established in 1918 and initially competed in the Victory League, which was set up in celebration of the end of World War I,<ref name=H>History Template:Webarchive Durham City A.F.C.</ref> finishing bottom of the table.<ref>1918-19 : Northern Victory League The Stat Cat</ref> In 1919 they joined the North Eastern League, finishing fifth in their first season.<ref name=FCHD>Template:Fchd</ref> Despite a mid-table finish in 1920–21, they were one of fourteen clubs automatically elected to the newly formed Third Division North of the Football League in 1921.<ref name=DT>Dave Twydell (2001) Denied F.C.: The Football League election struggles, Yore Publications, p14</ref> They finished bottom of the division in 1922–23, but were re-elected.<ref name=DT/> In 1925–26 the club reached the second round of the FA Cup for the first time, losing 3–0 at home to Division Three North rivals Southport. After finishing second-from-bottom in 1927–28, the club failed to win re-election, gaining only 11 votes to the 22 received by the newly elected Carlisle United.<ref>Twydell, p16</ref>

Durham dropped back into Division One of the North Eastern League, replacing their reserve team.<ref name=NLM1>North Easter League 1906–1933 Non-League Matters</ref> 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.<ref name=NLM1/> In 1933 the club was renamed City of Durham.<ref>Template:Fchd</ref> 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 the Wearside League, but folded in November 1938, partly due to the introduction of greyhound racing at their Holiday Park ground.<ref name=H/><ref name=FCHD/><ref name=UD2>Paul Smith & Shirley Smith (2005) The Ultimate Directory of English & Scottish Football League Grounds Second Edition 1888–2005, Yore Publications, p66, Template:ISBN</ref><ref name=NLM2/>

The club was re-established in 1949,<ref name=NL>Durham City Northern League</ref> and joined the Wearside League for the 1950–51 season.<ref name=NLM2>Wearside League 1919–1960 Non-League Matters</ref> After two seasons they were admitted to the Northern League. The club finished bottom of the league in 1954–55, but the following season saw them reach the first round of the FA Cup for the first time as a non-League club, eventually losing 3–1 at local rivals Bishop Auckland. In 1957–58 they went one better, reaching the second round, where they lost 3–0 at home to Tranmere Rovers in front of Ferens Park's record crowd.<ref name=H/> The club finished bottom of the Northern League again in 1960–61, 1963–64 and 1965–66, but were runners-up in 1970–71.<ref name=FCHD/> After the league gained a second division in 1982, they were relegated to Division Two at the end of the 1983–84 season. However, a third-place finish in 1987–88 saw them promoted back to Division One.<ref name=FCHD/>

After three seasons in Division One, Durham were relegated back to Division Two at the end of the 1990–91 season, which had seen them finish bottom of the table.<ref name=FCHD/> However, they were runners-up in Division Two the following season, and were promoted back to Division One. They went on to win their first league title in 1993–94, also winning the league's Cleator Cup.<ref name=NL/> Although the club were relegated at the end of the 1997–98 season, they won Division Two the following season to make an immediate return to Division One. They won the League Cup and the Cleator Cup in 2001–02 and finished as Division One runners-up in 2003–04.<ref name=NL/> After winning the league for a second time and the Cleator Cup for a third time in 2007–08, they were promoted to Division One North of the Northern Premier League.

Durham's first season in the Northern Premier League saw them win Division One North, earning promotion to the Premier Division;<ref name=FCHD/> they also won the league's Chairman's Cup.<ref name=NL/> However, their main sponsor withdrew in the summer of 2009 after the Football Conference ruled that they would not accept clubs with artificial pitches, which Durham had.<ref name="durhamadvertiser.co.uk">Sponsor pulls out after ruling on club’s pitch Template:Webarchive Durham Advertiser, 21 August 2009</ref> As a result, the club lost most of its players and won only two league matches during the 2009–10 season. They finished bottom of the table with zero points after having six points deducted for playing a player under a false name,<ref>City Football Club Official StatementTemplate:Dead link Marine F.C.</ref> 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 the 2011–12 season and returned to Division One of the Northern League. In 2013 the club was purchased by former Premier League player Olivier Bernard, with a stated aim of making them a talent development club for local professional teams.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> After finishing in the bottom three in 2015–16, the club were relegated to Division Two.<ref name=FCHD/>

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".<ref name="iSimms1">Template:Cite web</ref> The 2019–20 and 2020–21 seasons were not completed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and club avoided relegation.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> However, in 2021–22 they finished bottom of Division Two and were relegated to Division One of the Wearside League.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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

Ground

The club initially played at Garden House Park before moving to Kepier Haughs in 1920.<ref name=UD>Smith & Smith, p72</ref> Due to its distance from the city centre, the club relocated to Holiday Park in 1923.<ref name=UD2/>

After being reformed, the club played at Ferens Park until the end of the 1993–94 season. During the 1994–95 season they played at Chester-le-Street Town's Moor Park, before moving to New Ferens Park in 1995.<ref name=H/> The ground has a capacity of 2,700, of which 270 is seated and 750 covered.<ref name=NLCD>Mike Williams & Tony Williams (2012) Non-League Club Directory 2013, p646 Template:ISBN</ref> An artificial pitch was installed in 2006.<ref name="durhamadvertiser.co.uk"/> However, a dispute with the landlord led to the club moving to Consett's Belle View Stadium in 2015,<ref>Durham City AFC to groundshare with Consett Northern Echo, 11 November 2015</ref> where they played until the end of the 2016–17 season. They then moved to Willington's Hall Lane ground prior to the 2017–18 season.<ref>Durham To Groundshare At Willington Non-League, 19 May 2017</ref> In 2022 the club relocated to Leyburn Grove in Houghton-le-Spring.

Honours

  • 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<ref name=NL/>
  • Durham FA Benevolent Bowl
    • Winners 1955–56<ref name=NL/>

Records

  • Best FA Cup performance: Second round, 1925–26, 1957–58<ref name=FCHD/>
  • Best FA Trophy performance: Second round, 2008–09<ref name=FCHD/>
  • Best FA Vase performance: Semi-finals, 2001–02<ref name=FCHD/>
  • Record attendance: 7,886 vs Darlington, FA Cup fifth qualifying round, 3 December 1921<ref name=UD/>
    • At Holiday Park: 7,182 vs West Stanley, FA Cup, 17 September 1923<ref name=UD2/>
    • At Ferens Park: 7,000 vs Tranmere Rovers, FA Cup second round, 7 November 1957<ref name=H/>

See also

References

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