Match Information
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Darlington Town 0-3 Thornaby
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When: Saturday 4th January 2025
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Kick-off: 3pm
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Where: Eastbourne Community Stadium, Eastbourne Sports Complex, Bourne Avenue, off Hundens Lane, Darlington, DL1 1LJ
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Competition: Northern League Division 2
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Attendance: 191
My inaugural groundhop of the 2025 calendar year required intricate planning due to severe weather warnings predicting widescale snow and ice. Therefore I needed to pinpoint a match on 3G artificial turf.
Accordingly, Darlington Town’s FIFA standard synthetic surface fitted the bill really nicely. The team was initially called Darlington Reserves and subsequently became Darlington Town in 2018.
They are currently National League System Step 6 newcomers for 2024/25 season gaining promotion as Wearside League champions to the Northern League Division 2.
Fixtures are staged at the Eastbourne Community Stadium which officially opened in May 2024 following hefty funding via Darlington Borough Council and the Football Foundation.
Bearing everything in mind, I set off on my 500 mile round trip straight up the A1. I had previously been to the area to observe former Football League club Darlington FC at four different venues – including their very first match at the newly built 27,500 capacity Reynolds Arena against Kidderminster Harriers in the old Third Division on Saturday 16th August 2003 (result 0-2, attendance 11,600).
Furthermore, I saw now-defunct Darlington Cleveland Social FC go down 2-0 at home to Prudhoe East End in Northern League Division 2 duties on Sunday 3rd April 1994 at Neasham Road in Darlington.
Ground Description
The large Eastbourne Community Stadium car park contained a burger van servicing hungry people arriving for Northern League entertainment.
Inside the ground, there is a 100-seater stand hugging one touchline and two sections of covered terracing sit opposite (called the ‘Lillie Galloway Stand’ and the ‘Arthur Wharton Stand’) accommodating 50 spectators each.
Hard standing extends around three sides. Darlington Town aspire to construct a clubhouse bar on site in the near future to majorly boost income streams.
Another 3G pitch for community use lies within the surrounding Eastbourne Sports Complex.
Programme Details
This 12 page production was on sale priced £2 at a table beyond the turnstile block.
Appropriately entitled ‘Talk Of The Town’, thoroughly well thought out editorial content embraced welcome notes, respective histories of Darlington Town and Thornaby, player profiles, Thornaby squad list, a player to watch on both teams, forthcoming fixtures and fund raising activities.
I liked the programme’s rousing integral message aimed at local football fans proclaiming: “We hope to become an established Northern League club & with Darlington’s support that could make it happen!”
Up to date line ups were displayed pitchside on a whiteboard too.
The Match
My thermals were deployed on a bitterly cold day! It was 15th hosting 6th in Northern League Division 2 standings so anyone possessing expert knowledge of football odds amidst sports betting stakes would have fancied an away victory.
Indeed, Thornaby took merely 30 seconds to forge ahead as Ryan Wright converted.
At this point, a totally bemused looking man wandered into the ground nursing his freshly purchased cup of tea whilst loudly moaning: “I just missed a goal didn’t I!”
Elliott Beddow made it 2-0 on seven minutes courtesy of a similar close range strike.
Darlington Town duly tightened up until two minutes from the end whereby Luca Nelson back-heeled Thornaby’s third.
The People
Everyone I met at Darlington Town was extremely friendly and proud of the excellent progress being achieved on and off the field.
I was particularly impressed by the club’s public relations endeavours incorporating live action videos broadcast on social media throughout the afternoon.
It was also good to spot the Northern League’s former chairman Mike Amos in attendance. He launched the first ever specifically designated groundhopping weekend in 1992.
On that occasion, I joined 150 other ‘hoppers’ witnessing matches at Peterlee Newtown, Billingham Town, Murton, Consett, Chester-le-Street Town, Brandon United and West Auckland Town across a hectic Easter period. Nowadays retired, Mike still frequents plenty of games and is a top football connoisseur.
Additionally, I received a pleasant message on Twitter after this latest groundhop from away team Thornaby’s director of football Andy Campbell.
He wrote: “Thanks for coming Tony, much appreciated. Please let me know next time your free to visit @ThornabyFC for a home fixture #OneClub.”
However, it was entirely a case of my football past returning to haunt me because Andy is a man who actually broke my heart when he scored the winning goal for Cardiff City versus my beloved Queens Park Rangers in the 2003 Division Two Play-Off Final!
Football grounds visited: 2,615
*Credit for the photos in this article belongs to Tony Incenzo*
