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The club plays at Williamson Motors Stadium , a 27,500-seat stadium that opened in 2003. The club previously played at Feethams , which is located close to the historic town centre. The new ground is named after a local Peugeot car dealership under a sponsorship deal. Originally named the Reynolds Arena, after former chairman George Reynolds , it was renamed the New Stadium in April 2004, and received the current name on August 18th 2004.
The club has been in administration since December 23rd 2003.
Darlington Football Club was founded at Darlington Grammar School in 1883. In 1889 it joined the new Northern League, which they won in 1896 and 1900. The club turned professional in 1908 and joined the North Eastern League.
In 1919/1920 the side managed to finish second in the North Eastern League and the following year were champions. This was a stroke of good look as their victory coincided with the forming of the Northern third division, which Darlington were elected to. Their first season in Division 3 was a successful one and they ended up in 2nd place. In 1925, they were champions and won promotion to division 2 but were relegated two seasons later.
In 1957/1958 they attained their best ever FA Cup run, reaching the last 16. This was not enough to stop them being put into the new division 4 with the reorganisation of the League. In 1966, they won promotion to Division 3 after finishing the season as runners-up, but were relegated the following year. In 1982, the club faced a financial crisis but survived thanks in part to winning promotion by finishing third in the league two years later.
In 1989, the team finished bottom of the league and was relegated to the ConferenceThe Football Conference is a football league at the top of the National League System of so-called non-league football in England. Conference National is the highest of the three divisions within The Football Conference, and Conference North and Conferenc. However, they were only there for one season before winning promotion once more. The next season they were again champions winning division 4 - yet again, they lasted only two seasons in Division 3.
They have remained in the Third DivisionUntil the 2004/05 season, the Football League Third Division was the third-highest division of The Football League and the fourth-highest division in the overall English football league system. Before that it was the third division overall, but that ended (now Football League Two) to this day. In the 1999/2000 season, they reached the playoff final.
English football clubs#REDIRECT Football League Two