Darlington Spartans FC

06/09/2026

An injury-ravaged Spartans team progress through to the quarter finals of the Division One Cup after beating Staindrop 2-1 at Springfield.

With our injury woes we lined up with goalkeeper Haydn ‘Amad’ King on the left wing and it was Haydn that opened the scoring when he received a Matty Wilson through ball to squeeze in at the near post from the edge of the box. Matty Bell was back on the right wing after the birth of his baby boy and he was causing the full back all sorts of problems and his jinky run and cross set up Matty Wilson to head across for Charlie Carrigan to nod home for his first Spartans goal from 6 yards out to make it 2-0. Staindrop got a quick fire return but from there we stood tall defensively and Connah and the back four were flawless for the remaining 60 mins.

The game was won in midfield with youngsters Charlie Carrigan and Zak Bowman providing both the attacking and defensive impetus in front of the solid Jonty Maychell to secure our place in the next round. Charlie Carrigan continuing his excellent start to the season in a MOTM performance.

We will play Bobby’s in the quarter-final.

05/09/2026

Our third meeting in four weeks against Staindrop, this time in the prelim round of the Div1 Cup.

10:30 KO at Springfield

Division 1 cup tomorrow 💪

31/08/2026

Tough battle at the weekend, 2-0 down early doors and fought back well to 2-2 with Louis O’Neill finishing a good move near post under the keeper and Mark Ross smashing in a corner at the back stick. With a small squad, Staindrop looked brighter as they made fresh changes and they scored 4 in the last 20 to pull away.

Hard one to take after fighting back but numbers got the better of us in the end with Staindrop finishing the game excellently.

Jonty Maychell was the pick of our players, impressive in the middle breaking up play and recycling it.

29/08/2026

On the road in the morning Staindrop Wheatsheaf FC

23/08/2026

Spartans are up and running with 3 points after a comprehensive victory at Skerne Park. Always a tricky place to go, we were well up for this playing our fellow promoted team and the Wilson brothers linked up after 7 minutes to put us into the lead. Andy playing through Matty on his debut, to calmly round the keeper and make it 1-0. After 23 mins it was 2. Adam Lamb perfectly switching the ball for Luke Upex to fire across the keeper. Andy made it 3-0 three minutes later, getting a touch on a whistling shot from Louis to prod home. Matty got his brace after a bullet header from one of Louis’ corners.

Shortly after half-time, Skerne pulled a goal back and it took us a while to wake up after the break. We once again pulled further ahead when Luke glanced on for Andy to drop the shoulder on his man to make it 5-1. Zak Bowman got on the scoresheet for his first league goal when he flicked it over his man on the half way line, raced through another couple defenders before placing in the top corner through on goal. Skerne Park got a consolation with a scruffy bundle into the goal towards the end.

Lots of strong performances from all 17 including two good debuts from Matty Wilson and Josh Watson but MOTM goes to Andy Wilson who was excellent up front today scoring two and creating one.

Good luck to Skerne Park for the rest of the season, and thanks for their hospitality.

22/08/2026

A trip to Skerne park FC awaits tomorrow. 10:30KO at the Community Centre.

17/08/2026

16/08/2026

Unfortunate defeat today. 1-0 down after a short back pass was gobbled up by the forward who made no mistake. From there it was a pretty even affair, neither team creating many chances in a cagey game.

We threw caution to the wind in the last 10 minutes and created two massive chances, one which saw an inch perfect tackle deny a one-on-one and a point blank save from the keeper deep into injury time.

A positive performance despite the result with another injury-hit team out.

MOTM Andy Wilson

15/08/2026

Tomorrow we welcome Staindrop Wheatsheaf FC

10:30 KO at Springfield

💙🤍

09/08/2026

A tough day at the office. Stanhope were excellent opposition and we never got going. With 4 injuries during the match, we had to finish the game with a makeshift team. Josh Walshaw finishing well for our goal and Charlie Carrigan industrious throughout the only positives to take today. At home to Staindrop next Sunday looking to bounce back.