The 2009–10 season was Darlington Football Club's 81st season in the Football League and their 18th consecutive season in the fourth tier of English football, Football League Two. It covered the period from 1 July 2009 to 30 June 2010.

The season began with the club in administration, from which it exited just in time for the team to compete in the League Two season. After four matches they were bottom of the table, and bottom they remained for the rest of the season, with relegation to the Conference confirmed with six matches still to play. Three first-team managers took charge during the playing season, and there were two further managerial resignations and appointments during June 2010. The team lost in the first round of both the FA Cup and the League Cup and in the second round of the Football League Trophy.

Background and summary In February 2009, Darlington F.C. chairman George Houghton had placed the club into administration, which obliged the Football League to impose a 10-point deduction. The team finished the 2008–09 season in 12th place in League Two, only seven points below the promotion play-off places. Despite closing the west stand at the Darlington Arena to cut costs, and fund-raising projects, which included a match between the club's 1999-2000 play-off team and an All-Stars team featuring former Darlington players Bernie Slaven and Marco Gabbiadini under the captaincy of former England international midfielder Paul Gascoigne that attracted a crowd of over 3,000, no buyer for the club was found by a 5 May deadline. The "majority of the first-team squad" were made available on free transfers, and assistant manager Martin Gray and most of the coaching staff and administrative staff were laid off. Craig Liddle and Neil Maddison took caretaker charge of the team.

On 20 May, Houghton returned as owner and chairman; he appointed former Middlesbrough manager Colin Todd as manager, and issued a statement confirming he was "not going to let the club die" so would continue funding until a buyer was found. Shortly afterwards, a deal was agreed such that Raj Singh would become chairman with full control of club and stadium and he and Houghton would each own half of the surrounding land. Darlington exited administration on 7 August, with approval from the Football League to participate in the 2009–10 League Two season. On 3 August, 13 players were officially registered, several of whom had been with the club in 2008–09; a further 4 arrived before the end of the month.

The team gained only two points from the first nine matches, and Todd left on 26 September. He and the chairman disagreed as to whose idea his departure was. After two matches with Liddle as caretakerboth defeats former Republic of Ireland manager Steve Staunton took over until the end of the season, with Kevin Richardson as his assistant.

In early December it emerged that a dispute had arisen over a clause in the contract of captain Steve Foster, the club's highest-paid player. Foster had shown loyalty to the club by accepting a pay cut with a clause that guaranteed him the offer of a contract extension if he made 20 appearances during the season. With two matches to go, Staunton confirmed that Foster would not be selected unless he rescinded that clausethe club's financial state precluded making that sort of offer when they might not even be in the Football League next seasonand underlined his resolve by naming Ian Miller as captain. Although both parties wanted the situation resolved, Foster stood his ground and was released at the end of February having made 19 appearances in 2009–10.

In the January transfer window, Staunton brought in several Irish players on temporary or short-term deals, including St Patrick's Athletic midfielder Gary Dempsey, former Shamrock Rovers striker Tadhg Purcell, teenage defender Simon Madden, and former Inverness Caledonian Thistle defender Richie Byrne. He also signed former Darlington defender Alan White on loan, and youngsters Gareth Waite, a midfielder from Spennymoor Town, and former Hibernian striker Patrick Deane on six-month deals.

The team had been bottom of the league since the fourth match of the season, and attendances were falling. The loss at home to Barnet on 20 March attracted a record low crowd of 1,463 and left the team 19 points from safety. Feeling there was no alternative, Singh sacked Staunton the next day, recognising that "a lot of fans voted with their feet"the attendance record fell to 1,296 at the next matchand he needed to appoint a manager to prepare for a promotion season in the Conference. Former Barnsley manager and Darlington player Simon Davey was appointed on 1 April, and despite two wins in his first four matches, relegation was confirmed on 13 April with six matches still to play. For the final fixture, he selected three youth-team players in the starting eleven and used a fourth, the 16-year-old Jordan Marshall, as a second-half substitute.

Having begun to build a squad for the coming season, Davey quit on 16 June. His assistant, Ryan Kidd, signed a two-year contract before having second thoughts, and Mark Cooper, who had been Singh's first choice to replace Staunton, signed a one-year deal on 29 June.

League table (part)

Match results

General source: Click on match for details. Match content not verifiable from these sources is referenced individually.

DateLeaguepositionOpponentsVenueResultScoreF–AScorersAttendance8 August 200920thAldershot TownAL1–3Dowson 85'2,86615 August 200923rdBuryHL0–12,31018 August 200923rdCrewe AlexandraHL0–11,82122 August 200924thPort ValeAL0–14,56129 August 200924thCheltenham TownHD1–1Gall 71'1,8405 September 200924thLincoln CityAL0–33,00511 September 200924thAccrington StanleyAL1–2Gall 59'3,22819 September 200924thAFC BournemouthHL0–21,99926 September 200924thGrimsby TownAD1–1Main 81'4,01429 September 200924thRochdaleHL0–21,7483 October 200924thMacclesfield TownHL0–11,76310 October 200924thDagenham & RedbridgeAL0–21,98117 October 200924thShrewsbury TownHW2–1Devitt 26', Thomas 56'1,95824 October 200924thBarnetAL0–32,31331 October 200924thHereford UnitedAL1–2Collins 72'2,23814 November 200924thBurton AlbionHW1–0Main 7'2,40421 November 200924thChesterfieldAL2–5Collins 59', Hogg 87'3,46028 November 200924thMorecambeHL0–41,6981 December24thNotts CountyAL0–44,6065 December 200924thBradford CityHL0–12,74412 December 200924thTorquay UnitedAL0–52,43419 January 201024thRotherham UnitedAW2–1Purcell 47', G. Smith 63'3,23423 January 201024thCrewe AlexandraAL0–33,71726 January 201024thNorthampton TownHL1–2Purcell 29'1,6946 February 201024thRotherham UnitedHW2–0Purcell 19', Waite 52'2,2319 February 201024thLincoln CityHD1–1Dempsey 38'1,69713 February 201024thMorecambeAL0–21,74120 February 201024thChesterfieldHL2–3Purcell 27', 53'2,20927 February 201024thBradford CityAL0–111,5322 March 201024thPort ValeHL1–3Purcell 6'1,5826 March 201024thTorquay UnitedHL1–3Main 54'1,8199 March 201024thBuryAD1–1Purcell 32' pen.2,12313 March 201024thNorthampton TownAL0–24,75520 March 201024thBarnetHL1–2Breen 57' o.g.1,46323 March 201024thAldershot TownHL1–2Arnison 85'1,29627 March 201024thShrewsbury TownAW2–0Purcell 8', Diop 87'5,0813 April 201024thBurton AlbionAW2–1Gray 22', White 32'2,7795 April 201024thHereford UnitedHL0–12,13110 April 201024thAccrington StanleyHD0–01,54513 April 201024thRochdaleAW1–0Mulligan 35'5,37117 April 201024thAFC BournemouthAL0–26,46420 April 201024thCheltenham TownAD3–3Purcell 2', Eastham 5' o.g., Diop 27'2,83624 April 201024thGrimsby TownHL0–21,91127 April 201024thNotts CountyHL0–52,1121 May 201024thMacclesfield TownAW0–2Miller 9', M. Smith 79'1,7168 May 201024thDagenham & RedbridgeHL0–22,720

FA Cup

+ FA Cup match detailsRoundDateOpponentsVenueResultScoreF–AScorersAttendanceRefsFirst round7 November 2009BarnetAL1–3Diop 73'1,654

Football League Cup

+ League Cup match detailsRoundDateOpponentsVenueResultScoreF–AScorersAttendanceRefsFirst round10 August 2009Leeds UnitedHL0–14,487

Football League Trophy

+ Football League Trophy match detailsRoundDateOpponentsVenueResultScoreF–AScorersAttendanceRefsFirst round1 September 2009Lincoln CityHW1–0Thorpe 27'828Second round6 October 2009Leeds UnitedAL1–2Convery 45+1'8,429

Appearances and goals Source: Numbers in parentheses denote appearances as substitute. Players with name and squad number struck through and marked left the club during the playing season. Players with names in italics and marked * were on loan from another club for the whole of their season with Darlington. Players listed with no appearances have been in the matchday squad but only as unused substitutes. Key to positions: GK – Goalkeeper; DF – Defender; MF – Midfielder; FW – Forward

+ Players included in matchday squadsNo.Pos.Nat.NameLeagueFA CupLeague CupFL TrophyTotalDisciplineAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals2DFPaul Arnison17 (1)10 (0)01 (0)02 (0)020 (1)14021DFRikki Bains3 (1)00 (0)00 (0)00 (1)0 3 (2)00026FWCorey Barnes4 (2)01 (0)00 (0)01 (0)0 6 (2)01028DFMoses Barnett *4 (0)01 (0)00 (0)00 (0)0 5 (0)00011MFJames Bennett3 (1)00 (0)00 (0)00 (1)0 3 (2)0003DFMark Bower12 (1)00 (0)01 (0)01 (0)014 (1)00031DFDan Burn2 (2)00 (0)00 (0)00 (0)0 2 (2)00033DFRichie Byrne2 (2)00 (0)00 (0)00 (0)0 2 (2)02019MFJamie Chandler12 (2)00 (0)01 (0)01 (0)014 (2)06125MFRoss Chisholm2 (1)00 (0)00 (0)00 (0)02 (1)00023FWJames Collins5 (2)21 (0)00 (0)00 (0)0 6 (2)23018MFMark Convery9 (12)01 (0)00 (0)01 (1)1 11 (13)10023FWJordan Cook *4 (1)00 (0)00 (0)00 (0)0 4 (1)00022MFDavid Davis *5 (0)01 (0)00 (0)00 (0)0 6 (0)03029FWPatrick Deane0 (10)00 (0)00 (0)00 (0)00 (10)00011MFGary Dempsey24 (0)10 (0)00 (0)00 (0)024 (0)13022MFJamie Devitt *5 (1)10 (0)00 (0)01 (0)0 6 (1)12030FWMor Diop18 (5)20 (1)10 (0)00 (0)0 18 (6)33020FWDavid Dowson *6 (4)10 (0)01 (0)00 (1)0 7 (5)1005DFSteve Foster15 (1)01 (0)01 (0)01 (0)018 (1)00024FWKevin Gall9 (1)20 (0)00 (0)02 (0)011 (1)21020DFStuart Giddings22 (0)00 (0)00 (0)00 (0)022 (0)03012MFJosh Gray10 (17)10 (1)00 (0)00 (0)010 (18)12016MFDanny Groves8 (8)00 (0)00 (0)01 (0)09 (8)01032DFDanny Hall *3 (0)00 (0)00 (0)00 (0)03 (0)02033MFPaul Harsley *3 (0)00 (0)00 (0)00 (0)03 (0)02028MFJonathan Hogg *5 (0)10 (0)00 (0)00 (0)05 (0)11025GKRussell Hoult *6 (0)00 (0)00 (0)00 (0)06 (0)00025GKAshlee Jones1 (0)00 (0)00 (0)00 (0)01 (0)00033DFTony Kane *4 (0)00 (0)00 (0)00 (0)04 (0)0101GKDavid Knight7 (0)00 (0)01 (0)01 (0)09 (0)00013GKNick Liversedge13 (0)01 (0)00 (0)01 (0)015 (0)0018MFChris Lumsdon2 (0)00 (0)01 (0)00 (0)03 (0)00022DFSimon Madden13 (2)00 (0)00 (0)00 (0)013 (2)02015FWCurtis Main12 (14)30 (1)00 (1)00 (1)012 (17)32025FWJordan Marshall0 (3)00 (0)00 (0)00 (0)00 (3)00027MFJohn McReady3 (1)00 (0)00 (0)00 (0)0 3 (1)0006DFIan Miller40 (0)10 (0)01 (0)02 (0)043 (0)13019DFAndrew Milne12 (1)00 (0)00 (0)00 (0)012 (1)0009MFChris Moore8 (3)00 (0)00 (0)00 (0)08 (3)00024MFNathan Mulligan10 (6)10 (0)00 (0)00 (0)010 (6)1304DFMatty Plummer5 (3)01 (0)00 (1)02 (0)08 (4)00022MFNathan Porritt *4 (1)00 (0)00 (0)01 (0)05 (1)00019FWTadhg Purcell22 (0)90 (0)00 (0)00 (0)022 (0)92023GKShane Redmond *19 (0)00 (0)00 (0)00 (0)019 (0)01014MFGary Smith32 (2)11 (0)01 (0)02 (0)036 (2)1507MFJeff Smith22 (2)01 (0)01 (0)01 (1)025 (3)00032FWMichael Smith3 (4)10 (0)00 (0)00 (0)03 (4)10029FWSimon Thomas *7 (0)11 (0)00 (0)00 (0)08 (0)1209FWLee Thorpe7 (1)00 (0)01 (0)01 (0)19 (1)13028MFGareth Waite14 (0)10 (0)00 (0)00 (0)014 (0)12010FWNoel Whelan2 (1)00 (0)00 (0)00 (0)02 (1)0004DFAlan White *23 (1)10 (0)00 (0)00 (0)023 (1)15010FWDean Windass3 (3)00 (0)00 (0)00 (1)03 (4)010

Transfers In The Football League approved the club's exit from administration only in August 2009, so although deals had been agreed with a number of players, some of whom had appeared in pre-season matches, these players were not officially registered until 3 August 2009. These registrations also included those of players whose contracts could not be renewed until the club came out of administration.