A LOOK INTO HISTORY 221

A LOOK INTO HISTORY TWO HUNDRED AND TWENTY ONE
DURHAM CITY FLOODLIGHT INAUGURAL

One of the finest views from a train window is the sight of Durham Cathedral en route to Edinburgh from the South.
Many clubs can count on having chequered lives and latterly that has been Durham City FC who even had Football League membership from the 1921 until 1928 when they joined the extended Division Three but at the time of writing have dropped to the lower reaches of Step 7/8 Wearside League.
The club was established in 1918 after the First World War and in 1919 joined the North Eastern league before elevation to the Football League. Their first season in finishing 11th was their best position with Stockport County champions and one point ahead of Wrexham but dropping back to last in 1922-23 with Nelson thesz\az Champions. Low to Mid table finishes then became the norm but at the end of 1927-28 with a second from bottom place, re-election took place and they lost their status with Carlisle United replacing them. Returning to the North Eastern League at their Holiday Park ground, the club folded in 1938 only to be re-established in 1949 in the Wearside League. The club took up residence at Ferens Park. The club moved in 1950-51 to the Northern League, arguably the toughest amateur league in the country.
It is with mention of Ferens Park that we bring in our Match Programme for their Inaugural Floodlit match on Wednesday 24th February 1971 against an All Star X1. Priced 15p it was taken up with pen pictures of all the players but the sad thing for spectators were the famous names of the time that were supposed to play but didn’t !
Ralph Brand of Rangers, Laurie Brown former captain of the GB Olympic team, George Herd, Scottish International, Len Ashurst and Stan Anderson of Sunderland and Alan Ball, Queen of the South goalkeeper just six that were subbed by unknowns but still a night to remember for Durham City FC who finished their league season in second place after 38 matches, three points behind Evenwood Town with mighty teams of the old Amateur days, Bishop Auckland, Crook Town and Willington in the bottom four !
Loyal service to the Northern League continued through the years and in 2008 promotion to the Northern Premier League Division One was followed by success at Premier level but serious trouble erupted in 2009 when the Football Conference ruled they would not accept clubs with artificial pitches so their sponsor withdrew and many players left. They won only two league matches in 2009-10 and ended with zero points
so 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 a new owner but after finishing in the bottom three in 2015–16, the club were relegated to Division Two.
Durham continued to struggle, winning only one game in four years between April 2019 to May 2023. The 2019–20 and 2020–21 seasons were not completed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and club avoided relegation. However, in 2021–22 they finished bottom of Division Two and were relegated to Division One of the Wearside League. 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). Such is the yo-yo life of this Cathedral City’s football club.