Darwen F.C.

Football club infobox
clubname = Darwen
fullname = Darwen Football Club
nickname = The Salmoners
founded = 1870
ground = The Anchor Ground
Darwen
capacity = 4,000
chairman = Ted Ward
manager = Dennis Hill
league = North West Counties League
Division One
season = 2007–08
position = North West Counties League
Division Two, 11th
shirt sponsors= Thwaites Beers pattern_la1=|pattern_b1=|pattern_ra1=
leftarm1=FF0000|body1=FF0000|rightarm1=FF0000|shorts1=FF0000|socks1=FF0000
pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=|pattern_ra2=
leftarm2=FFFFFF|body2=FFFFFF|rightarm2=FFFFFF|shorts2=FFFFFF|socks2=FFFFFF

Darwen F.C. are a football club from Darwen in Lancashire, north west England. The team, formed in 1870, currently play in the First Division of the North West Counties Football League. They play their home games at the Anchor Ground.

History

The club originally played Rugby football, as well as cricket. It adopted Association rules in 1875.

In October 1878, at their Barley Bank ground, Darwen played a representative team from Blackburn under floodlights. This is believed to be one of the first, if not the very first instance of their use in football. The game was a huge success (not only because Darwen won 3-0) but the experiment was not repeated in that era.

Darwen was the first club from the north of England to achieve any success in the F.A. Cup, reaching the quarter finals in 1879. They caused controversy in this competition by signing two professional players, Fergie Suter and James Love, both from Partick Thistle, a Scottish club based in Glasgow. This is believed to be the first involvement of professional players in English football. One London club proposed that "no side which does not consist entirely of amateurs, as defined by the rules to be drawn up by the committee, be entitled to compete in the Challenge Cup competition". (Note the words "rules to be drawn up", which imply that there was no rule forbidding professionals at the time.) The motion was defeated and Darwen travelled down to the Oval to play the great amateur side Old Etonians in the quarter-final. They needed to make the journey three times, drawing 5-5 and 2-2 before losing 6-2 in the second replay.

An FA Cup regulation of that time ruled that the final three rounds of the competition were to be played in London. This was changed following Darwen's experiences in 1879, and entries were subsequently grouped by region.

Two years later, in 1881, Darwen went one better and reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup. They beat Romford 15-0 in the quarter-final.

In 1891 Darwen were elected to the Football League as it was expanded to 14 teams. In March 1892 they lost 12-0 to West Bromwich Albion, and this winning margin has never been surpassed in the League's top division (although it was equalled in 1909 when Nottingham Forest beat Leicester Fosse by the same score).

Darwen finished bottom of the League in their first season, and were relegated to become founder members of the Second Division. Ironically, 14th (out of 14) in 1891-92 remains their highest ever placing in the Football League.

In 1893 they finished in third place and were promoted back to the First Division via the Test matches, but they were relegated again in 1894. They remained in the Second Division until 1899, when they did not apply for re-election. They had spent eight seasons in the League, two of them in the top flight.

During their last season as a League club, in 1898-99, Darwen suffered 18 consecutive defeats. This remains a record, although Sunderland narrowly avoided equalling it in 2003, when they lost 17 consecutive League games (15 in the F.A. Premier League and two in the Football League First Division) before beating Preston North End 2-0 at Deepdale.

After leaving the Football League the club joined the Lancashire League. It was also in 1899 that they moved to the Anchor Ground, which has remained their home ever since.

In 1902 they won the Lancashire League title, remaining unbeaten all season. Two years later they joined the Lancashire Combination, and they played in this league for the following 70 years (apart from a break during and immediately after World War One). They were champions of the Combination four times, and following the fourth title in 1976 they joined the more prestigious Cheshire County League.

Six years later, in 1982, they became founder members of the North West Counties League. They won the League Cup in its inaugural season. They spent three seasons in the Second Division in the mid-1980s, and were relegated again in 1998 on account of ground regulations. They have remained in the Second Division ever since. It is also rumoured that swinton lions a rugby team who play their home matches currently at sedgely park will be playin there in the future under the banner east lancashire lions who's a team already play there under that banner.

League and cup record

*1879-80 - Winners of the first ever Lancashire Cup competition defeating Blackburn Rovers in the Final.
*1880-81 - FA Cup semi-finalists (after beating Romford 15-0 in quarter-finals)
*1889-90 - Founder member of Football Alliance
*1891-92 - Elected into Football League
*1892-93 - Not re-elected into First Division, but elected as a founder member of Football League Division Two. Promoted after Test Match
*1893-94 - Relegated after Test Match
*1899 - Did not seek re-election to Football League
*1899-00 - Joined Lancashire League
*1901-02 - Lancashire League Champions
*1902-03 - Lancashire League runner-up (on goal average)
*1903-04 - Joined Lancashire Combination Division One
*1905-06 - Lancashire Combination runner-up
*1909 - Relegated to Division Two
*1914 - Left Lancashire Combination
*1920-21 - Rejoined Lancashire Combination
*1930-31 - Lancashire Combination Champions
*1931-32 - Lancashire Combination Champions (2nd time)
*1963 - Relegated to Division Two
*1965-66 - Promoted to Division One
*1967 - Relegated to Division Two
*1967-68 - Lancashire Combination Division Two runner-up
*1971-72 - Lancashire Combination Champions (3rd time)
*1973-74 - Lancashire Combination runner-up (on goal average)
*1974-75 - Lancashire Combination Champions (4th time)
*1975-76 - Joined Cheshire County League
*1982-83 - Founder members of North West Counties League
*1984 - Relegated to Division Two
*1984-85 - Escaped relegation due to Padiham having 2 points deducted
*1986-87 - Promoted to Division One
*1998 - Demoted to Division Two due to ground gradings

* Best league position: 14th (of 14) in (only division) Football League, 1891-92; or 15th of 16 in 1893-94 in the 1st Division of the Football League.
* Best (post-war) league position: 5th in North-West Counties League (then level 8), 1988-89
* Best FA Cup performance: semi-final, 1880-81. (Post-war: 4th qualifying round, 1946-47)
* Best FA Trophy performance: 2nd round replay (three times) in 1972-73, 1978-79 and 1981-82.
* Best FA Vase performance: 3rd round 1990-91

Honours

*Lancashire Combination champions 1931, 1932.
*Lancashire League champions 1902.
*Lancashire Cup winners 1880, finalists 1883, 1891.
*Lancashire Junior Cup winners 1933, finalists 1929, 1930, 1949, 1999.

Notable former players

*Joe Smith (player-manager), formerly manager of Blackpool for 23 years, guiding them to victory in the famous 1953 FA Cup Final
*Horace Fairhurst, former Blackpool player who died as a result of a head injury sustained during a game.

England internationals

Four Darwen players were capped for England.

The full list of England players (with the number of caps received whilst registered with Darwen F.C.) were [ [http://www.englandfootballonline.com/TeamClubs/Clubs/Darwen.html England Players' Club Affiliations - Darwen] ] :
*Thomas Brindle (2 caps)
*Joseph Marsden (1 cap)
*Thomas Marshall (2 caps)
*Thurston Rostron (2 caps)

References

*fchd|id=DARWEN|name=Darwen

External links

* [http://www.darwenfc.com/ Darwen Football Club - Official website]
* [http://www.btinternet.com/~dajaca/earlyyears.htm Darwen Football Club, the early years]