 | |||
| Full name | Durham City Association Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | The Citizens | ||
| Founded | 1918 | ||
| Ground | Leyburn Grove,Houghton-le-Spring | ||
| Chairman | Gary Hutchinson | ||
| League | Wearside League Division One | ||
| 2024–25 | Wearside League Division One, 7th of 18 | ||
Durham City Association Football Club is afootball club based inDurham, England. Members of theFootball League from 1921 until 1928, they currently play in theWearside League Division One.
The club was established in 1918 and initially competed in the Victory League, which was set up in celebration of the end ofWorld War I,[1] finishing bottom of the table.[2] In 1919 they joined theNorth Eastern League, finishing fifth in their first season.[3] Despite a mid-table finish in 1920–21, they were one of fourteen clubs automatically elected to the newly formedThird Division North of theFootball League in 1921.[4] They finished bottom of the division in1922–23, but were re-elected.[4] In1925–26 the club reached the second round of theFA Cup for the first time, losing 3–0 at home to Division Three North rivalsSouthport. After finishing second-from-bottom in1927–28, the club failed to winre-election, gaining only 11 votes to the 22 received by the newly electedCarlisle United.[5]
Durham dropped back into Division One of the North Eastern League, replacing their reserve team.[6] They finished bottom of Division One in 1928–29 and were relegated to Division Two. However, after finishing as Division Two runners-up in 1930–31, they were promoted back to Division One.[6] In 1933 the club was renamedCity of Durham.[7] After three consecutive finishes in the bottom three between 1934–35 and 1936–37, they ended the 1937–38 season bottom of the league. They dropped into theWearside League, but folded in November 1938, partly due to the introduction of greyhound racing at theirHoliday Park ground.[1][3][8][9]
The club was re-established in 1949,[10] and joined theWearside League for the 1950–51 season.[9] After two seasons they were admitted to theNorthern League. The club finished bottom of the league in1954–55, but thefollowing season saw them reach the first round of theFA Cup for the first time as a non-League club, eventually losing 3–1 at local rivalsBishop Auckland. In1957–58 they went one better, reaching the second round, where they lost 3–0 at home toTranmere Rovers in front of Ferens Park's record crowd.[1] The club finished bottom of the Northern League again in1960–61,1963–64 and1965–66, but were runners-up in1970–71.[3] After the league gained a second division in 1982, they were relegated to Division Two at the end of the1983–84 season. However, a third-place finish in1987–88 saw them promoted back to Division One.[3]
After three seasons in Division One, Durham were relegated back to Division Two at the end of the1990–91 season, which had seen them finish bottom of the table.[3] However, they were runners-up in Division Two thefollowing season, and were promoted back to Division One. They went on to win their first league title in1993–94, also winning the league's Cleator Cup.[10] Although the club were relegated at the end of the1997–98 season, they won Division Two thefollowing season to make an immediate return to Division One. They won the League Cup and the Cleator Cup in2001–02 and finished as Division One runners-up in2003–04.[10] After winning the league for a second time and the Cleator Cup for a third time in2007–08, they were promoted to Division One North of theNorthern Premier League.
Durham'sfirst season in the Northern Premier League saw them win Division One North, earning promotion to the Premier Division;[3] they also won the league's Chairman's Cup.[10] However, their main sponsor withdrew in the summer of 2009 after theFootball Conference ruled that they would not accept clubs with artificial pitches, which Durham had.[11] As a result, the club lost most of its players and won only two league matches during the2009–10 season. They finished bottom of the table with zero points after having six points deducted for playing a player under a false name,[12] and 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 the2011–12 season and returned to Division One of the Northern League. In 2013 the club was purchased by former Premier League playerOlivier Bernard, with a stated aim of making them a talent development club for local professional teams.[13] After finishing in the bottom three in2015–16, the club were relegated to Division Two.[3]
Durham continued to struggle, winning only one game in four years between April 2019 to May 2023, resulting in them being labelled "England's worst football club".[14] The2019–20 and2020–21 seasons were not completed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and club avoided relegation.[15] However, in2021–22 they finished bottom of Division Two and were relegated to Division One of the Wearside League.[16] 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).
The club initially played at Garden House Park before moving toKepier Haughs in 1920.[17] Due to its distance from the city centre, the club relocated toHoliday Park in 1923.[8]
After being reformed, the club played at Ferens Park until the end of the 1993–94 season. During the 1994–95 season they played atChester-le-Street Town's Moor Park, before moving to New Ferens Park in 1995.[1] The ground has a capacity of 2,700, of which 270 is seated and 750 covered.[18] An artificial pitch was installed in 2006.[11] However, a dispute with the landlord led to the club moving toConsett's Belle View Stadium in 2015,[19] where they played until the end of the 2016–17 season. They then moved toWillington's Hall Lane ground prior to the 2017–18 season.[20] In 2022 the club relocated to Leyburn Grove inHoughton-le-Spring.
54°42′31″N1°41′27″W / 54.708650°N 1.6908807°W /54.708650; -1.6908807
