2008–09 Darlington F.C. season

Darlington
2008–09 season
Manager	Dave Penney
Stadium	The Darlington Arena
League Two	12th
FA Cup	First round
Football League Cup	Second round
Johnstones Paint Trophy	Northern Semi Final
	← 2007–08 2009–10 →

This page shows the progress of Darlington F.C. in the 2008–09 football season. During the season, Darlington competed in League Two in the English league system.

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
10	Chesterfield	46	16	15	15	62	57	+5	63
11	Morecambe	46	15	18	13	53	56	−3	63
12	Darlington	46	20	12	14	61	44	+17	62^[a]
13	Lincoln City	46	14	17	15	53	52	+1	59
14	Rotherham United	46	21	12	13	60	46	+14	58^[b]

Source: The Football League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:

^ Darlington deducted 10 points for entering administration.^[1]
^ Rotherham United deducted 17 points for leaving administration without a Company Voluntary Agreement.^[2]

Results

^[3]

Football League Two

9 August 2008 1	Darlington	1–1	Exeter City	Darlington
	Purdie 40' (pen.)		Seaborne 60'	Stadium: The Darlington Arena Attendance: 3,559

16 August 2008 2	Notts County	0–0	Darlington	Nottingham
				Stadium: Meadow Lane Attendance: 4,352

23 August 2008 3	Darlington	1–2	Gillingham	Darlington
	Purdie 78' (pen.)		Jackson 21' Richards 90'	Stadium: The Darlington Arena Attendance: 2,831

30 August 2008 4	Macclesfield Town	0–6	Darlington	Macclesfield
	Hessey 64'		Clarke 26', 53', 64' (pen.), 67' Walker 56' (o.g.) Austin 90'	Stadium: Moss Rose Attendance: 1,554

6 September 2008 5	Aldershot Town	2–1	Darlington	Aldershot
	Morgan 7' Soares 27'		Hulbert 45'	Stadium: EBB Stadium Attendance: 3,460

13 September 2008 6	Darlington	2–1	Port Vale	Darlington
	Burgmeier 38' Hatch 77'		Rodgers 28'	Stadium: The Darlington Arena Attendance: 3,040

20 September 2008 7	Darlington	3–0	Accrington Stanley	Darlington
	Clarke 32', 57' White 76'			Stadium: The Darlington Arena Attendance: 2,814

27 September 2008 8	Bournemouth	3–1	Darlington	Bournemouth
	Bartley 15' Austin 37' (o.g.) Pitman 90'		Hatch 35'	Stadium: Fitness First Stadium Attendance: 4,124

4 October 2008 9	Darlington	1–1	Shrewsbury Town	Darlington
	White 55'		Thornton 71'	Stadium: The Darlington Arena Attendance: 2,899

11 October 2008 10	Luton Town	1–2	Darlington	Luton
	Gnakpa 31'		Clarke 15' Blundell 90'	Stadium: Kenilworth Road Attendance: 5,560

18 October 2008 11	Wycombe Wanderers	1–1	Darlington	High Wycombe
	McGleish 90' (pen.)		Kennedy 58' Ryan 77'	Stadium: Adams Park Attendance: 5,345

21 October 2008 12	Darlington	2–1	Bradford City	Darlington
	Austin 84' Burgmeier 90'		Daley 85'	Stadium: The Darlington Arena Attendance: 3,034

25 October 2008 13	Darlington	3–0	Dagenham & Redbridge	Darlington
	Hatch 5', 55' Kennedy 51'			Stadium: The Darlington Arena Attendance: 3,070

28 October 2008 14	Rotherham United	0–1	Darlington	Sheffield
			Ravenhill 61'	Stadium: Don Valley Stadium Attendance: 3,322

1 November 2008 15	Grimsby Town	1–2	Darlington	Grimsby
	Kalala 71'		Clarke 7' Ravenhill 15'	Stadium: Blundell Park Attendance: 3,509

15 November 2008 16	Darlington	2–0	Lincoln City	Darlington
	Foster 14' Hatch 47' Foran 90'			Stadium: The Darlington Arena Attendance: 3,534

22 November 2008 17	Brentford	1–1	Darlington	London
	Osborne 90'		Foran 60'	Stadium: Griffin Park Attendance: 4,837

25 November 2008 18	Darlington	1–2	Chester City	Darlington
	Purdie 7'		Lowe 37' Kelly 53'	Stadium: The Darlington Arena Attendance: 2,416

13 December 2008 19	Morecambe	1–0	Darlington	Morecambe
	Howe 67'			Stadium: Christie Park Attendance: 1,873

20 December 2008 20	Darlington	2–2	Barnet	Darlington
	Hatch 8', 25'		O'Flynn 19' Yakubu 76'	Stadium: The Darlington Arena Attendance: 2,770

26 December 2008 21	Bury	2–2	Darlington	Bury
	Brown 31' (o.g.) Bishop 55' (pen.)		Miller 44' Foran 72'	Stadium: Gigg Lane Attendance: 3,454

28 December 2008 22	Darlington	0–0	Chesterfield	Darlington
				Stadium: The Darlington Arena Attendance: 3,352

3 January 2009 23	Darlington	2–1	Bournemouth	Darlington
	Abbott 83' Purdie 90' (pen.)		Hollands 29'	Stadium: The Darlington Arena Attendance: 2,571

17 January 2009 24	Darlington	5–1	Luton Town	Darlington
	Purdie 10' (pen.), 24' Hatch 26' Austin 28' Blundell 85'		Martin 30'	Stadium: The Darlington Arena Attendance: 3,319

24 January 2009 25	Shrewsbury Town	1–0	Darlington	Shrewsbury
	Walker 5'			Stadium: Prostar Stadium Attendance: 5,140

27 January 2009 26	Darlington	1–0	Rotherham United	Darlington
	Carlton 22' Hulbert 57'			Stadium: The Darlington Arena Attendance: 2,431

31 January 2009 27	Dagenham & Redbridge	0–1	Darlington	Dagenham
			Abbott 74'	Stadium: Victoria Road Attendance: 1,832

17 February 2009 28	Bradford City	0–0	Darlington	Bradford
				Stadium: Coral Windows Stadium Attendance: 12,782

21 February 2009 29	Darlington	1–0	Grimsby Town	Darlington
	Main 87'			Stadium: The Darlington Arena Attendance: 3,418

24 February 2009 30	Darlington	1–2	Rochdale	Darlington
	Abbott 60' Ravenhill 63'		Le Fondre 28' Rundle 62'	Stadium: The Darlington Arena Attendance: 2,858

28 February 2009 31	Exeter City	2–0	Darlington	Exeter
	Gill 72' (pen.) McAllister 83'		White 88'	Stadium: St James Park Attendance: 4,851

3 March 2009 32	Darlington	1–0	Notts County	Darlington
	Hulbert 5'			Stadium: The Darlington Arena Attendance: 2,450

7 March 2009 33	Darlington	1–2	Macclesfield Town	Darlington
	Poole 61'		Evans 40', 67' (pen.)	Stadium: The Darlington Arena Attendance: 2,995

10 March 2009 34	Gillingham	1–0	Darlington	Gillingham
	Jackson 90' (pen.)			Stadium: Priestfield Attendance: 4,730

14 March 2009 35	Port Vale	3–1	Darlington	Stoke on Trent
	Dodds 45' Taylor 51' Richards 78'		Carlton 26'	Stadium: Vale Park Attendance: 4,860

17 March 2009 36	Lincoln City	0–1	Darlington	Lincoln
			Carlton 7'	Stadium: Sincil Bank Attendance: 2,835

21 March 2009 37	Darlington	2–0	Aldershot Town	Darlington
	Main 45' Carlton 72'			Stadium: The Darlington Arena Attendance: 2,532

24 March 2009 38	Accrington Stanley	1–0	Darlington	Accrington
	Ryan 22'			Stadium: Crown Ground Attendance: 1,086

28 March 2009 39	Barnet	0–1	Darlington	London
			Abbott 66'	Stadium: Underhill Attendance: 2,069

4 April 2009 40	Darlington	0–0	Morecambe	Darlington
				Stadium: The Darlington Arena Attendance: 2,560

7 April 2009 41	Darlington	1–2	Wycombe Wanderers	Darlington
	Kennedy 60'		Akinde 39' Zebroski 90'	Stadium: The Darlington Arena Attendance: 2,180

11 April 2009 42	Chesterfield	0–0	Darlington	Chesterfield
				Stadium: Saltergate Attendance: 3,642

13 April 2009 43	Darlington	2–2	Bury	Darlington
	Kennedy 38' Abbott 74'		Hurst 8' Sodje 53'	Stadium: The Darlington Arena Attendance: 2,927

18 April 2009 44	Rochdale	0–2	Darlington	Rochdale
			Kennedy 4' McArdle 66' (o.g.)	Stadium: Spotland Attendance: 3,789

25 April 2009 45	Darlington	1–3	Brentford	Darlington
	White 2' Abbott 59'		Bennett 35' Clarke 43', 54'	Stadium: The Darlington Arena Attendance: 3,868

2 May 2009 46	Chester City	1–2	Darlington	Chester
	Miller 89' (o.g.)		Abbott 71', 90'	Stadium: Deva Stadium Attendance: 1,945

FA Cup

8 November 2008 Round 1	Darlington	0–0	Droylsden	Darlington
				Stadium: The Darlington Arena Attendance: 2,479

2 December 2008 Round 2	Droylsden	1–0	Darlington	Droylsden
	Tipton 26'			Stadium: Butcher's Arms Ground Attendance: 1,672

League Cup

12 August 2008 Round 1	Walsall	1–2	Darlington	Walsall
	Ricketts 11' 38'		Kennedy 31' Clarke 67'	Stadium: Banks's Stadium Attendance: 2,702

26 August 2008 Round 1	Watford	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Darlington	Watford
	Francis 37' O'Toole 116'		Blundell 90'	Stadium: Vicarage Road Attendance: 5,236

Football League Trophy

7 October 2008 Northern Section Round 2	Darlington	1–0	Huddersfield Town	Darlington
	White 45'			Stadium: The Darlington Arena Attendance: 1,791

4 November 2008 Northern Section Quarter Final	Darlington	1–0	Bury	Darlington
	White 53'			Stadium: The Darlington Arena Attendance: 1,651

26 August 2008 Northern Section Semi Final	Rotherham United	1–1 (4–2 p)	Darlington	Sheffield
	Harrison 74'		Foster 35'	Stadium: Don Valley Stadium Attendance: 2,706

Players

^[4]

First-team squad

Includes all players who were awarded squad numbers during the season.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	IRL	Andy Oakes
2	DF	ENG	Neil Austin
3	DF	ENG	Clayton Fortune
4	DF	ENG	Alan White
5	DF	ENG	Steve Foster
6	DF	ENG	Ian Miller
7	MF	ENG	Jason Kennedy
8	FW	ENG	Gregg Blundell
9	FW	POL	Paweł Abbott
10	FW	ENG	Danny Carlton (on loan from Carlisle United)
11	MF	ENG	Rob Purdie
12	DF	WAL	Ryan Valentine
13	GK	POL	Przemysław Kazimierczak
14	MF	IRL	Ricky Ravenhill
15	GK	ENG	Nick Liversedge


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
16	FW	ENG	David Poole
17	DF	ENG	Adam Griffin
18	MF	LIE	Franz Burgmeier
19	MF	ENG	Corey Barnes
20	MF	ENG	John McReady
21	MF	ENG	Danny Groves
22	GK	ENG	Scott Pocklington
23	MF	ENG	Robin Hulbert
25	FW	ENG	Curtis Main
26	DF	NIR	Jonathan Hewitson
27	MF	ENG	Josh Gray
28	FW	ENG	Michael Smith
29	FW	ENG	Liam Hatch (on loan from Peterborough United)
30	DF	ENG	Tim Ryan
32	MF	ENG	Dan Riley

Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
24	FW	IRL	Billy Clarke (returned to parent club Ipswich Town following loan spell)
33	MF	WAL	Michael Flynn (returned to parent club Huddersfield Town following loan spell)
22	GK	ENG	Simon Brown (returned to parent club Brentford following loan spell)
31	FW	IRL	Richie Foran (returned to parent club Southend United following loan spell)
10	FW	ENG	Adam Proudlock (signed for Grimsby Town in January 2009) ^[5]
34	FW	FRA	Sébastien Carole


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
19	DF	ENG	Lewis Hardman
21	FW	ENG	Jason Bradley
20	MF	ENG	Simon Todd
19	DF	ENG	Carl Tremarco (returned to parent club Wrexham following loan spell)
22	GK	ENG	Dean Gerken (returned to parent club Colchester United following loan spell)