What a load of bollocks! Some muppet at Darlington thought they could make it to the Premier League by building a fancy new stadium. What a bellend!
Delusions of grandeur
The Quakers were pissing about in League Two when their new owner, George Reynolds, decided he'd have them playing in the top flight in no time. So he spends £18 million on a new 25,500-seater stadium, as if that's all it takes to make it in the beautiful game. Mug.
Ambition or arrogance?
You've gotta be taking liberties if you think a poxy little club like Darlington can fill a ground that big. They were lucky to get 2,000 through the turnstiles most weeks. No wonder the place was empty.
Financial fiasco
Of course, the whole thing was funded by dodgy loans and the club needed way more fans turning up to have any hope of paying for it. Reynolds ended up in the slammer for tax evasion and the club went into administration. Twice. Serves 'em right for getting ideas above their station.
The inevitable fall
Despite a few half-decent seasons, Darlington never made it out of the lower leagues. They ended up dropping down to the Northern League Division One. That's the eighth tier, in case you didn't know. What a joke.
Back to square one
Now they're playing at some athletics track they share with the local rugby club, and the fancy stadium they thought would take them to the top is being used for vaccinations and pop concerts. Olly Murs played there, for fuck's sake. Not exactly the Premier League, is it?
Just goes to show, you can't buy success in football. You need more than a flashy ground to make it in this game. Darlington found that out the hard way. Bunch of muppets.
