Behind the scenes – update 12

Here is the latest of the behind the scenes updates of events at Darlington FC.

The Boards of Darlington FC and DFCSG continue to meet regularly via video conference call, to discuss various ongoing relevant matters. They met on Friday 12^th June 2020

The Current league season:

The National League conducted a Zoom call with representatives of National League North clubs on Thursday 11^th June. David Johnston and Dave Watson represented the club. The League has proposed a Resolution which allows the champion clubs of all three leagues to be promoted, with play offs proposed for all 3 divisions. There was also a presentation from the league about the current situation regarding Covid-19, and the various scenarios which may occur in this ever changing pandemic landscape.

Like many other clubs in the National League and also at other levels of the football pyramid, Darlington Football Club is exploring and researching the potential for the live streaming of games through the official club website. This work is in the very early research stages and much of it will depend on the restrictions placed on staging matches in the future.

Commercial:

Commercial activity has gathered pace in the last few weeks, and we are grateful to all of our current sponsors for the support they give to our Club, and we will be making some exciting announcements in due course. We are reviewing the Commercial Brochure in preparation for the 2020/21 season and we will also be reviewing our Hospitality arrangements with sponsors and fans who frequently use this facility. The aim is to make sure we offer the very best hospitality service we can, with a commitment to make it a value for money experience.

Community engagement:

The club has continued to be very active through various means:

• A successful Netcafe was held with chief exec David Johnston on the official website
• The Zoom facility has been used for a vast variety of meetings and to interview former players for 80s week on the website
• There has been a review of the Buddy Mentoring Scheme after operating it for the last 10 weeks. The main outcome of the review was that there is a strong desire to continue with the Buddy Scheme in a different format, particularly targeting those most vulnerable, isolated and/or shielding. Further news on how this will operate will be published on the website later this week.
• A popular vote on next season’s away kit was held on the website, and a winner was chosen. Sales in the first week topped 300, a record!

In the coming week, we will:

• Keep all our existing and current main sponsors up to date on Club developments.
• Continue the ongoing work on the review of the 2020-21 Commercial brochure.
• Run more feature articles on our sponsors and partners from the official website. The Club remains in continuous contact with our sponsors and partners and we are maintaining our excellent relationships with them during these difficult times.
• Continue the work in progress of existing and new and exciting features for the official website. Preparations are being made for an 80s week between 28^th June to 4^th July, more details on this soon. If you have any 80s memories, then drop Ray Simpson a line on media@darlingtonfc.org

Throughout these very difficult and unprecedented times, we have maintained a very high profile for the club on our official website and social media channels, and we will continue to do so for the benefit of our much-valued volunteers and loyal supporters. In the coming weeks and months, we will be exploring several new ideas to help provide our supporters with their ‘football fix’.

Thank you for your continued support, it is very much appreciated.

Remember, follow the guidelines and stay safe.