Behind the scenes – update 13

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 Thursday 18^th June 2020.

The Current league season:

The National League held a vote among member clubs to determine whether the play offs in all three divisions should take place, and a majority voted for them to go ahead.

The league is also looking at different fixture scenarios, depending on government guidelines over the coming months.

Like many other clubs in the National League, and also at other levels of the football pyramid, Darlington Football Club is continuing to explore and research the potential for the live streaming of games through the official club website. This work is in the early research stages and much of it will depend on the restrictions placed on staging matches in the future.  The League has indicated that it would consider allowing clubs to live stream matches, but not with a kick off on a Saturday between 12.30pm and 5.30pm, to avoid clashing with any matches covered by BT Sport.

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 are giving to our Club, and we will be making some exciting announcements over the next few weeks. We are also refreshing 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.

The Club is delighted to have appointed Lauren Coad to the voluntary role of Hospitality Manager, and she will have responsibility for running our entire hospitality operation on matchdays.

We expect to announce the 2020/21 kit sponsorship details on the official website by the end of this week.

Community engagement:

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

• The Zoom facility has been used for a vast variety of meetings and to interview former players for 80s week on the website. Six former players, who appeared with honour in the 80s, have been interviewed at length.
• There has been a review of the Buddy Mentoring Scheme after operating it for three months. The Club has collaborated with Darlington Support to work together to meet the increasing needs of the community during the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic. This partnership will involve a number of fronts including: signposting residents, sharing resources such as website articles and social media posts and contact with the most vulnerable, isolated and shielding people of Darlington. Both parties intend to extend this collaboration beyond the Coronavirus crisis and continue to meet the needs of those most vulnerable within our local community. Full details are on the official website

Other news:

• Club secretary Dave Watson attended the virtual AGM of the National League Academy in preparation for the new Academy season.
• Fans have been asked to contact the club if they want a refund for the four matches on their 2019-20 season tickets, that we were unable to play.

Coming up, 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 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,  If you have any 80s memories, then drop Ray Simpson a line on media@darlingtonfc.org.
• Hold a Netcafe with Adam Campbell on Thursday 25^th June, beginning at 7pm. Questions please to media@darlingtonfc.org
• Continue to develop our relationships with the local community

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 until we resume matches for the benefit of our much-valued volunteers and loyal supporters.

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

Remember, follow the guidelines and stay safe.