Here’s the latest column by Chief Executive Officer David Johnston

Hello, everyone.

I’m sure that just like me, you’re getting more and more excited as the season draws closer, and it was great to see so many people inside the Arena for the friendly against Newcastle United Under 23s on Monday night.

It was a great crowd of 1,775, and probably three quarters of those were from Darlington, which is really encouraging. Plenty of them were wearing the new club strip, which was great to see and don’t forget that they’re available from the club shop, along with other Darlington memorabilia. I thought that the team recovered from a very quick opening by Newcastle and started to create a few problems for them. Both Martin and Peter Beardsley utilised a full squad and it was good to see some of our younger players gain valuable experience. In my view we were the better side in the second half and were unlucky not to get something out of the game but obviously pre-season fitness was the main objective and the lads had another good workout against fast opponents.

Please spread the word about the club, and welcome people to come along and support us when the season kicks off at Salford on August 5th. There are two home games coming up in quick succession on August 9th against Gainsborough and August 12th against Alfreton, and it will be great to see crowds of around the 2,000 mark inside Blackwell Meadows.

Speaking of which, the grass is growing very nicely at Blackwell Meadows, and earlier in the week it received its first cut. The weather is helping; there’s been a fair mixture of sun and rain in recent weeks, so we’re well on target in terms of the pitch being ready in time.

I know that a fair few of the youngsters who attended Monday’s game were in receipt of free tickets that we handed out to the primary school heads for our Football in the Community launch last Friday. Deano Browne did a terrific presentation to around two dozen of the town’s primary school heads, and I said a few words also about how important it is for the club to play a major role in the community. Deano will be touring the local schools once they start again in September, and he’ll be encouraging youngsters to come along and enjoy our matchday experience, as well as doing coaching sessions.

There’s plenty going on behind the scenes as I work on the club’s strategy. I’ve had another round of meetings with various bodies and people, and I’m continuing to formulate plans and budgets. Hopefully, I’ll be able to tell you more soon.

Along with Rob Jones and Ray Simpson, I attended the National League pre season meeting at Walsall on Wednesday, and learned quite a bit about how the league is run, what its aims are and what they expect from us as a club. I chatted with quite a few people throughout the day, including Colin Peake, one of the league’s officials who is responsible for ground grading. It’s important that as a club we build a good relationship with the league.

Thanks for reading the column. I’ll update you as and when I can, either through this method or elsewhere on the official website – the only place to find official Darlington news.

All the best, Dave.