Here, we reproduce the From the Boardroom notes from the Halifax programme, as there were some very appropriate comments contained in them.

We hope first and foremost you have all had a very happy Christmas and we can rightfully say that Santa Claus really delivered for all Darlo fans the world over.

As the directors of Darlington Football Club, we are delighted to welcome old and new fans to the new home of Darlo fans at Blackwell Meadows.   This is a special time for all at the club; directors, volunteers, management team, players and fans alike and perhaps one of the proudest moments for many of us involved in the club. We have finally returned home to Darlington!

It has certainly been a long and sometimes bumpy road over the last four years but through serious hard work over the last nine months in particular we have finally got there. The current directors are at the end of a long line of people who have been involved in the project, so a huge thank you goes to our predecessors Dave Mills, Martin Jesper, Laura Drew, Denis Pinnegar and Ian Wilkinson who with many others have played a part in the survival of this great club.

Funding has been provided from a number of sources including the Football Stadia Improvement Fund to whom as a club we are exceptionally grateful. As the budget came under immense pressure in the spring when the work was finally tendered the FSIF supported a second application which has allowed us to complete the initial works at our new home.    A huge thank you goes to the fans who supported the creation of the 500 Club and those fans that bought an extension to that club for another year. At the time of the launch and with no certainty of return the founder members of the 500 club backed the club with five years of income to ensure we could match the requirements of the FSIF grant funding.

Under the stewardship of Neil Raper a significant event in more recent times was the galvanisation and alignment of the CIC, Trust and Supporters Club into the Darlington Football Club Supporters Group (DFCSG). Their share issue was managed extremely well and raised over £100,000 towards development costs here at Blackwell Meadows. With further funding of the dug outs and membership income the input of the DFCSG has and will continue to be the bedrock of funding of the club into the future. This close working relationship with DFCSG and the football club allows for full representation of the views and interests of the fans with the club’s Board of Directors at every stage of the club’s development, particularly as the Blackwell Meadows project moved forward.

Wherever we stand or sit in the ground today and in the future, we should all thank our landlords Darlington Rugby Club, without them and their support we would not be here.  Our move to Blackwell Meadows works for both parties on and off the field and it is important that we respect the fact that Blackwell Meadows is the rugby club’s home and they have made us welcome here. Both parties have invested considerable time and money to make this happen and we want to especially thank their chairman Michael Wilkinson and his committee, without whose commitment we wouldn't be here. Thanks also go to Darlington Borough Council who through Sport England has facilitated the construction of the new car park, a key component in enabling this move.

Behind the construction are Malcolm Cundick and his team of architects and engineers who designed this fantastic stadium that has room for expansion for our future trip back to the Football League already on the drawing board.  Darlington based J&RM Richardson have done a magnificent job in safely delivering our construction on time and their help over the last few weeks has been greatly received.   For those of you standing in the Tin Shed today we should thank Tony Ward from TM Ward group who has been the custodian of the Tin Shed steelwork from the day of demolition at Feethams to the erection here at Blackwell. Tony will be as pleased as everybody else to see the crowd of fans in Tin Shed literally suck the ball into the back of the net with the noise that will be created.

Not wanting to forget many others who have got us this far, our heartfelt thanks go to our management staff especially Jo Cameron, Jonathan Jowett, Dave Watson and Ray Simpson who have sat through many a planning session about Blackwell Meadows on a Friday night or Sunday morning in a café or hotel lobby;  and to our army of volunteers, who have continued to work tirelessly during a very exciting period for the club, and give their time so willingly. It is greatly appreciated by the board of directors of your club. It is important to remember that everyone on the non-playing side of the club including the Directors, are volunteers, who do not ask for and do not expect anything in return other than to see their club be successful, on and off the pitch.  We cannot praise all the volunteers of the football club enough.

To those of you whom we have forgotten to mention, whatever part you have played, we thank you and you should be very proud.

We would also like to thank Mike Tattersall from the Vanarama National League. I have had several long conversations with Mike in recent months, and his support for us hasn’t wavered. We are very grateful to him.

Finally a massive thank you to the fans without whom we would have no club at all. Your generous support, donations, fund raising and loyalty over the last four years whilst we played at Bishop Auckland have been magnificent.  With Martin Gray as our manager – and we are all grateful to him, his management team and playing staff -- we know we are going places .

Today is a piece of history for our club. We welcome FC Halifax Town, their directors and fans to Blackwell Meadows, we hope they enjoy the day and atmosphere and most of all everyone should remember that football is a sport for all ages and families. Let’s make today an amazing day to remember for all the right reasons and three points to Darlo!

Enjoy the day

Richard and John