As the 1961/62 season kicked off, hopes were high among Darlington supporters that their team was about to have a successful season. They’d finished the previous campaign in seventh place in Division Four, their best season for a number of years, and manager Eddie Carr had spent the summer wheeling and dealing to try and make the small improvements necessary to enable a push for promotion. He had however lost his top scorer Bobby Baxter who left the club to join Brighton. Other regulars including Jim Milner, Keith Morton, Colin Tinsley and Ray Spencer had also moved on. Among the new signings to join the club were Jack Maltby (from Sunderland), Geoff Martin (Leeds Utd), Dennis Windross (Brighton), Ralph Phillips (Northampton) and former Derby and Exeter goalkeeper George Hunter who signed from non league Yiewsley.

Three of the new signings – Hunter, Phillips and Windross – lined up in the team on the opening day of the new season away to Southport and helped the Quakers to a resounding 4-1 win with goals by Carr, Windross and Alan Spence (2). They returned to Lancashire two days later to play at Peel Park, the home of Accrington Stanley, where they suffered a 3-1 defeat. In a match played in torrential rain throughout, the Quakers took the lead in the first minute through Alan Spence. Accrington equalised before half time and went in front on the hour but Darlington hit back looking for an equaliser. In a pulsating spell they hit the woodwork three times, had a couple cleared off the line and forced a string of good saves from the home keeper, before Stanley caught them on the break and scored a third goal five minutes before the end. It was generally recognised that Darlington’s performance had been better than it had been against Southport, but they were up against much better opposition.

The promising start to the season continued on the following Saturday when Tranmere Rovers were beaten 2-1 at Feethams with goals by Windross and Spence, even though Spence had been injured and was a virtual passenger out on the wing at the time he scored. The goal meant that Alan Spence had equalled a club record of scoring in seven consecutive games (four at the end of last term and the first three of this) to equal the record held by Davy Brown in the 3rd Division championship year of 1924/25.

The win set the Quakers up nicely for the return match with Accrington Stanley, which would take place at Feethams on Monday, August 28th. Spence would miss the game though. He hadn’t recovered from the thigh injury that he’d received against Tranmere, so his place in the starting eleven would go to 21 year old left winger Geoff Martin, who would be making his Football League debut. Usual left winger George Luke moved into Spence’s position of inside left in the only change to the team that the Quakers had made in their first four games.

A good crowd of 8583 turned out for the match. No one knew it at the time, but it would be Accrington’s last ever visit to Feethams, for a game that would later be deleted from the record books! The Quakers began the match in confident mood and created chance after chance, particularly in the opening 15 minutes. Stanley rarely got out of their own half and were kept in the game by goalkeeper Alex Smith, whose handling was superb throughout and he also made two fantastic saves to keep out great efforts from Dennis Windross and George Luke. Darlington’s approach play was a delight to watch at times but far too often they let themselves down in the final third. Dave Carr was unlucky not to score when hit the upright, but Windross, Luke and Joe Rayment all missed sitters, as did Ron Greener, who had found time to move up from defence. The goal, when it finally came, was long overdue as the home side took the lead in the 34th minute. Right back Brian Henderson ran half the length of the field before thumping a 35 yarder towards goal. Windross collided with James as they both went for the ball, which found its way into the net. The keeper was left injured in a heap on the floor after the clash but the referee allowed the goal to stand, amid several protests from Stanley. The second half continued in the same manner, with Darlington making all the running but failing to take any of the chances created. The visitors made them pay with an equaliser in the 80th minute. Right back George Forrester found his winger Dave Sturrock with a through ball and the unmarked Sturrock finished confidently to earn his side an unlikely point. Poor finishing had robbed the Quakers of what should have been a comfortable victory and Stanley had scored from the one clear cut chance that they had created.

Accrington’s financial problems started to become public by late 1961. They were bottom of Division 4 and gates had dwindled down towards the 1500 mark. In early March a creditors meeting revealed that the club was £62,000 in debt and a letter was sent to the Football League offering Stanley’s resignation. It was accepted and their record up to that point in the 61/62 season was expunged. Darlington were less affected by the resignation than most clubs. They found themselves only one point worse off. Some of the players would feel more aggrieved at the games being expunged. Geoff Martin had in effect made his Football League debut in a game that didn’t exist. Brian Henderson didn’t score many goals in his career. In 463 appearances for the Quakers he only managed three goals, so he must have been particularly miffed to have a fourth career goal chalked off. And spare a thought for Alan Spence, whose goal at Peel Park now didn’t count, which robbed him of equalling Davy Brown’s goalscoring record. (This record was actually broken in the 62/63 season when Jimmy Lawton scored in nine consecutive games – still a club record.)

The programme for the 61/62 season consisted of 12 pages, printed by Mawers, and cost 3d. Common to this period in the clubs history, the programme was heavy on adverts and light on reading material. The front cover featured a drawing of two players competing for a high ball and was printed on coloured paper (green, blue, pink or yellow) and articles included Club Jottings, an action photo from a previous game, team line-ups, half time scoreboard and a list of fixtures and results.

Team v Accrington Stanley :  1 George Hunter 2 Brian Henderson 3 George Mulholland 4 Ralph Phillips 5 Ron Greener 6 Lance Robson 7 Joe Rayment 8 Dave Carr 9 Dennis Windross 10 George Luke 11 Geoff Martin.