Craig Stoddart of the Northern Echo picks out six reasons why Quakers won the title. Craig wrote this piece for the Echo and the Promotion Special programme, which is on sale now in the club shop, price £5

http://darlingtonfc.co.uk/product-category/2015-16-promo-specials

Signing Lee Gaskell

[caption id="attachment_22104" align="alignnone" width="300"] Lee Gaskell[/caption]

The season began well enough, with Darlington second in early September and fellow promotion hopefuls Blyth Spartans having been beaten at home, but then it began to unravel.

Successive home defeats to lowly Hyde United, once in the FA Cup, were followed by draws at Ilkeston and Skelmersdale, so Martin Gray took action.

He brought in Ramsbottom United striker Lee Gaskell, having been impressed with the quick-footed forward in his appearances against Quakers, and he made an almost immediate impact.

Gaskell grabbed a hat-trick in his second match, going on to score some important and spectacular goals – three of them shortlisted in the club’s goal of the season competition.

So short on forwards were Quakers that veteran defender Alan White had been used up front, while Graeme Armstrong was not fully fit after suffering an injury at the end of last season, so Gaskell made a big difference, going on to contribute 14 goals.

Recalling Leon Scott

While signing Phil Turnbull last summer was a coup, it took a while to find the right formula for the former Gateshead midfielder to slot into the team which last season won promotion via the play-offs.

There was no looking back, however, once Gray gave Leon Scott his chance ahead of Tom Portas 14 matches into the season at Mickleover Sports.

Portas was player of the year last season, but Gray made a bold move for the greater good of the team, recalling one of the survivors from the first game of the 2012-13 season, and in doing so firmed up the midfield, enabling Turnbull to shine.

[caption id="attachment_22105" align="alignnone" width="300"] Leon Scott at Whitby[/caption]

The ball-playing schemer told Gray that playing alongside muscular Scott, a specialist in the physical aspects of the game, is like “playing with a minder”.

Gary Brown coming back

The signing of the season, in many observers’ eyes, was Gary Brown, the man who captained Quakers in their first three seasons since the club was re-born in 2012.

Personal circumstances saw the dependable defender sign for Shildon last summer, a move that disappointed Darlington supporters and one that the player himself regretted. He returned in November to provide an assuredness that had been missing.

Restoring Brown to the centre of defence saw Gray resolve the right-back problem, where midfielder Lewis Gibbons had been operating, by moving the pacey Chris Hunter there.

New signing Kevin Burgess last summer took the skipper’s armband, but Brown retained his leadership qualities, leading Gray to say: “It’s like having two captains on the pitch.”

Doing the double over Blyth Spartans

A superb Gaskell goal, three points, and an injection of belief that Darlington could play a part in the promotion race, all came at Croft Park on December 28, as Quakers completed the league double over Blyth.

Gray’s side went into their second meeting sixth in the table against the leaders, who were 12 points ahead thanks in part to Darlington suffering the first wave of their 11 postponed matches.

A terrific match played between Christmas and New Year saw Darlington in control for the most part, thoroughly deserving a 1-0 victory against a team who had been threatening to run away with the title.

[caption id="attachment_22106" align="alignnone" width="300"] Celebrations at Blyth[/caption]

Not until April 12 would Quakers topple them, but having overcome Spartans for the second time, Darlington supporters now had bags of confidence in their team’s ability.

Late winning goals against Salford City

Revenge? That would be a bit strong, but there is no denying that Darlington thoroughly relished getting one over the BBC’s favourite non-league club.

Not only had Salford City pipped Quakers to the title last season, their joint-managers, Anthony Johnson and Bernard Morley, had enjoyed a sequence of four wins without conceding against Quakers, including a play-off semi-final while with Ramsbottom United.

That dominance ended abruptly on February 13 when Darlington, 3-1 down at Moor Lane with only 20 minutes to play, completed a thrilling comeback to win 4-3, Nathan Cartman scoring an 87th-minute winner and Gaskell netting twice against his former managers and several of his ex-team-mates.

[caption id="attachment_22107" align="alignnone" width="300"] Nathan Cartman scores the winner at Salford[/caption]

Such pulsating encounters are generally once in a season experiences, yet just three weeks later Darlington did it again, this time winning 3-2.

They were 2-1 behind before Leon Scott levelled in the 85th minute and then new signing Liam Hardy introduced himself with an injury-time winner to secure a victory that provided a platform for the remainder of the season – it was the first of 14 wins in 15 matches.

Playing two matches at Spennymoor Town

Eight games at Heritage Park were postponed due to the weather, the last one when Skelmersdale were due to visit in the penultimate week of the season.

Skelmersdale still travelled, however, after Gray asked Spennymoor Town owner Brad Groves for use of the Brewery Field. Six hours later and the game kicked off on a night Darlington finally went top of the table with their 11th win in 12 games.

Five days later another match, against Stamford, was played at Spennymoor, and Gray said: “Without their help I don’t think we would have won the championship.

“We were already due to play Tuesday and Thursday in the last week of the season, so if we had two more postponements instead of going to Spennymoor we would have played virtually every night in the last week of the season at Heritage Park.

“That would have been virtually impossible for us, so Spennymoor helped us win the title.”