New manager Tommy Wright says that Darlington is like a second home to him.

Tommy had two spells with Quakers, and greatly enjoyed himself on each occasion. He first joined the club in 2007, and was top scorer as Quakers finished in the play off positions in season 2007-08, but agonisingly lost to Rochdale in the play off semi finals after being ahead in the first leg.

“My first spell at the club ended in frustration when we lost in the play offs against Rochdale,” he said. “I scored 17 goals that season, but I was injured in the first play off game against Rochdale and I was on crutches for the second leg in the stand. It was suggested to me that maybe I should have an injection in order to play, but I could hardly walk let alone run!

“There were a few clubs interested in me at the end of that season, and I wasn’t really bothered about moving because I had just bought a house in the area and had made some very good friends, but reluctantly manager Dave Penney told me that I had to go, because the club needed the money otherwise it would go bust. Dave was under pressure from above to bring some money in.

“I had the spell at Aberdeen and came back to Darlington in the summer of 2010. Simon Davey bought me but then left, and Mark Cooper kind of inherited me.

“Obviously we had that great Trophy run that season, and it was fantastic to win at Wembley. I took a clout on the back of the head from the Mansfield keeper when I helped the ball on to the bar for Chris Senior to score, and maybe if I’d played more games before the final and been a bit more sharper then I could have scored the winner in normal time with my header that went just wide!

“I always had a great relationship with Darlington fans when I was a player, and I felt very emotional when they sang my name at the end of the game when I came to Blackwell Meadows with Nuneaton for a league game earlier in the year. Their support meant a lot to me, and that was a big factor in my decision to come back.

“Plus, there is great potential with the fanbase. There were 9,000 at Wembley, and from the noise they made when Chris Senior scored, it sounded as if there were a lot more in the ground! Hopefully, we can get more fans coming along to matches.”

Tommy was released by Mark Cooper in the summer of 2011, and after playing a few games here and there, he became player-manager coach of Corby Town in 2013, and helped them to promotion in his first full season.

“I thought we did well at Corby. I put together a good team in my first season and we won promotion from the Southern League into the National League North, but maybe we got promotion too soon, because the club wasn’t equipped for it. My budget was cut, and I knew at Christmas when we were in a relegation battle that we were doomed.

“We were relegated to the Northern Premier League, but again it was difficult to build a promotion winning team in the following season, and in the end, I left.

“The offer to take over as Nuneaton manager came out of the blue. Kevin Wilson, who was manager at the time, asked me to become player/coach there, and it was intended to be more of a coaching role because I hadn’t played for two years!

“But just a few weeks later, the club decided to make me manager, and I was happy to accept a full time job because it gave me a second crack of managing at this level.”

When he took over at Nuneaton, they were second bottom and just a couple of points off the bottom, but then they put together a run of eight straight wins (one of them was against Quakers) to help them escape trouble and they finished comfortably in mid table.

This season, they are in 17^th place with four wins and three draws from fourteen matches.

Managing Nuneaton was a full time role, but he’ll be a part time manager again. “I don’t mind that. I learned a lot when I was a full time manager about the day to day running of a football club, and hopefully that will stand me in good stead. I have come to a massive club which has a great ambition to play in the Football League again – it should never have left the League.

“I know that there is a great bunch of talented players in the dressing room. They have a lot of character and a lot of leadership. Martin has left me some very good players and plenty to work on and for that I must thank him.

“I’d like to think that we’ll get a positive reaction from the players. Alan and I intend to speak to them before the game on Saturday and introduce ourselves, and then we’ll watch the game from the stand. We won’t talk new tactics for this game, because the players will have been working on tactics with Phil and Gary during the week. Hopefully though our presence will give them an extra gear and we can get a positive result from Saturday’s game.

“We’re still well placed for the play offs, we’re only a few points away from seventh place. I remember when I took over at Nuneaton that we won several games in a row, and hopefully we can do the same again.

“I’d like to think that our appointments will go down well with the supporters, and in turn that will get them going and back the team.

“We really can’t wait to start our jobs. I know that Alan is just as keen as I am.”