Huge abandoned stadium bigger than two Prem grounds now home to rugby minnows

Back in 2003 when Darlington FC moved into their new 25,000-capacity stadium, supporters must have felt like the world was at their feet.

Fast-forward twenty years and the reality has turned out much differently.

Darlington FC were a Football League club in the 1990s and 2000s, spending much of that time in the third and fourth divisions.

The club spent the first 120 years of its history at Feethams, but in 2003 decided it was time for an upgrade.

The Quakers moved to the newly constructed Darlington Arena, built at a cost of £18m with a 25,000 capacity.

The problems started soon after, with the stadium operating costs bleeding the club dry - hosting crowds of just 2,000 in such a big stadium was never going to work.

The following year saw the club's then-owner George Reynolds go bankrupt and be arrested on money laundering charges.

New owners came and went, and the stadium underwent several name changes.

Over the following decade Darlington entered administration three times, and in 2010 they dropped out of the Football League.

Two years later the club finished bottom of the National League and were spared from liquidation by last-minute investment from a supporters group.

Image: Alamy

The club decided to leave the Arena in 2012, and after being wound up in the high court supporters founded a new club.

For six months the Darlington Arena had no tenant, and there was talk that it would be redeveloped.

But in December 2012 rugby union side Darlington Mowden Park bought the stadium for £2m, with the club's owner believing the ground would help the club move up the divisions.

Remarkably, the huge 25,000 stadium is bigger than two Premier League stadiums - AFC Bournemouth's Vitality Stadium and Burnley's Turf Moor.

Yet even 10 years on, the ground remains the home of Darlington Mowden Park, whose men's and women's teams compete in National League 1 (third tier of men's rugby union) and the Premier 15s respectively.

Image: Alamy

Since leaving the Arena, Darlington FC have worked their way up to the National League North, the sixth tier of English football.

It's always interesting to see what happened to abandoned stadiums, but few have a story as tragic as the one-time home of Darlington FC.

Topics: League Two, Football

Alex Brotherton

Alex Brotherton is a journalist at SPORTbible. He has previously worked with publications including the Manchester Evening News, GOAL and BBC Sport. He is a football fanatic, but also dabbles in tennis and American football. He can often be found watching dreadful non-league football.

@alex_brotherton