Darlington v Peterborough playoff final May 2000

[theoriginalfatcat]

I found this entire match on YouTube last night and decided to have a trip down memory lane and watch it.

And it's worth watching too as it's all there. Pundits chewing over the team selections, Reynolds chewing gum, Hodgy in the dug out, views of the old Wembley, and of course rain - plenty of rain.

A lot of my all time favourite players were in this team; Collett, Liddle, Michael Oliver, Heckingbottom (to go off injured) Heaney (what a player!) and of course Gabbiadini. Even Glen Naylor comes on in the second half, something that I'd forgotten about. Gray and Atkinson are there too! There doesn't seem to be much action from Atkinson, but Gray certainly puts himself around, and is seen regularly sliding in on the P'boro players, but taking the ball too of course!

The football played is surprisingly good considering the sodden Wembley pitch, and watching the game again after all these years just verifies the fact that we were, on that day by far the better team, and virtually dominate the full game.

Peterborough come alive a little in the second half and present a hand full of chances to their striker Andy Clarke. One of these chances (as we all know ) is initially saved by Collett but Clarke goes on to score with his follow up shot.

The rest - as they say, is history............

[Henley]

I've never re-watched the match but I'll always remember bumping into a work colleague at half-time and us agreeing how dominant we'd been in the first half.

Footifan - it's a shame we didn't think about watching this a few weeks back (although it would have probably cost $200 with your rip-off broadband provider ).

[carlodarlo]

Have only ever brought myself to watch some highlights of this game, In my top two games with how sick I felt leaving a football stadium, The other being Barrow away when I thought I had watched us for the last time.
Think that team from 99/00 was my favourite ever Darlington team. How we never went up was a travesty.

[lo36789]

That's weird I did exactly the same thing yesterday as well - well not in full I skipped through bits of it. Still remember Liddle's last gasp tackle on the line as being the point where I felt a bit uneasy.

It was after someone mentioned Gabbiadini on another thread I wanted to find clips of him playing for Darlo and the best I found was that the full Peterborough game.

The only montage to a Darlo player I could really find was the one about Neil Wainwright which is a shame.

[BaronsCourtQuaker]

In my top two games with how sick I felt leaving a football stadium, The other being Barrow away when I thought I had watched us for the last time.

Have to agree I think the Wembley game was worse for me where as Barrow there was a strange sense of pride to it all as well.

Wembley I had travelled everywhere that season and couldn't believe we didn't go up, I do wonder how things would have panned out different had we won that.

[Darlo_Pete]

We were by far the better team, but had no luck. I always remember coming back on the tube to Kings Cross and 2 Peterborough fans starting shouting Posh, not realising the rest of the tube train was full of Darlo fans, they shut up pretty quickly. Wasn't that the game where the young Darlo fan from Yarm died on the way back on the A1, between Doncaster and Ferrybridge, sadly I can't remember his name?

[theoriginalfatcat]

In my top two games with how sick I felt leaving a football stadium,

The Ramsbottom play off defeat was a horrible game, I was lost for words leaving the stadium that day. There was a terrible atmosphere hanging in the air all the way through it - in fact I could sense it even before kick off. The other game that springs to mind is the Rochdale play off defeat, the penalty shoot out was gripping stuff, but brutal! Especially for us.

To me, the Peterborough game is too long ago to be painful. I just found it interesting.

[theoriginalfatcat]

Wasn't that the game where the young Darlo fan from Yarm died on the way back on the A1, between Doncaster and Ferrybridge

Yes.

I do wonder how things would have panned out different had we won that.

I reckon G.R would have still gone off the rails, maybe just a little later on down the line.

[bertbanger]

losing that day altered the history of the club, I reckon GR will have kept up his funding of the club and we would have done well in a higher division, the gates were high that season all the way through, there was a real enthusiasm amongst the supporters, he seemed to lose interest the next season and brought in some real dross under Gary Bennett.
I just remember arriving about 4 hours before kick off, being pissed on outside for ages as all the Darlo fans got kicked out of the pub at the top of Wembley way after 2 PBoro fans came in an started a fight by throwing a chair at the bar!

[Darlo_H]

Vivid memories of this game, first proper away trip with my Dad and brother at age of 11, first time to London as well. Mam had me decked out in Darlo stuff from head to toe.

Poured down the whole day, we battered them for almost all the game for Clarke to pop up and see them hold on to go up. Was completely gutted and had the trip back to look forward to. Proper introduction to the ups and downs of a football fan, got my first season ticket for the following season and been following since, though I live in deepest, darkest Yorkshire these days so it's very rare I get back for a live game.

[divas]

losing that day altered the history of the club, I reckon GR will have kept up his funding of the club and we would have done well in a higher division, the gates were high that season all the way through, there was a real enthusiasm amongst the supporters, he seemed to lose interest the next season and brought in some real dross under Gary Bennett.
I just remember arriving about 4 hours before kick off, being pissed on outside for ages as all the Darlo fans got kicked out of the pub at the top of Wembley way after 2 PBoro fans came in an started a fight by throwing a chair at the bar!

Personally don't think so, alledgedly GR thought we couldn't afford to be promoted that year and did a number of things in the run up to the end of the season and in fact the day before the play-off final to derail the promotion bid. Gabbiadini didn't just stop scoring in the 6 weeks before Wembley out of co-incidence. Also, how often does a club that have to travel that distance for a hugely important game not stop over?

He'd become aware of the salary demands of some of the out of contract players and with the overhead of the stadium and the value of his companies being much less than they supposedly were on paper which ultimately bankrupted him, it meant that he just couldn't afford to do anything else, which is why Hodgy left and any players we signed that season were dross and some of those in contract had to accept a wage cut.

[footifan]

I've never re-watched the match but I'll always remember bumping into a work colleague at half-time and us agreeing how dominant we'd been in the first half.

Footifan - it's a shame we didn't think about watching this a few weeks back (although it would have probably cost $200 with your rip-off broadband provider ).

Yes I have the FA Trophy 2011 DVD too.
The Peterborough game was a bad day... Bad memories that started with the FA making us play on a Friday night.

* The Broadband is OK now ... In fact I have a surplus every month normally.

[theoriginalfatcat]

Personally don't think so, alledgedly GR thought we couldn't afford to be promoted that year and did a number of things in the run up to the end of the season and in fact the day before the play-off final to derail the promotion bid.

Things did seem to go flat at the end of that season in many ways, however I'm not sure the alleged derailing before the game worked, as we were by far the better team.

Reynold's seemed to have it in for Gabbiadini at that time.

Once he took me (and others) round The Arena when it was half built, and he shared an opinion with us about M.G and that play off final which I found hard to believe!

Especially hard to believe seeing as I watched the whole game again last night.

[Spyman]

Any chance of a link?

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

[theoriginalfatcat]

I don't know how to do links

I just typed into YouTube "Darlington v Peterborough play off final 2000" and it came up. 2.06 hours or something like that.

[super_les_mcjannet]

I don't know how to do links

I just typed into YouTube "Darlington v Peterborough play off final 2000" and it came up. 2.06 hours or something like that.

I presume this is the one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nq9tNL2Q3g

[QuakerPete]

Agree with Divas, the wheels were coming off the bus well before the end of the season between Reynolds and the players and between Reynolds and his imaginary finances. Getting promoted would, in my opinion, have made the situation worse

[lo36789]

dont remember Gabbiadini having half as much pace as that. Whilst his execution wasn't at its best on the day he just looked such a class act.

[princes town]

I seem to recollect that pretty much half the teams contracts were up for renewal. Very much a game of contrasts. We bossed the first half and Peterborough were better the 2nd. I think our team was much older than theirs and it was a very sapping pitch so not surprising that it developed that way. As well as Gabbo, Dufffield was also a class act. A very decent side although for me not quite as good as the 86 team in respect of individual talent.

[bertbanger]

do you mean 96?

[Beano]

losing that day altered the history of the club, I reckon GR will have kept up his funding of the club and we would have done well in a higher division, the gates were high that season all the way through, there was a real enthusiasm amongst the supporters, he seemed to lose interest the next season and brought in some real dross under Gary Bennett.
I just remember arriving about 4 hours before kick off, being pissed on outside for ages as all the Darlo fans got kicked out of the pub at the top of Wembley way after 2 PBoro fans came in an started a fight by throwing a chair at the bar!

Personally don't think so, alledgedly GR thought we couldn't afford to be promoted that year and did a number of things in the run up to the end of the season and in fact the day before the play-off final to derail the promotion bid. Gabbiadini didn't just stop scoring in the 6 weeks before Wembley out of co-incidence. Also, how often does a club that have to travel that distance for a hugely important game not stop over?

He'd become aware of the salary demands of some of the out of contract players and with the overhead of the stadium and the value of his companies being much less than they supposedly were on paper which ultimately bankrupted him, it meant that he just couldn't afford to do anything else, which is why Hodgy left and any players we signed that season were dross and some of those in contract had to accept a wage cut.

All spot on from Divas.