Darlo Uncovered

AdamBrrown90 wrote: ↑

Sat May 11, 2019 1:52 pm

Good afternoon all,

This is a 100% genuine post, which I've been asked to put here by Brad Groves. I'm Adam Brown, Head of PR & Media at Spennymoor Town.

Brad has been in touch with the Northern Echo this morning to voice his disappointment in the quote about "Darlington's Demise". His complaint centered around the fact he didn't use this phrase in the conversation and it suggests an opinion he doesn't hold. This morning's conversation has led to Scott Wilson's replies to his own Tweet of the article to this effect.

He's asked me to pass on the following:

"Firstly, I'd like to make clear that the work Darlington fans do for their club is superb and I have the utmost admiration for both the club and its support. Darlington has been helpful to Spennymoor on more than one occasion and I have expressed my gratitude for this.
I
"I spoke to Scott on the phone yesterday and we discussed many things in relation to where I want to take Spennymoor and, in turn where that would put the club in the world of North East football. It's resulted in a good article that gets across our plans effectively.

"However, at no point did we focus on Darlington and at no point did I use the phrase "Darlington's demise". I don't know whether this is a misunderstanding at the paper or a bit of friendly sport from the Northern Echo that has come out wrong in print, but it is absolutely not my view of the club.

"Once again, I'd like to commend Darlington's supporters on the hard work they do for the good of their club and each other. I'm not someone who is afraid of upsetting people if I feel it justified or necessary, but I felt compelled to say something today as I didn't like how that part of the article read. So please take this message as it is intended - to clear this up. I've enjoyed some great sport with the Darlington fans I know down the years and most of it very good-natured. Long may this continue.

"All the best for next season."

That’s a game changer! We can chill now..

That clarification is fair enough and it's good that Spenny have taken steps to put the record straight. I'm so impressed that I'm tempted to say "Good luck tomorrow" but as Brad says he enjoys some great sport with Darlo fans I'll leave it at "Come on Chorley"

There was nothing in that article offensive towards us anyways really, just a lot of our fans are completely rattled by them because they have more resources than us.

Can we concentrate on our own club please, let’s get the boost the budget target met/season tickets bought/renewed so that our new manager who will be appointed in the next few weeks has decent resources to work with.

QUAKERMAN2 wrote:

My opinion wrote:I think he might be a little optimistic if he thinks they can break even on an average of 860 fans per game.
If they do go up my guess is their average crowd will actually drop... No Darlington, no Blyth and no York City..I know pools will take a few but no more than we did.
Also, they have had a successful team this year. If they struggle next season their fans will drop off, similar to us this last couple of seasons.
Just my opinion though..

Totally agree.Wonder how many free buses Groves is laying on to get them across to Chorley.

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2 should do it....

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We can discuss Spennymoor Gow, nothing wrong with that.

I’ve just tuned into the Salford/Fylde play off final, two mega moneyed teams and I’ve never seen Wembley so empty - it’s all based on pumped in money, but I can’t imagine Spennymoor ever being able to compete at this level, so in turn I can’t imagine them ever as a league team.

Spennymoor May go up but it will be a miracle if they go any further - the same applies to us too.

I quite often go up to watch spennymoor if they have a midweek game and darlo aren't in action that particular night has do quite a few of our football loving supporters I have always found spennymoor to be friendly and accommodating for this reason I wish them all the luck in the world for tomorrow. On another subject fetched up elsewhere on this thread i.e plastic clubs AFC Fylde/Salford city if the Annie's make it I wonder how long it takes the BBC/sky sports to climb straight back into bed with the class of 92.

Oops that should have been Annie's.

I give up bloody predictive text ammies

AdamBrrown90 wrote:Good afternoon all,

This is a 100% genuine post, which I've been asked to put here by Brad Groves. I'm Adam Brown, Head of PR & Media at Spennymoor Town.

Brad has been in touch with the Northern Echo this morning to voice his disappointment in the quote about "Darlington's Demise". His complaint centered around the fact he didn't use this phrase in the conversation and it suggests an opinion he doesn't hold. This morning's conversation has led to Scott Wilson's replies to his own Tweet of the article to this effect.

He's asked me to pass on the following:

"Firstly, I'd like to make clear that the work Darlington fans do for their club is superb and I have the utmost admiration for both the club and its support. Darlington has been helpful to Spennymoor on more than one occasion and I have expressed my gratitude for this.

"I spoke to Scott on the phone yesterday and we discussed many things in relation to where I want to take Spennymoor and, in turn where that would put the club in the world of North East football. It's resulted in a good article that gets across our plans effectively.

"However, at no point did we focus on Darlington and at no point did I use the phrase "Darlington's demise". I don't know whether this is a misunderstanding at the paper or a bit of friendly sport from the Northern Echo that has come out wrong in print, but it is absolutely not my view of the club.

"Once again, I'd like to commend Darlington's supporters on the hard work they do for the good of their club and each other. I'm not someone who is afraid of upsetting people if I feel it justified or necessary, but I felt compelled to say something today as I didn't like how that part of the article read. So please take this message as it is intended - to clear this up. I've enjoyed some great sport with the Darlington fans I know down the years and most of it very good-natured. Long may this continue.

"All the best for next season."

That seems fair enough to me


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spen666 wrote:

Quaker85 wrote: ↑

Sat May 11, 2019 12:58 pm

HarryCharltonsCat wrote:The demise he refers to is in our no longer being a league club, and County Durham not therefore having one. That is true. He even says he takes no pleasure in it. Why every statement anyone makes nowadays has to be seen to offend somebody baffles me.

But he conveniently omitted Sunderland!


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Sunderland hasn't been in Co. Durham since the 1974 County boundary changes

And neither has Darlington since 1997 LGR.

No different.


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My own question would be in their biggest moment ever, why did Brad have any focus on Darlo at all. Seems very strange, his club is further down the route of setup than Darlo and as shown much more likely to be promoted and manage to compete at the level above.

So with all that why bring Darlo into it, when they can in theory leave us behind? Just seems a little obsessed, expect it from the fans a little (that's what fans do) but the chairman/owner - not sure why he is even bothered.

Quaker85 wrote: ↑

Sat May 11, 2019 2:51 pm

spen666 wrote:

Quaker85 wrote: ↑

Sat May 11, 2019 12:58 pm

HarryCharltonsCat wrote:The demise he refers to is in our no longer being a league club, and County Durham not therefore having one. That is true. He even says he takes no pleasure in it. Why every statement anyone makes nowadays has to be seen to offend somebody baffles me.

But he conveniently omitted Sunderland!


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Sunderland hasn't been in Co. Durham since the 1974 County boundary changes

And neither has Darlington since 1997 LGR.

No different.


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Darlington is still in the County of Durham geographically

Politically Datlington is a Unitary Authority so not under Durham County Ciuncil. Gets confusing with different boundaries geographically and politically.

spen666 wrote:

Quaker85 wrote: ↑

Sat May 11, 2019 12:58 pm

HarryCharltonsCat wrote:The demise he refers to is in our no longer being a league club, and County Durham not therefore having one. That is true. He even says he takes no pleasure in it. Why every statement anyone makes nowadays has to be seen to offend somebody baffles me.

But he conveniently omitted Sunderland!


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Sunderland hasn't been in Co. Durham since the 1974 County boundary changes

But where are Sunderland as far the FA are concerned, which County Cup do they play in, add to that South Shields, Gateshead, Dunston, Whickham, Hebburn, S
Shields, Stockton, Hartlepool and Darlington.

County Durham in all but name and all affiliated to Durham FA

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spen666 wrote:

Quaker85 wrote: ↑

Sat May 11, 2019 2:51 pm

spen666 wrote:

Quaker85 wrote: ↑

Sat May 11, 2019 12:58 pm

HarryCharltonsCat wrote:The demise he refers to is in our no longer being a league club, and County Durham not therefore having one. That is true. He even says he takes no pleasure in it. Why every statement anyone makes nowadays has to be seen to offend somebody baffles me.

But he conveniently omitted Sunderland!


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Sunderland hasn't been in Co. Durham since the 1974 County boundary changes

And neither has Darlington since 1997 LGR.

No different.


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Darlington is still in the County of Durham geographically

Politically Datlington is a Unitary Authority so not under Durham County Ciuncil. Gets confusing with different boundaries geographically and politically.

Administratively :

Darlington : Darlington unitary authority
Sunderland : Sunderland unitary authority

Ceremonially : both in Co Durham

Geography: irrelevant, clouds the argument




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Same statement was posted on Spenny's Twitter account as well. Fair play, the media does love a bit of spin

mikkyx wrote: ↑

Sat May 11, 2019 4:21 pm

Same statement was posted on Spenny's Twitter account as well. Fair play, the media does love a bit of spin

Article was done by Scot Wilson, not sure there is much spin in the article.

Brad is bulling his club up as you would expect but he wants to be the biggest club in County Durham which I suppose is a target. I just don't see any point in bringing Darlo into his comments. We just shouldn't be relevant to them, if we were in the same league as Pools now and our CEO brought Pools into a discussion whilst we were heading to a play off final I wouldn't understand why.

Should all be about your own club at this point, the rest are irrelevant.

How patronising is he, I think our demise has been very overstated. What a plonker, I'm surprised and disappointed that the Echo gave him the platform to sprout this garbage. Looking forward to playing Spennymoor again next season.

murtonquaker wrote: ↑

Sat May 11, 2019 2:57 pm

spen666 wrote:

Quaker85 wrote: ↑

Sat May 11, 2019 12:58 pm

HarryCharltonsCat wrote:The demise he refers to is in our no longer being a league club, and County Durham not therefore having one. That is true. He even says he takes no pleasure in it. Why every statement anyone makes nowadays has to be seen to offend somebody baffles me.

But he conveniently omitted Sunderland!


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Sunderland hasn't been in Co. Durham since the 1974 County boundary changes

But where are Sunderland as far the FA are concerned, which County Cup do they play in, add to that South Shields, Gateshead, Dunston, Whickham, Hebburn, S
Shields, Stockton, Hartlepool and Darlington.

County Durham in all but name and all affiliated to Durham FA

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The FA are irrelevant

I would love to see spennymoor n the national League. For starters they will be a friendly club with no Billy big bollock we are ex football league and should not really be in the division attitude. It will also be a national League club I can watch next season. I've seen them a few times over the years and have even made every welcome by there fans despite not really been a supporter. Also they would be the first club to go from northern league to national League premier and that would stick two fingers up at the anti promotion mob.

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shildonlad wrote:I would love to see spennymoor n the national League. For starters they will be a friendly club with no Billy big bollock we are ex football league and should not really be in the division attitude. It will also be a national League club I can watch next season. I've seen them a few times over the years and have even made every welcome by there fans despite not really been a supporter. Also they would be the first club to go from northern league to national League premier and that would stick two fingers up at the anti promotion mob.

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Come on Chorley.

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murtonquaker wrote:

shildonlad wrote:Best of luck staying anywhere near competitive in the national league premier with a part time squad

With the right signings, it is possible to stay Part-Time in the National League and compete, not sure if they are full time now, but Dover managed to have a few good seasons managing to push into the top half a few years back and I am think Sutton United are Part Time too

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Bigger pool of part time players for that level for conference but get ya drift. It actually puzzles me the difference between part time and pro in the league. In my opinion a pro team is where the players have no other jobs outside football and train during the day. if spennymoor players have day jobs and I could imagine the squad been depleted for a trip down south midweek. Gateshead bombed in there first season in the league as a part time squad.

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There are loads of different systems.

I'd say full time is that players train 5 days per week and have no other employment.

Part time there are loads of different models.

Darlo train two evenings a week Tuesday and Thursday for a few hours each time.

Stockport this season have operated on a highbrid model , that Chester want to follow for next season. Where they train Tuesday and Thursday. But they additionally train Monday daytime. Means they have more time with the squad but allows them to keep some of the best part time players who can just do two evenings a week.

I'm sure Halifax have previously operated on a model where they trained 3 or 4 mornings a week.

JE93 wrote:There are loads of different systems.

I'd say full time is that players train 5 days per week and have no other employment.

Part time there are loads of different models.

Darlo train two evenings a week Tuesday and Thursday for a few hours each time.

Stockport this season have operated on a highbrid model , that Chester want to follow for next season. Where they train Tuesday and Thursday. But they additionally train Monday daytime. Means they have more time with the squad but allows them to keep some of the best part time players who can just do two evenings a week.

I'm sure Halifax have previously operated on a model where they trained 3 or 4 mornings a week.

Think halifax went full time last year

Happy that Brad through his P. A man put the record straight.

Darlo_Pete wrote: ↑

Sat May 11, 2019 4:37 pm

How patronising is he, I think our demise has been very overstated. What a plonker, I'm surprised and disappointed that the Echo gave him the platform to sprout this garbage. Looking forward to playing Spennymoor again next season.

Except he didn't "sprout" this garbage.

Did you even read the article, or Groves' statement about the article?

Regarding full and part time, as others have said it's not exactly black and white because there exists a few shades of grey in between.

I do not subscribe to the theory that we ourselves would HAVE to be full time if we go up. If Spenny go up and remain part time we can see what can potentially be achieved.

We have some players on what could be described as "full time" wages to the man in the street. There are some part time players at various clubs earning enough to not need a day job. In that respect, why would a few long trips per season take any more out of these part time players than full time players?

Fitness levels, often in the past you could tell the difference between part time and full time teams but really these days you get part time players training hard twice a week and doing a couple of days in the gym or out running. 3 or 4 days exercise is optimal for fitness and training every day won't get you any fitter. So the fitness advantage that full time players used to have has been eroded and it could be argued that it hardy exists any more.

I think where the difference between part time and full time mostly is - is organisation, tactics, ball work. You can only work on so many things in 2 training sessions a week, but you can do lots in 5 sessions a week and drill your players better. Full time teams are simply better at corners and free kicks, both attacking them and defending them. They're more clinical in front of goal and require less opportunities to score, and they can park the bus better when they want to protect a lead.

Ghost_Of_1883 wrote:Regarding full and part time, as others have said it's not exactly black and white because there exists a few shades of grey in between.

I do not subscribe to the theory that we ourselves would HAVE to be full time if we go up. If Spenny go up and remain part time we can see what can potentially be achieved.

We have some players on what could be described as "full time" wages to the man in the street. There are some part time players at various clubs earning enough to not need a day job. In that respect, why would a few long trips per season take any more out of these part time players than full time players?

Fitness levels, often in the past you could tell the difference between part time and full time teams but really these days you get part time players training hard twice a week and doing a couple of days in the gym or out running. 3 or 4 days exercise is optimal for fitness and training every day won't get you any fitter. So the fitness advantage that full time players used to have has been eroded and it could be argued that it hardy exists any more.

I think where the difference between part time and full time mostly is - is organisation, tactics, ball work. You can only work on so many things in 2 training sessions a week, but you can do lots in 5 sessions a week and drill your players better. Full time teams are simply better at corners and free kicks, both attacking them and defending them. They're more clinical in front of goal and require less opportunities to score, and they can park the bus better when they want to protect a lead.

Great post


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Just because a club may play in a higher league does NOT mean they are a bigger club

TBH what he said is true we were the only league club from County Durham but that was a long time ago. Without a Brad Groves individual investing money into DFC I can’t see that changing. Even with the BTB the overall budget I’d heard whilst at the player awards is going to be greatly reduced.

Impressed that Brad's put the record straight. The media loves to misquote and spin comment. Thumbs up for posting his real thoughts.