DARLINGTON Indoor Bowls Club will host the sport’s equivalent of the FA Cup next month, but it isn’t the first time the tournament has been held in the town.

Darlington Indoor Bowls Centre (DIBC) will host the final stages of the men’s and ladies’ All-England national team championship knockout, known as the Denny Cup and Yetton Trophy respectively, on the weekend of April 19 and 20.

A team from Stanley, County Durham, will contest the men’s final against opponents from Wey Valley, Surrey, Desborough, in Berkshire and Wellingborough, in Northamptonshire.

Ladies’ teams from York, Ely, Surrey and Devon will battle it out for their title.

Teams from across the UK will converge on Darlington for the event, which the North Road venue last hosted in the mid-1990s.

It was also the venue for three consecutive years in the 1980s, but home advantage could not count for Darlington as rivals Hartlepool won the men’s crown in the 1984-5 season.

Cumbria were the men’s winners last time the tournament was staged in Darlington, with the venue also known for hosting leading regional competitions.

The Darlington ladies’ team last tasted victory in 1988-89 when they defeated Engham to lift the Yetton Trophy, which has also been won by Sunderland, Teesside and Richmond.

We delved into The Northern Echo’s archives and found these pictures taken over the years at DIBC.