DARLINGTON'S pre-season campaign has been a mirror image of the last couple of years with the club and the National League North. Hectic and disrupted. 

The club have been hit with Covid infections over the summer postponing a number of friendlies and putting back preparations for their league season. 

Coupled with that has been a battle to bring in new blood to the squad. However, weeks of hard work behind the scenes have seen 11 new faces through the door at Blackwell Meadows. Most recently the return of Andrew Nelson, who impressed during a loan stint with the Quakers in 2018.

The squad are looking in good shape ahead of the new season. It all begins at home to AFC Telford United at Blackwell Meadows this Saturday. 

It's a moment that manager Alun Armstrong has been craving for quite some time. 

"You cannot wait because all them league game last year just felt like pre-season games because they had no fans in and it didn’t really matter so that’s what it felt like.

"The cup games obviously had that little bit of edge but I think the cup games would’ve meant so much more if we had the fans in and that’s a certainty but I know for a fact that we’ll get them fans first game back at Blackwell.

"I’d love to see over 2,000 in there. It’s tight when you get them kind of numbers in but if we can get 2,000 for the first home game, that will give the fans a massive boost and hopefully get the three points that we need to kick start the season.

Armstrong eluded to the cup games which saw Darlington reach the second round of the FA Cup last season. It didn't turn out to be the fairytale story losing 6-0 to League One Bristol Rovers but sometimes it's just about the journey.

They produced a historic 2-1 win over fellow League One side Swindon Town, eclipsing the achievement of the previous season when taking Walsall to a replay in the first round. 

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Coupled with hefty FA Cup prize winning money in their back pocket from the last two seasons was the club's recent Boost the Budget campaign which raised over £134,000 for the club to help the manager build his squad for the forthcoming season. 

Armstrong says the club is in a good position financially but he remains diligent about spending the fans money on new players. 

"From where we were when I first come in to where we are now, it’s a massive change. We had to get that right and like I said when I come in I wanted to do it properly.

"We didn’t want to go gung-ho and just splash cash and be back to square one. You’ve got to do it properly and sustainably.

"It is a lot harder because it’s the fans money, I’ve always said that it’s someone else’s money, someone who goes to work every single day and it could be the last penny that they put into the club, just to keep the club going and keep them competitive.

"Every time you go to sign a player, you always think that it’s someone’s money that you’re spending and it’s not someone who’s just got millions of pounds throwing into the club so there’s a bit of difference in that to be honest.

"I’m always very cautious and I think the fans appreciate that rather than just spending money willy nilly so I’m quite happy with where we are financially and to do what we’ve done over the last two years is brilliant under the circumstances."

Among the bookmakers, Darlington aren't rated too highly for success this season but Armstrong and the squad are looking to change their own prospects with the National League North season just around the corner.

Blackwell Meadows will welcome back fans in what is expected to be a capacity crowd for their first home game of the season against AFC Telford United.