ALUN ARMSTRONG admits the lure of leading Darlington into a new stadium was a key factor behind his decision to sign a new long-term contract with the club.

Armstrong signed a new deal yesterday that commits him to Quakers until the end of the 2024-25 season, by which time the club hopes to be playing in a new purpose-built stadium.

They are currently ground-sharing with Darlington Rugby Club at Blackwell Meadows, and while Armstrong has guided his side into the National League North play-off places this season, he readily admits the financial constraints imposed by having to share a stadium make it difficult for Quakers to compete with their full-time rivals in the top half of the table.

Plans are now well advanced for a new stadium to be built at either Skerningham or Faverdale, which have been identified as the preferred sites, and it is hoped the club’s new home, which will have a capacity of between 5,000 and 8,000 fans, will be built in time for the 2024-25 season.

It is planned to feature new training facilities, which will be rented out to clubs, schools and the community and help provide a sustainable and regular income stream for Quakers, who have been fan-owned since 2012.

“The new stadium will be huge for us,” said Armstrong, who watched his side draw 2-2 at Alfreton Town yesterday. “I would love to be the manager here that takes the club into a new stadium and on to the next level, and then has a good go from there.

“At the minute, we seem to be constantly stabilising, and it obviously doesn’t help when you seem to be losing your best player every January. There’s not a lot we can do about it, but it seems to be every January, we lose one or two and we have to replace them.

“We’ve been quite fortunate that we’ve been able to do that every year, and hopefully we can finish strongly this season. Then, in two years’ time, we could be in our own stadium and be able to kick on from there, which would be nice.”

Armstrong is currently in his fourth season with Darlington, having previously guided the club into the first-round proper of the FA Cup on two separate occasions and taken them into the last eight of the FA Trophy.

He understands the clamour for the rate of progress to be speeded up, but insists supporters should not lose sight of just how far the club have come under his stewardship.

“We’re in a good position,” said Armstrong. “I look at the club now, compared to what it was like when I first came in, and it’s chalk and cheese. We’re only going in one direction. Yes, it might be taking a lot longer than what we all want, but as we keep saying, it’s got to be done sustainably, and that’s what we’re doing.

“We’ve got money to spend, and I want to bring players in, and the club are letting us do that, but we have to be sensible in that as well. We’re all singing from the same hymn sheet at this moment in time. I know fans get frustrated that we’re not moving quick enough, but the club’s the most important thing, and while I’m here, I’ll make sure that it’s run properly.”

Darlington scored two goals inside the opening 17 minutes at Alfreton, with Jacob Hazel opening the scoring after Ben Liddle volleyed the ball over the defence and Kaine Felix tapping home the rebound after Hazel’s initial effort had been saved.

Matt Rhead halved Darlington’s lead on the stroke of half-time when he headed home from a long throw-in, and Alfreton equalised midway through the second half when Rhead set up Yusifu Ceesay, who turned and rolled the ball past Tommy Taylor.

“We should have won it from the position we were in,” said Armstrong. “With the experience we have in the team, we should have won."