Feethams is a cricket and former football grounds in

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

, England. The cricket ground has hosted

Durham CCC Durham County Cricket Club (rebranded as Durham Cricket in February 2019) is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Durham. Founded in 1882, Du ...

matches. The football ground was the home of

Darlington F.C. Darlington Football Club is an association football club based in Darlington, County Durham, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League North, at the sixth tier of English football. The club was founded in 1 ...

for from 1883 to 2003 until the club moved into another ground, now known as

The Darlington Arena The Darlington Arena is a rugby union stadium, located in Darlington, County Durham. The arena was opened in the summer of 2003, as the new home ground of Darlington F.C., following the decision to leave their previous ground, Feethams, after ...

, in Darlington's outskirts. The football ground was subsequently demolished in 2006, while the cricket ground remains in use.

History

Feethams is the home of the Darlington Cricket Club. From the 1860s,

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

had been played on the site, but it was only in 1883 that

, a

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skil ...

side made Feethams their home - and so it was for 120 years.

Football

In 1907, the ground was the venue for one England Amateur international, in which the home team defeated the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

12–2. As the game is recognized as a full international by the Dutch FA, it remains the largest defeat ever suffered by the Dutch national team. Unfortunately, times moved on and Feethams and Darlington were in a state of flux. It was decided to build a new stadium and the end of the Feethams era came on 3 May 2003, when the final match was played. A capacity crowd saw

come back from two goals down to draw 2–2 with

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a professio ...

. With the move to a new stadium at

, Feethams fell into disrepair. Due to small attendances at the new arena, rumours spread that it could be sold and Darlington could return to Feethams. The rumours proved untrue and Feethams was demolished in February 2006, shortly after an arson attack. A plan by the board of the Darlington Cricket Club to sell the former football ground for a housing development was controversial because of a 1903 Deed of Foundation of the Feethams Cricket Field Trust which stated that the land in question was acquired by the Trust "for the purpose of securing the said premises as an open space to be used for Cricket and other Athletic exercises". However, in 2009 the Board sold the football field to Esh Developments, which on-sold the land in 2013 to Persimmon Homes. In 2014, Persimmon lodged a planning application to construct 82 homes, rather than the 146 houses previously proposed.

Cricket

Feethams has been the venue for many

Durham County Cricket Club Durham County Cricket Club (rebranded as Durham Cricket in February 2019) is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Durham. Founded in 1882, Du ...

matches. The ground was home to Durham's first ever home victory in the

County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...

, in June 1992. That match also saw the ground obtain the distinction of having the largest sightscreen in first-class cricket – the back of the Tin Shed was painted a light blue to help batsmen see the ball more easily.

Football

Layout

The ground itself was a typical lower-league affair with terraces and benches providing the majority of accommodation for the spectators. There were four sections: the West Stand, the all-seated East Stand, Polam Lane (South) End and the Tin Shed home terrace (the Cricket Ground End). The most modern stand, the East Stand was built in 1997 and was the major cause of the club's financial difficulties, culminating in the infamous

Reynolds Reynolds may refer to: Places Australia *Hundred of Reynolds, a cadastral unit in South Australia *Hundred of Reynolds (Northern Territory), a cadastral unit in the Northern Territory of Australia United States * Reynolds, Mendocino County, Calif ...

era.

Quirk

Feethams was unusual in that after entering the turnstiles through the Twin Towers, spectators had to walk around a

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

pitch in order to enter the ground. For many years the layout of Feethams also gave supporters the opportunity to change ends at half time, with home supporters often seen trooping from one end to the other in order to mass behind the goal Darlington were attacking.

References

External links

Fan's history of Feethams from official website
{{Durham CCC Darlington F.C. Defunct football venues in England Sports venues in County Durham Sport in the Borough of Darlington Sports venues completed in 1883 Sports venues demolished in 2006 English Football League venues Demolished sports venues in the United Kingdom Buildings and structures in Darlington