ALUN PONDERED A FULL-TIME PLAN
BOSS Alun Armstrong hopes the fans that boosted Darlington’s record attendance at Blackwell Meadows can stick around to aid a return to former glories.
The National North leaders, reformed in 2012, lost 3-2 to title rivals Scarborough Athletic on Boxing Day but the 3,059 crowd renewed ex-Middlesbrough and Ipswich Town striker Armstrong’s hope that the Quakers can train more frequently than twice per week.
Armstrong revealed that Darlo had considered adding a third night this season in order to close the gap on full-time competitors but that finances had curtailed that plan, something that comes into sharper focus now the ex-Football League outfit heads into 2023 top of a congested battle for supremacy, albeit while giving away games in hand to promotion rivals.
“It is the hardest part,” acknowledged Armstrong.
“Together, we have tried as a club to get the finances in place to train another night because if you look at the teams that go up or are in the top 10, nearly all of them are full-time. It is inevitable that fitness tells and the extra bit of detail that you can put in helps massively.
“These lads work every day and come to training straight from work, they have to go to work the next day – when we travelled to Telford (in November) we got back at 3am, some lads had work again at 7 or 8 o’clock.
“I gave them the Thursday off that week because there was no way they were going to recover in time so the next time I saw them was on the Saturday. When you are full-time, you can rest and
recover, you can come in at any time to suit the schedule without having to go to work.
“It is a killer and I tried to get us training three times a week but unfortunately I couldn’t get the finances to do it at the moment. We want to do it but it has to be sustainable.”
That wish to push things on was reiterated on Boxing Day with Armstrong’s post-match address featuring a message to Darlo’s festive fans.
“If we get 3,000 every week then that changes the whole picture massively, financially for the club,” he said.
“The performances on the pitch will get better because the squad gets stronger, it will be more competitive, you can bring in better players. Everything changes.
“All I can ask of those floating fans is for them to come back and get behind the club because without them, we cannot move forward.
“We need those fans here every week, even if we have a bad day at the office, whoever it is, get behind them, get the money in the coffers and this club can then move forward.”