Jack Darlington wrote to us about life supporting Darlo from the other side of the world, in New Zealand.

I have long claimed to be New Zealand's Number 1 Darlo Fan and have been passionately following DFC for the last 13 years.

A few over-zealous fan antics:

I have seasons of old scrapbooks with hand drawn graphs of wins/draws/losses. There are full seasons of re-typed fixtures lists adjusted to NZ time which is a day ahead to make sure I didn't miss a beat. The digital world has made things a bit easier now so there is less need for the manual scoring records. I have proudly worn my Darlo jersey for all the big promotion games and taken on that magic number 1883 as something of a lucky number - even having the '1883' tattooed onto my forearms, so I was very pleased to see the club pulled through from recent financial strife! I want to give praise to the directors, players and the local community that held the team together and have put Darlo back on a path to many more years of successes to come.

What does it mean to be a fan abroad?

I, like the fan from Australia who wrote in previously, have duelled with the time differences from the Southern Hemisphere. I have many memories of setting alarms for 2am to wake up and follow the scrolling text updates on the BBC Website of the games action in minute by minute stanza's. In those days a dial-up internet connection to the text only updates was as rapid a connection to the games as possible and a sign of how far the communications have come. The youtube channel, twitter feed and the slick new website really help the long range fan stay connected to the team so a big thanks to those keeping these up to date.

Looking forward to another cracker season, onwards and upwards

Jack Darlington

Great stuff, Jack, it's great to hear from you.

Where do you support Darlo from in the world? Drop us a line at commercial@darlingtonfc.org.uk