Behind the scenes – update 15

Here is the latest of the behind the scenes updates of events at Darlington FC.

The Boards of Darlington FC and DFCSG continue to meet regularly via video conference call, to discuss various ongoing relevant matters. They last met on Thursday 9^th July 2020.

The next league season:

The league is closely looking at different fixture scenarios for season 2020-21, depending on government guidelines over the coming months. The league has an aspirational start date of September, and we will await further guidance from the FA before games can recommence. The Club will have to undertake a full risk assessment in conjunction with DRFC in order to make Blackwell Meadows Covid-19 Secure, before games can be played. 

Commercial:

Commercial activity is very busy currently, and we are grateful to all of our current sponsors for the support they are continuing to give to our Club. As you will have seen recently, the Club has announced several agreements with sponsors on the official website and social media. More of these will follow in the next couple of weeks.

The Club recently held a full hospitality review meeting with sponsors and fans on Zoom, to discuss improvements for the new season. We will publish the new Hospitality packages in due course, and well before the start of the new season.

We are delighted to inform you that kit sponsorships for all of the current players, plus most of the management team have already sold out! We thank all those who have renewed their kit sponsorship and also those new kit sponsors. The only management staff member remaining for sponsorship is Gary Smith and we expect these to be snapped up quickly. We will make any new signings available for sponsorship immediately they join the club. All kit sponsorship enquiries should be made to Dave Watson by contacting him at kitsponsorship@darlingtonfc.org for details.

Community engagement:

The club has continued to be very active through various means:

• Until lockdown came in March, not many in and around DFC had used the Zoom or Teams video conferencing facility, but this is now part of our daily business routines and is likely to remain for some time to come. Much of our internal meetings, contact with sponsors and community partners has been via this method. It has also been used to interview former players for 80s week on the official website. Six former players have been interviewed for 80’s week, and two more have been interviewed for a proposed 90’s week coming soon. The feedback we have received shows that these features are very popular.
• The partnership with Darlo Radio is going from strength to strength. The town’s local radio station is hosting an 80’s programme using interviews supplied to them by DFC, which coincides with our own 80’s feature.
• Our community partnership with Darlington Support has also received very positive feedback and we are continuing to work together to support the most vulnerable, isolated and shielded, in and around Darlington.
• The Club mascot Mr Q has met with the DFC Community Engagement team to discuss ways of improving our work with children, schools and the wider community and there are some very exciting initiatives being planned for the new season and the new school year, both on matchdays and non-matchdays. More information will be available in due course.

Other news:

• Up to the 11^th July, a total of 441 home and away shirts have been sold, this is more than at the same point last year! We have also sold 278 DFC facemasks, with more on order, as from 24 July, face coverings in shops and supermarkets will be mandatory. Details of how to purchase them through Quaker Retail, are on our official website.

Coming up, we will:

• Keep all our existing and current main sponsors up to date on Club developments.
• Continue the ongoing work on the review of the new 2020-21 Commercial brochure. Hopefully, this will be available in early August.
• Run feature articles on our sponsors and partners from the official website. The Club remains in continuous contact with our sponsors and partners and we are maintaining our excellent relationships with them during these difficult times.
• Continue the work in progress of existing and new and exciting features for the official website. There has been some excellent feedback on 80s week, and a 90s week is now being put together that will run in August.
• Continue to develop our relationships with the local community

Throughout these very difficult and unprecedented times, we have maintained a very high profile for the club on our official website and social media channels, and we will continue to do so until we resume matches for the benefit of our much-valued volunteers and loyal supporters and sponsors.

Thank you for your continued support, it is very much appreciated.

Remember, follow the guidelines and stay safe.