In our last two games against Scunthorpe and Spennymoor Town, a pyrotechnic has been thrown as the teams and match officials have entered on to the field of play.

This is a dangerous and criminal act, and is contrary to the league’s ground regulations relating to pyrotechnics which are published on our website. It is an offence to bring pyrotechnics to a football match.

https://darlingtonfc.co.uk/about/ground-regulations-smoke-no-joke

https://darlingtonfc.co.uk/about/national-league-ground-regulations

Both incidents have been reported to the FA by the match referee, and we are awaiting correspondence from them.

Before Saturday’s game at the Brewery Field, we reinforced our usual warning about behaviour on various club platforms, and clearly this was ignored by the people concerned.

https://darlingtonfc.co.uk/news/important-advice-for-fans-travelling-to-spennymoor-on-saturday

Two similar incidents in four days does not reflect well upon the club, and the FA is sure to take that into consideration. We are likely to be heavily fined, and warned about our future conduct. If there is any repetition, then as well as a heavy fine, they could force us to play behind closed doors, as they did recently with Bury, or even deduct points.

Whatever the punishment, it will affect our resources at a key stage of the season, and reflects badly upon the club.

The reckless and irresponsible behaviour of one or two individuals threatens the momentum that the club has achieved in recent weeks. We would ask our true fans to identify these culprits before they derail our progress and to write to us in confidence on report@darlingtonfc.org