In this week’s Memory Match, Simon Weatherill looks back to the 3-1 home win over New Brighton on 17^th December 1949.

As the 1949/50 season kicked off, hopes were high that Darlington FC could challenge for promotion after finishing fourth in the previous season. Centre forward Ken Bower had left the club in the summer to join Rotherham, but the rest of the successful squad remained intact. Manager Bill Forrest only recruited one new professional in the close season, when he signed left winger Jimmy Maddison from Middlesbrough. He also brought in two players on amateur forms. A young goalkeeper Ray Wood, who had been released by Newcastle and a right winger Ron Steel, who was still serving in the RAF at Middleton St George.

Injuries to key players in the opening weeks of the season meant that Forrest was never able to select a settled side and often had to shuffle things around and play people out of position, so the team never really got into any kind of run of form. One such injury was that of experienced goalkeeper Bill Dunn in early September. 18-year-old Ray Wood was given his chance in goal and grabbed it with both hands. Several excellent performances earned him a professional contract and kept him in the side at the expense of the fit again Dunn. Wood played 12 league games and 2 FA Cup ties before being snapped up by Matt Busby who paid £5,000 to take him to Old Trafford. He went straight into the Manchester United first team and became a regular, eventually making 208 appearances for the Busby Babes. He was also capped three times by England. He survived the Munich air crash in 1958 and later moved on to Huddersfield where he made over 200 appearances.

By the time New Brighton visited Feethams for a league game on 17th December, both clubs were stuck in mid table with almost identical records. They both had 18 points from 19 games and were only separated by the fact that the Quakers had scored four more goals – 26 compared to New Brighton’s 22. Bill Dunn was back in goal for Darlington due to Wood’s departure and most of the other injury problems had cleared up so the Quakers had a full strength team available for the game, which was the reverse fixture of that played on the opening day of the season. New Brighton, known as the Rakers, had won that encounter 1-0 at their Tower Athletic Ground, in Wallasey. 

Snow had been falling on the Saturday morning but by the time the match kicked off at 2.15 Feethams was bathed in bright sunshine, although there was a cold, blustery wind blowing around the ground. The weather seemed to affect the crowd, 3766, the lowest of the season so far. The opening of the game was end to end but with neither goalkeeper being seriously tested. The Quakers began to take control and put more pressure on the visitors’ goal. Wilf Parsley played in Jimmy Maddison but his cross towards Roy Brown was intercepted by Rakers keeper Tom Grimley. Brown was then slow to make use of a good opening and the chance passed, then in the next attack Brown put in a first time shot from a Tom Ward pass that was just wide of the mark with the best scoring effort so far. At the midpoint of the first half the weather suddenly changed. The sun disappeared, the light became bad and a heavy blizzard began. Play continued but the heavy snow made conditions difficult for players and spectators alike. As the conditions eased slightly the pressure on the visitors’ goal finally told and the Quakers took the lead on 30 minutes. Ward made a superb run down the right wing. After beating two defenders he reached the by-line and pulled the ball back to Brown who turned the ball past Grimley from close range. The half finished with Brown making another strong run towards goal, but he clashed with left back Walter Galbraith and both players required extensive treatment. Half time: Darlington 1 New Brighton 0.  

The second half began with a reshuffle to the home attack. Still feeling the effects of his clash with Galbraith, centre forward Brown moved out onto the right wing with Ward moving infield to lead the line. The half began with the visitors on top, trying to get back on terms. From a free kick just outside the area Les Barton hit a fierce drive that Bill Dunn did well to save. Then Matt McPeake tried his luck from long range but his shot just cleared the bar. Just when it looked as if New Brighton would get back into the game the Quakers broke away and added a second. Good play by Ward and Maddison sent Albert Quinn racing clear. The inside left outpaced the defence and calmly fired past the onrushing Grimley. It took the visitors only three minutes to pull a goal back. William Coyle mishit his clearance on the edge of the box and the ball fell kindly for Stan Roberts who slipped it through to Don Carter who drove home. Play became end to end as both sides looked for further goals, and another heavy blizzard added to the excitement. Ward broke clear and should have added to the lead but he fired over with Grimley stranded. At the other end Dunn had to race out of his area to clear when Richard Yates was bearing down on goal. The keeper’s clearance struck Coyle however and the home side were fortunate to see the ball rebound wide of an empty goal. The Quakers made the game safe with a third goal on 81 minutes. Brown and Varty interchanged passes down the right wing, finishing with Brown firing home a hard crossdrive. Full time: Darlington 3 New Brighton 1.

The Quakers remained in the mid table area until a poor run towards the end of the season dropped them down so that they finished the season in 17th place with 35 points from 42 games. New Brighton finished four places and three points better off. The Merseyside club lasted one more season in the Football League. They finished the 1950/51 season rock bottom and failed in their re-election bid. They gained only 18 votes and were replaced as a league club by Workington who got 28 votes. Accrington Stanley (46 votes) were comfortably re-elected.  

The programme for the 1949/50 season was a very simple four-page effort, costing 2d. The front page had Club Notes, with what was happening around the club. The inside two pages carried the team line ups and the back page had the fixtures and results for the first team and also the reserve team, who were competing in the North Eastern League.

Team v New Brighton: 1 Bill Dunn 2 Joe Davison 3 Bob Eves 4 Wilf Parsley 5 William Coyle 6 Ernie Price 7 Tom Ward 8 Tom Varty 9 Roy Brown 10 Albert Quinn 11 Jimmy Maddison.