Darlington FC is today thrilled to announce a new management team of Josh Gowling and Danny Rose.

With immediate effect, Josh, 39, has been appointed manager. He had an 18 year playing career as a centre half which started at West Bromwich Albion and took him to AFC Bournemouth, Carlisle, Gillingham, Lincoln City, Kidderminster, Grimsby, Torquay, Alfreton and Hereford making over 500 appearances in total. He played for Grimsby in the 2016 Conference play off final, when they defeated Forest Green at Wembley.

Josh, who is a UEFA A qualified coach, joined Hereford for the second time as a player in December 2018, and in January 2020 was appointed their player-manager following the departure of Russell Slade. In 2021, he guided them to the FA Trophy final at Wembley only to lose to Hornchurch, and he also led the Bulls to the first round of the FA Cup last season against Portsmouth in a televised game. He also took them to the fourth qualifying round of the FA Cup in season 2021-22.

Our former midfielder Danny Rose has been appointed as Josh’s assistant.

Danny, who is also a UEFA A coach, is well known to Darlington fans as he joined us on loan from Grimsby Town in October 2021, and then signed a permanent deal as a player-coach in the summer of 2022.

Danny started his playing career at Manchester United, and went on to play for Oxford United, Newport County, Fleetwood, Aldershot, Oxford, Northampton, Portsmouth, Swindon, Grimsby and ourselves.

He won five promotions with Newport County, Fleetwood, Northampton, Portsmouth and Swindon and just like Josh, he made over 500 appearances in his career.

He made 46 appearances for us, scoring once, and was player-coach for the 2022-23 season before he left in the summer and joined Cleethorpes from the NPL East as a non-contract player.

After receiving more than 30 very good quality applications, nine first round interviews and undergoing a rigorous interview process which involved a panel of four that included a representative from the DFCSG, Josh was the unanimous preferred candidate of the interview panel. 

David Johnston, the club’s Chief Executive Officer, said; “I was extremely impressed by Josh when I met him last Sunday, and I could understand why he had been recommended for the job by several people.

“He seems a perfect fit for us, in terms of his playing philosophy, his coaching methods, his standards, his interaction with fans and his involvement with the local community and academy.

“Everybody is eagerly looking forward to working with him and we are confident that our fortunes will start to improve under him. I would urge all Darlington fans to support him as much as possible, beginning with the big game on Saturday against Gloucester.

“I would like to thank Will Hatfield, Jake Lawlor and Tom Platt for all their hard work in looking after the team in the last two matches and give Josh something to build on.”

Interviews with Josh, Danny and David Johnston follow in due course.