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Darlington manager Steve Watson says there is still "a lot to be proud of" from the 2025/26 campaign, despite the frustration of narrowly missing out on the play-offs.

Speaking to Stuart Armstrong from his holiday, Steve admitted the closing weeks left a lingering sense of what might have been - but insisting the overall direction of travel remains positive.

After Darlington spent significant periods in the play-off places, Watson believes the campaign still represented progress.

"After the last game of the season and two or three days following, you’re disappointed with the way the season ended," he said. "Not necessarily with the way we played, but errors at both ends of the pitch, and probably a lack of composure, cost us maybe a really good chance of getting in the play-offs."

Watson pointed to costly mistakes and missed opportunities in key matches, particularly late in the season, but was keen to frame those issues in the context of football at every level.

"Errors are part of football, especially part-time football. You only have to look at Marc Guehi the other night for Man City - an England international making a mistake that maybe could have cost City the title. It happens at all levels."

He also highlighted Darlington’s attacking improvement across the campaign, noting that the club deliberately set out to become more dangerous in the final third and succeeded in increasing their goal return, even if that occasionally came at a defensive cost.

"The middle part of the season, it worked,” he explained. “But to go and win games like we had to at the end, you’re literally playing two wingers as wing-backs. The easy thing to do would be to protect yourself more, but then you end up with a flat back five."

Boost The Budget remains vital to Darlington’s ambitions

Watson described the ongoing Boost The Budget campaign as "essential" to Darlington’s ability to compete at National League North level.

"The top and bottom of it is that we couldn’t move forward without it. That’s how vital it is."

Acknowledging the financial pressures supporters face, Watson praised fans for continuing to back the initiative.

"We know the challenges in life. Filling your car is like a mortgage at the moment," he joked. "So we know how hard it is for people, and the fact they’re still willing to back us and hopefully back the dream of the club getting back somewhere like it should be is huge."

He also stressed that neither he nor the club takes that support for granted.

"Don’t for one second think we take that for granted. It’s really humbling, and it is a one-off."

Watson added that the stronger the final fundraising total, the more competitive Darlington can be in the transfer market.

"The better the budget is, the better we can compete."

Summer recruitment plans already under way

Watson confirmed the club would love to bring back influential loanee Will McGowan permanently, but admitted any deal is far from straightforward.

"It would make no sense not telling the truth — we’d love to sign Will McGowan. But he’s going back to Gateshead and they’ll have a look at him again. They think the world of him as well."

Any potential move for McGowan, Watson suggested, is unlikely to develop until later in pre-season.

"If anything did happen with that, it would probably be midway through pre-season. So that’s how long you may have to wait."

Watson also revealed Darlington have already received significant interest in striker Jack Maskell, with discussions ongoing over his future. While the club does not want to lose the striker, Watson acknowledged both player ambition and the club’s financial reality must be considered.

"Being honest, we’ve had a lot of interest in Jack Maskell. We don’t want him to go anywhere. We are fully aware the kid wants to progress and should want to progress and become a full-time professional footballer. But we think it would be really good for him and for us to progress another year here."

However, he hinted that any decision would also need to reflect Darlington’s investment in the player.

"Then the other side of it is where the club’s at. If you’ve spent money on him, which we have, that’s another conversation."

"We just need to keep stepping forward"

Despite the frustrations of the play-off miss, Watson believes Darlington are moving in the right direction and only need refinement rather than radical change.

"For where we are at the moment, a mid-table finish is probably an average season for us. Being around the top ten is a good season, and being in the play-offs would have been an excellent season."

His focus now is on finding the balance between the attacking improvements made last season and the defensive solidity needed to turn Darlington into genuine promotion contenders.

"The plan really is to find the sweet spot between what we improved last season and what we need to improve this season."

With Boost The Budget ongoing, transfer decisions looming and pre-season preparations already taking shape, Watson’s message was clear: Darlington are not standing still.