Darlington Hockey Club was founded at the beginning of the last century and began to thrive during the twenties and thirties. After the Second World War, the club played at a variety of venues before returning to Feethams (in Darlington) in 1971.
During the seventies Darlington produced a number of junior players that reached international standard at youth and junior level. Unfortunately, this steady stream of talent dried up during the eighties and nineties as key members of the club retired from active participation.
In 1997 Darlington hockey club moved to the synthetic pitch at Catterick, and this saw an increase in senior membership. However, the distance needed to travel proved an obstacle to increasing the junior membership, and the search for a pitch back in Darlington began.
In 1999, with the help of the National Lottery, Darlington Borough Council laid a synthetic turf pitch at Eastbourne school. Finally Darlington Hockey club had a base in Darlington with a high quality pitch on which to play. The benefits of this have been most evident in terms of the junior membership, with young players joining the club from the local schools.
Recent developments have now seen the club make a temporary move to Thornaby Academy whilst the construction of a new pitch is built in Darlington. The new pitch in Darlington was officially completed June 16th 2017 and opened for training that same month. We are now based back in the town at Carmel College (The Headlands, Darlington DL3 8RW).
The 2000/2001 season brought substantial success to the club. The men's 1st X1 won the NEHL Division 2 and promotion to the 1st Division, whilst the Mens' Indoor squad won the regional plate indoor final.
The Future of Darlington Hockey Club is set firmly in the development of the junior membership, not only in hockey skills but also teamwork and sportsmanship. The foundations have been set and we now have a thriving junior section which provides a consistent and structured approach to grassroots hockey.