Editing Darlington (section)

==Sport==
{{unreferenced section|date=June 2021}}
===Football===
The town is home to [[Darlington Football Club]] which play at Blackwell Meadows and play in [[National League North]]. [[Darlington Railway Athletic F.C.]], plays in the [[Wearside Football League|Wearside League]] Division One and play at Brinkburn Road.

Darlington FC is known as ''The Quakers'' because of the contributions made to the town by men such as [[Edward Pease (railway pioneer)|Edward]] and [[Joseph Pease (railway pioneer)|Joseph Pease]], members of the [[Religious Society of Friends]]. Before the 2012 administration, played at the 25,000 capacity [[Darlington Arena]] (after 120 years at the [[Feethams]] ground) when it opened on Neasham Road in 2003. In the [[2010–11 FA Trophy|2010–11 season]] Darlington won the [[FA Trophy]] however they were relegated from the [[Football League]], into the then [[Football Conference]]. Administration caused Darlington to play home games at Heritage Park in [[Bishop Auckland]] and relegation by four divisions to Division One of the [[Northern Football League]], of which the club was one of the founders of in 1889, for the 2012–13 season. 

It moved back to Darlington from the 2016/17 season with a long term groundshare arrangement with [[Darlington RFC]] at Blackwell Meadows. Darlington's first home game at Blackwell Meadows (a 3–2 home win against [[Halifax Town]]) took place on 26 December 2016. In the subsequent season, the club was allowed to change back to its current name.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Coney |first=Steven |date=4 April 2017 |title=Football Association approve Darlington's wishes to revert to historic Darlington FC name |work=The Non-League Paper |url=http://www.thenonleaguefootballpaper.com/latest-news/conference-north-step-two/18832/football-association-approve-darlingtons-wishes-to-revert-to-historic-darlington-fc-name/ |url-status=live |access-date=30 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170610065553/http://www.thenonleaguefootballpaper.com/latest-news/conference-north-step-two/18832/football-association-approve-darlingtons-wishes-to-revert-to-historic-darlington-fc-name/ |archive-date=10 June 2017}}</ref>

===Rugby Union===
[[File:Darlington arena 001.jpg|thumb|right|[[The Northern Echo Arena]], home of Darlington Mowden]]
Darlington has two [[Rugby Union]] clubs [[Darlington Mowden Park R.F.C.|Darlington Mowden RFC]] and [[Darlington RFC]]. Darlington Mowden Park play in [[National League 1]], the third tier of English rugby union. The club own and play at the Darlington Arena, which played a role in the 2015 Rugby World Cup as hosts to the [[New Zealand national rugby union team|New Zealand]] national team. Darlington RFC play at Blackwell Meadows in [[Durham/Northumberland 2]].

=== Athletics ===
[[File:Athletics Track, Eastbourne Leisure Centre (geograph 4429468).jpg|thumb|Eastbourne Leisure Centre's athletics track]]
Darlington's leading athletics club, Darlington Harriers AC, was formed in 1891 and has had a number of successful athletes wearing the club colours as well as competing internationally at Commonwealth, European and Olympic Games (London 1908, London 1948 and Tokyo 1964). The club stemmed from the Darlington Foot Harriers who travelled in packs hunting hares. Some of the key members, including Thomas and Charles Mountford, founded the club which went on to become one of the most notable clubs in the country.    

The club celebrated its 125th year in 2016, with anniversary games held at Eastbourne Sports Complex and was also the first club in the UK to be granted a licence via England Athletics new systems whilst the country was coming out of the COVID19 pandemic.  
  
In 2019, the club was awarded the Queen's Award for Voluntary Services (QAVS), which was created in 2002 to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee. This was previously known as the ''Queen's Award for Voluntary Service (QAVS)''. Equivalent to an MBE, this award (changed to KAVS since [[King Charles III]] came to the throne) is the highest award given to local voluntary groups in the UK. The club was also winner of the 2021 and 2022 Regional England Athletics North East Volunteering ''Club of the Year'' awards. 

In 2015, the club also moved away from the 'D' vest which had been introduced in the late 1970s, moving initially to ''Darlington Harriers'' before a new club logo was introduced in 2018. The new logo shape is the [[DL postcode area]], includes the towns landmarks in Joseph Pease's statue, the town clock and the brick train which represents the town's history in the railway industry.  
The club has also introduced further events to its athletics calendar in recent years, adding to the existing 'Pitstop' 10km race which has been running since 2001. Multi-lap events held at South Park include South Park 10 (mile), South Park 20 were introduced in 2016 and The Marathon Paarlauf in 2022. The athletics track where the club are based at Eastbourne Complex received a make over in 2023 as part of a £1.6&nbsp;million re-design of the complex with a new Blue 8 lane track to match the club colours.  

The other athletics-based event is the Darlington 10km and 3km road run, which is held every August; it attracts around 2,000 competitors and is managed by the local council.

The Dolphin Centre, which provides a wide range of sporting facilities, was opened by [[Roger Bannister]] in 1982. It received a £5&nbsp;million refurbishment in 2006 which was later officially opened by [[Redcar]] athlete [[Tanni Grey-Thompson]].

===Cricket===
Cricket clubs in the town are Darlington Cricket Club and Darlington Railway Athletic Cricket Club. Both play in the [[North Yorkshire and South Durham Cricket League]], Darlington CC won the league twenty times during the 20th century.<ref>{{Cite web |title=League Winners 1893–2020 |url=http://www.dcc.darlingtoncc.co.uk/nysdl/stats/A_Div_Prem/a_prem_winners.aspx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210626223732/http://www.dcc.darlingtoncc.co.uk/nysdl/stats/A_Div_Prem/a_prem_winners.aspx |archive-date=26 June 2021 |access-date=26 June 2021 |publisher=www.dcc.darlingtoncc.co.uk}}</ref>

===Field hockey===
Darlington Hockey Club is a [[field hockey]] club that competes in the [[Yorkshire Hockey Association|Yorkshire and North East Hockey League]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.darlingtonhockeyclub.co.uk/|title=Darlington Hockey Club |access-date=17 October 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.englandhockey.co.uk/clubs/darlington-hc|title=England Hockey - Darlington City Hockey Club |access-date=17 October 2024}}</ref>