Mowden Park RFC set to buy Northern Echo Arena

12:10am Friday 7th September 2012 in News

The Northern Echo Darlington Arena The Northern Echo Darlington Arena

A NORTH-EAST rugby club last night made the shock announcement that they have agreed to buy the former home of Darlington Football Club.

Darlington Mowden Park RFC published a statement on its website confirming a deal has been reached to purchase the 25,000-seater Northern Echo Arena.

The rugby club has been looking to move from its ground in Yiewsley Drive since the late 1990s and developer Bellway Homes has permission to build 67 houses on the land.

It had been thought that a 20- acre site in West Park would be the most likely destination, but it emerged last night that negotiations on that front ground to a halt.

The Northern Echo Arena, in Darlington’s Neasham Road, has stood empty since the end of the football season, when Darlington FC were demoted to the Northern League after collapsing into administration in January.

The rugby club statement said: “Following long drawnout discussions regarding the development of Darlington Mowden Park RFC and the purchase of land at West Park, unfortunately negotiations have stalled due to vendor issues beyond the control of the club which neccessitated the club looking for an alternative site.

“Following in-depth discussions with Darlington Borough Council and its owners, the club has made an offer to purchase The Northern Echo stadium, which has been accepted in principle, negotiations will now commence to complete the heads of terms and more news will follow in due course.”

The ground’s owners, businessmen Philip Scott and Graham Sizer, confirmed the news.

In a joint statement, they said: “We are in discussion having received an acceptable offer and will progress with due diligence over the next few weeks.

“This is good news for the town as the stadium is an important local amenity.”

Darlington FC, now called Darlington 1883, are playing their home games at Bishop Auckland’s Heritage Park this season after deciding the running costs of the arena would be too high to remain there.

In July, two parties were linked with the deserted venue. One was thought to be interested in using the arena as an events centre.

The Northern Echo understands that the Newcastle Falcons rugby union team had previously been in discussions with the stadium’s owners.

Darlington Mowden Park play in the national division two (north) and have an average attendance of about 200.

Mowden councillor Bill Stenson welcomed last night’s developments. He said: “It’s excellent news for the town and I wish the rugby club well.”

Comments(29)

Dtonmaf says...
8:38pm Thu 6 Sep 12

Mowden got big plans in the pipeline? Lets hope so, I hope it not some rose-tinted business type who has eyes on a quick buck

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swissball says...
8:56pm Thu 6 Sep 12

Just for the record, Mowden Park is newly promoted to National League 2 North.
Surely the club is not naive enough to buy such a white elephant? How can a club with such limited resources (even after the sale of Yiewsley Drive,) contemplate buying a stadium that even George Reynolds couldn't fill or sustain?
Mowden has a proud history in the west end of town, not just down the road from Darlington RFC!

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g8crasher says...
9:07pm Thu 6 Sep 12

I think we'll be seeing a merger with the Falcons in the near future. They dont own Kingston Park and there's no way Mowden stand a chance of running it by themselves

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George BA says...
9:36pm Thu 6 Sep 12

I hope for the sake of the rugby club the deal doesn't go through, they might get a cut price stadium, but it will drag them down like quicksand.

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John Justice says...
10:24pm Thu 6 Sep 12

I just cannot get my head around this. I played rugby for Darlington Grammar School Old Boys in the 1960s from whom Mowden grew. Mowden clearly have a business plan that will see 10,000 plus fans in the near future filling the stadium because that is what it must take to start to see a break even point in order to fund the running costs of a stadium of this size. Or could it possibly be that the Falcons could buy out Mowden and move in. This is just the silly season in rugby terms, the town does not have the fans to support a rugby team of Mowdens stature in this stadium. Just what is behind such a move?.

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Scaffinch says...
11:36pm Thu 6 Sep 12

I agree with g8crasher - either a merger or (possibly) a groundshare with Newcastle Falcons would seem to be a logical explanation.

Wonder if Mowden Park's deal with Scott & Sizer is more akin to a "exchange" of assets rather than Mowden Park buying the Arena? I know that Mowden's current grounds at Yiewsley Drive was previously earmarked for housing development when a move to the West Park area was on the cards for the club.

Guessing that land for development would be quite an attractive option for Scott & Sizer, rather than having an empty stadium on your hands...?

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liddle_4_ever says...
11:49pm Thu 6 Sep 12

Mowden's ground it worth over 3 times more than S&S want for the arena so a swap would NOT be on the cards

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doonhamer says...
11:52pm Thu 6 Sep 12

What a misleading comment about Newcastle Falcons. Two years ago there was a brief interest, Gateshead Thunder Rugby League club played a couple of games at Kingston Park and attracted bigger crowds than at their International Stadium home. They played also at Percy Park, Winlaton, Durham and South Shields, hoping crowds would improve even suggesting a name change to Tyneside Thunder. Falcons Officials, with whom the RL club have a good relationship, mooted the idea of a North East Falcons, to try for a better fan base. As a tester, the RL team played a game at Darlington Arena v Oldham, attracting a dire attendance. This frightened Falcons who put any thought of a move on the back burner. Since then the club have suffered relegation and do not have the financial clout to gamble on such a move, certainly in the forseeable future. If the Football Club couldn't attract large crowds then Rugby Union certainly won't (unless it's Aviva Premiership) and the 'pea in a drum' scenario would be the order of the day at any game staged there by Mowden at this moment in time. The rumours circulating about Spearmint Rhino, the 'Gentlemen's Club', with Casino, Top Class Restaurant and Lap Dancing Girls certainly seems a more viable option at the moment. Why has nobody, press or owners, confirmed or denied these rumours ?

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g8crasher says...
4:18am Fri 7 Sep 12

Mowden's ground was sold to developers a long long time ago, they have been under pressure to move ever since.

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MSG says...
9:06am Fri 7 Sep 12

I hope that Mowden have thought this through , i hope they realise what they have taken on! I would like to see Darlington FC become a tennant for a couple of years until they get a new ground,
Its strange that Darlington Rugby Club was once in the East End and Mowden in the West End, now a dodgy conversion at the Arena and the ball could land on Blackwell meadows pitch!
Doonhammer, the Rugby League game was a success, i was there, fantastic day!

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735467 says...
9:22am Fri 7 Sep 12

The current situation of the ground (yiewsley drive) is difficult to access and the facilities limited. There are only two pitches, which is insufficient to support senior, ladies and junior teams. There appears to be an assumption that the football stadium will remain intact when the plans may be to demolish and start again with something fit for purpose. The stadium land has good infrastructure and existing utilities in place which mean development costs will be minimised in the intial stages.

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MSG says...
9:33am Fri 7 Sep 12

If Mowden plan to demolish the stadium, then look out for the locals who will impose restrictions, the borough council will impose restrictions, the planning covnant will impose restrictions. This is what strangled George!

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DeliveredDaily says...
10:56am Fri 7 Sep 12

Clearly there has to be a lot more to this story yet to be revealed. A single rugby pitch is no good to Mowden, they have several teams and a strong requirement for training pitches. This could be a golden opportunity to think laterally, abandon local rivalry and capitalise on the wonderful facilities that The Northern Echo Arena offers.

A merger with Darlington Rugby Club would make sense and offer the additional pitches needed. If the proposed merger with Stressholme and Blackwell goes ahead there are ample facilities within the Arena to accommodate a clubhouse for the times when the Stressholme clubhouse isn't big enough.

Under the stadium there are huge areas which could be developed into business units, thus bringing in revenue. The massive car parks could accommodate some all-weather training pitches with synthetic grass.

I hope the Mowden Park brains are considering all options to address the historical issue of too small a sporting enterprise being unable to manage the sustainability of a huge liability such as The Arena. Think outside the box, Mowden!

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DeliveredDaily says...
11:10am Fri 7 Sep 12

liddle_4_ever wrote:
Mowden's ground it worth over 3 times more than S&S want for the arena so a swap would NOT be on the cards
and you would know!

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No06 says...
11:57am Fri 7 Sep 12

This is, obviously, a daft (to say the least) idea. Luckily, it seems, nothing is a done deal.

Why would a Rugby Club want to be based in such a building? It’s the antithesis of a proper Rugby Club.
Up keep of the ground is way too much. 10k per month at least?
Why would a self- reliant club want to move into bed with the Council (wouldn’t trust them as far as I could throw them)
Why would a self-reliant club want to move to land with a covenant on it?
If Mowden did knock the ground down, why on earth move all the way over to the East end?

To all those talking about mergers, I can only assume that you’re talking from a point of self interest. Either that or you’re a bit dim.

Why would two good rugby clubs, with thriving mini’s, juniors, ladies and seniors combine into one club? What purpose would it serve? Halving the amount of rugby opportunities for the people in the town? Reducing the amount of Rugby played in the town. Destroying the history of two good clubs?

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g8crasher says...
1:48pm Fri 7 Sep 12

I think its safe to say that Mowden and Darlington will never merge

There is obviously plans afoot, as mentioned earlier they would need at least 4 pitches to accommodate the 1st team as well as the 2 other senior teams, the highly successful Sharks female team and the 13 junior teams they run

Good luck to Mowden, about time the club showed some ambition and made the move to reach the next level

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g8crasher says...
1:48pm Fri 7 Sep 12

I think its safe to say that Mowden and Darlington will never merge

There is obviously plans afoot, as mentioned earlier they would need at least 4 pitches to accommodate the 1st team as well as the 2 other senior teams, the highly successful Sharks female team and the 13 junior teams they run

Good luck to Mowden, about time the club showed some ambition and made the move to reach the next level

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Savant_NE says...
2:42pm Fri 7 Sep 12

Mowden Park, nice ethical community team.No high ticket prices ,200 crowd.
Good games and followed by a good social drink.Just cannot see how this converts to 25000 seater stadium at the moment ,worrying or cunning plan in the background .Come on,whats the secret?.Everyone is obviously intrigued.

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DeliveredDaily says...
2:50pm Fri 7 Sep 12

No06 wrote:
This is, obviously, a daft (to say the least) idea. Luckily, it seems, nothing is a done deal.

Why would a Rugby Club want to be based in such a building? It’s the antithesis of a proper Rugby Club.
Up keep of the ground is way too much. 10k per month at least?
Why would a self- reliant club want to move into bed with the Council (wouldn’t trust them as far as I could throw them)
Why would a self-reliant club want to move to land with a covenant on it?
If Mowden did knock the ground down, why on earth move all the way over to the East end?

To all those talking about mergers, I can only assume that you’re talking from a point of self interest. Either that or you’re a bit dim.

Why would two good rugby clubs, with thriving mini’s, juniors, ladies and seniors combine into one club? What purpose would it serve? Halving the amount of rugby opportunities for the people in the town? Reducing the amount of Rugby played in the town. Destroying the history of two good clubs?
I have no self interest and whilst I
may be dim, at least I know that there is no apostrophe in minis.

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No06 says...
3:18pm Fri 7 Sep 12

An eye for detail, although there is no need for an apostrophe.

Sorry for the tardy response but people have always proposed a merger in a cavalier manner and it’s infuriating for those that actually care for one of the two clubs (or both). All that merging would do is create 1 average club (in a national perspective) rather than 2. If we really care about rugby in the town then the more clubs the better as the more chance a kid picks up the ball at the age of 6 and joins a team. Also, each club has a proud history and are not prepared to sacrifice that for a bit of PR and an ultimately futile attempt at getting into the Premiership or Championship. Plus why would any real rugby club want to be in either of those leagues?

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Oh Happy Days says...
3:45pm Fri 7 Sep 12

It will be like most sporting clubs who venture into new grounds or stadiums. Financial ruin, look at DFC, Derby, Southampton(for few seasons) Walsall, Doncaster, to name but a few they seldom seem to be able to turn things around. This ground will be far too big & far too expensive for Mowden to sustain. If it aint broke why fix it!

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ex-exile says...
4:13pm Fri 7 Sep 12

A merger happened in Gateshead with two good rugby clubs Gateshead Fell and North Durham to form Gateshead R U F C so any thing is possible.

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No06 says...
4:22pm Fri 7 Sep 12

Ex-exile- you’ve just proved my point. Of course mergers can occur, but what do they achieve?

Instead of having 2 rugby clubs for the community there is now 1. They have essentially cut in half the rugby opportunities for the area, lost one rugby club overall, lost the history of two rugby clubs and for what? Durham and Northumberland league 1. Wow, that was worth it.

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Liamsm says...
6:29pm Fri 7 Sep 12

Keep an eye on the pitches that will be built on the council owned land next to the stadium with planning permission to build a clubhouse. This is where Mowden will be playing long term!

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Liamsm says...
6:31pm Fri 7 Sep 12

g8crasher wrote:
Mowden's ground was sold to developers a long long time ago, they have been under pressure to move ever since.
No.....interest a long long time ago but never sold. If it was sold do you honestly think the developer would sit and wait?? Not a chance!!

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DeliveredDaily says...
7:31am Sat 8 Sep 12

It's a pity that some Mowden committee members and trustees only found out about this 'plan' by reading the Echo.

Doesn't say much for Mowden's leadership, which brings the whole half-baked plan (if there is a plan) into perspective.

There'll be wigs on the green, mark my words.

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Mowmember says...
9:26am Sat 8 Sep 12

DeliveredDaily, your comments assume there is a plan, this is someones idea of a joke that's got out of hand and now they are trying to justify it. As they say the lunatics have taken over the asylum, never mind the stadium it's the pitches that are needed, but who in there right mind is going to travel up there, in the middle of nowhere. They have a nice base in the west end and good catchment areas, why move close to DRFC who have had trouble attracting people to their locations which is better located than this proposed area. I keep checking the date thinking its April 1 st

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the-big-yin says...
10:18am Sat 8 Sep 12

Oh Happy Days wrote:
It will be like most sporting clubs who venture into new grounds or stadiums. Financial ruin, look at DFC, Derby, Southampton(for few seasons) Walsall, Doncaster, to name but a few they seldom seem to be able to turn things around. This ground will be far too big & far too expensive for Mowden to sustain. If it aint broke why fix it!
ALAS!!!!!
I SEE SINISTER FORCES INVOLVED!!!!

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Liamsm says...
5:44pm Fri 12 Oct 12

Keep an eye on the pitches that will go on the council owned land next to the stadium, this will also include plans to build a clubhouse. Within a couple of years this is where Mowden will be playing not in the stadium.

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