Gray gets Darlington job

4:01pm Sunday 27th May 2012 in Football Photograph of the Author By Craig Stoddart, Deputy Sports Editor

Martin Gray has tonight been confirmed as Darlington's new manager.

He has signed a two-year contract after impressing the board of 1883, the fan-led company which has bought the club.

1883 also spoke to Graeme Lee, Andy Toman and Mick Tait about the vacancy.

Gray has twice been assistant manager at Quakers, to David Hodgson and Dave Penney having begun his coaching career with the club's youth team.

A Darlington spokesman said: "With the support of fans, the club hope to provide him with a competitive budget and have set him the target of constructing a team capable of winning promotion from the Northern League at the first attempt."

Gray first joined Darlington in 1999 as a player and fellow former midfielder Brian Atkinson will be his assistant after leaving Spennymoor Town where he was number two to Jason Ainsley.

Joining Gray and Atkinson at Darlington is Sean Gregan as defensive coach, Tony Norman as goalkeeping coach and Harry Dunn as chief scout.

Teessider Gregan began his playing career with Darlington in the mid-1990s and went on to play for Preston, West Brom, Leeds, Oldham and Fleetwood.

Norman was Sunderland's goalkeeper when Gray and Atkinson were both at Roker Park while Dunn is a non-league stalwart in the North-East having managed several clubs, including Blyth, Bishop Auckland and Whitby Town.

**SEE TOMORROW'S NORTHERN ECHO FOR MORE ON THIS STORY.

Comments(11)

swagger says...
5:29pm Sun 27 May 12

Fantastic news, welcome home Martin.

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swagger says...
5:33pm Sun 27 May 12

Is The Northern Echo reinvesting thier money from crowd cube into 1883 or the CIC?

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stiv says...
7:00pm Sun 27 May 12

Brilliant choice with gray and Atkinson, they will bring the decent players in and we now have a better chance of promotion whichever league we will be in. Come on darlo, are you watching, chimp chokers.

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DarloArenaB17 says...
8:29pm Sun 27 May 12

Fantastic news to lift the gloom. Litmus paper has been lit now. Time to see what sort of bang Darlo make! For first time in years we have a good Managment set up. Darlo are in goods hands now. Well done 1883 keep it up. How will Clubs like Marske handle 1000+ travelling fans. All we need now is Hodgy back and I think Shaun deserves a role to promote the Club for his sterling efforts of attracting public attention.

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Hamphire Poolie says...
8:38pm Sun 27 May 12

Yes, we're watching, with ongoing amusement! Trouble is, we haven't been bothered with Darlo for quite a few years now and probably wont be again. Carlisle are more relevant as local rivals these days! Your's would be.. well, every other team in the pub leagues you'll be playing in from now on! Still, you might get to 'win' a few more trophies.

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holmesc1 says...
8:58pm Sun 27 May 12

am pleased gray was a popular player and nice to have northern league legend dunn as scout. come on darlo win northern league and prove doubters wrong

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monteforte says...
9:45pm Sun 27 May 12

Good news and great appointments..
A Darlington spokesman said: "With the support of fans, the club hope to provide him with a competitive budget and have set him the target of constructing a team capable of winning promotion from the Northern League at the first attempt."
Let's hope so and DFC1883 get that appeal to the FA asap...

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no1quaker says...
10:58pm Sun 27 May 12

Stiv, your a ****, why the hell can't you leave Hartlepool out of it? You just love winding people up the wrong way!!

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CaptainJustice says...
10:23am Mon 28 May 12

Best news in a long time.. Gray can get us moving in the right direction once again!

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David Lacey says...
11:59am Mon 28 May 12

I stopped going to matches when the Quakers left Feethams (I live in Durham and parking at the new place was not feasible) - after 38 seasons, home and away. They need to reconnect with the town by finding a home somewhere within its boundaries. Then the fans will turn out in droves. I'd like to be one of them.

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penneysfromheaven says...
11:08pm Tue 29 May 12

hampshire poolie, you are a typical pools fan. Never anything constructive to say except having a pop at a club going through tough times. You're not in such a rosy position yourselves. It's a tough financial landscape out there at the moment and there aren't many clubs in the lower leagues who can say they are truly in a financially sound position. Keep that smug smile in check!!

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