Name Droppers

Darlington 1883 are the first reformed football club in a while to seek a reversion of their name to that of the original after five years of existence.

98% of the Supporters Group members voting called to drop the '1883' moniker that had been added to differentiate the new club from the original Darlington FC. '1883' refers to the formation date of the original club.

Their reformation is more unusual than most in that the new club bought some of the assets, and debts, of the old club, partially in a bid to retain the name. They are also one of the few to have had to add something to their name to differentiate rather than remove. Chester City became Chester FC, etc etc.

The club retained the original badge, website address, and even the sell-on rights to certain players sold by the original club. The major difference, technically, was that the company running the club changed and that was enough for the FA to demand a change of name.

News came through on Friday that the FA's Membership Committee had forwarded the application to change to the FA Council with a recommendation for approval, meaning the FA Council are likely to follow suit when they are asked to ratify the change.

For their part, the club rarely use the '1883' tag themselves. The website highlights "Welcome to Darlington Football Club' on the front page, lists the next fixture as 'vs Darlington', and barely mentions the number outside of the technical requirements of FA membership to publish ownership information where the ultimate holding company is Darlington 1883 Ltd.

The FA Council are set to meet in April to decide on the application.