DARLINGTON have launched a reserve team which is to begin playing in the Wearside League with immediate effect.

They have taken over the Horden CW, who say their financial situation means they would have gone out of business by Christmas had Quakers not stepped in.

The team, which has played 13 games this season and is in the lower reaches of the table, will play home matches at Eastbourne Sports Complex in Darlington, which has recently had a new artificial surface installed. Their first game at the venue will be against Annfield Plain on October 15.

The three-strong management team includes ex-Darlington forward Steven Johnson, Mark Fannan and Paul Aldsworth, while Norman Stephens, the long-serving chairman of Horden, will continue in his role.

Assembling a second-string team is a long-held ambition of Quakers boss Martin Gray, who sees the reserves as having the opportunity to bridge the gap between youth football and the senior side.

He has frequently loaned youth players to Northern League clubs in order to gain experience, as well as senior players in need of game time such as Amar Purewal, who last week joined Shildon on loan, while Adam Nowakowski has gone to Bradford PA for a month.

“We’ve tried to get into the league a few times, it’s something I’ve wanted to put into a place for a while,” explained Gray.

“We’re putting a strong youth section together and we need somewhere for these kids to go after they turn 18 but are not ready for our first team.

“We’re trying to build an under-23 team, and we’ll also play lads in there who are coming back from suspension or need fitness.

“The idea is to keep players together, so we won’t need to send them on loan to other clubs, that’s another purpose behind this team.

“It’s another part of the jigsaw and an exciting time for the club with Blackwell Meadows coming along.”

Not only does Gray view the team as providing an opportunity for youth team and fringe players, he also wants them to earn promotion.

He said: “I’m setting this team up to grow and to challenge. One day I’d like them to be a Northern League team.

“I don’t just want them to play, I want them to win. It’s about creating a winning mentality, developing the right way to win a game, so that when they do come into the first team they understand what it’s all about.”

Horden was formed 108 years ago, with Stephens chairman for 17 years, but the club has this season played games at Grayfields in Hartlepool, having eight months ago lost a court case with the local council which forced it out of its former Horden Welfare Park home.

He told the Sunderland Echo: “Darlington have thrown us a lifeline and allowed us to continue.

“If we had carried on as Horden, the club would have folded financially by Christmas, because we were losing so much money every game.

“We had no ground sponsorships because of losing the Welfare, and we also lost the fans through the gate, the kitchen money, profits from the programme and more advertising.

“It cost us thousands of pounds. This name change and move to Darlington allows us to continue, and it’s something that had to be done.

“We’ve had to do what we’ve done for financial reasons. Darlington have been absolutely brilliant with us, and we’re excited to link up with them.

“We’ve done this for the benefit of the football club and to keep it going.”