A look at the men from the North

Goalkeepers:

Andy Oakes joined Darlington in the summer from Swansea City. He has also played for Bury, Walsall, Hull City and Derby County, for whom he played in the Premiership.

David Stockdale signed for Darlo in summer 2006 from York City and has made the first team goalkeeper's position his own this season.

Przemyslaw Kazimierczak was signed in the summer from Accrington Stanley.

Defenders:

Neil Austin joined the club in the summer from Barnsley. He made over 100 appearances for the Yorkshire club.

Alan White joined the club in the summer from Notts County. A much travelled player in recent seasons he has made over 300 appearances in his career and has played for Luton Town, Boston United, Colchester, Leyton Orient and Middlesborough. Finished last season on loan at Peterborough.

Stephen Foster signed in the summer from Scunthorpe. He is a very experienced defender who made 130 appearances for Doncaster Rovers and over 200 for Bristol Rovers.

Ryan Valentine is in his second spell at the club having rejoined from Wrexham in the January transfer window. He has made over 150 appearances for Darlington, who he left in 2006 to join the Welsh club.

Ian Miller recently made a permanent move to Darlington following a loan spell at the club. He was previously at Ipswich Town.

Tim Ryan joined the club from Boston United in the 2007 January transfer window. A vastly experienced player, he has also played for Southport, Doncaster Rovers and Peterborough.

Midfield:

Neil Wainwright signed for the club in 2001 and has since played over 150 matches for the club. He has previously played for Halifax, Wrexham and Sunderland. He is currently on loan at Mansfield Town.

Bryan Hodge is a 20 year old, on loan from Blackburn Rovers, having had an earlier spell this season on loan at Millwall. Last season, he was at Mansfield Town.

Ricky Ravenhill joined the club on loan from Grimsby Town last January before making the move permanent shortly afterwards. He has also played for Chester, Barnsley and Doncaster for whom he made over 150 appearances.

Michael Cummins was signed in the summer of 2006 on a free transfer from Port Vale. He scored 34 goals in 7 seasons with the Potteries club, making nearly 300 appearances. He has also played for Barnsley.

Robert Purdie joined in the summer from Hereford and was part of the Hereford side that won promotion via the play offs from the Conference in 2006. He made 112 starts for Hereford in 5 years scoring 26 goals.

Clark Keltie was signed from non-league, Shildon, having made his debut in 2002. He has since gone on to make over 150 first team appearances for Darlington.

Ben Parker arrived this season from Leeds United, having been a regular first team player at Bradford City last season. He is just 20.


Craig Nelthorpe has just arrived on loan from Doncaster Rovers. The 20 year old had loan spells last season at Kidderminster and Gateshead and earlier this season at Halifax.

Jason Kennedy is on loan from Middlesborough for the rest of the season. He had loan spells at Bury and Boston last season and has been on loan this season at Scottish First Division club, Livingston.

Strikers:

Guylain Ndumbu-Nsungu was on loan earlier in the season with Bradford City. He is in his second spell at Darlington having signed from Gillingham.

Kevin Gall was signed in the January transfer window on loan from Carlisle United where he was often used as a substitute, this season. He scored 8 goals from 44 appearances for the Cumbrian side last season, after signing the previous summer from Yeovil Town. He has also played for Bristol Rovers.

Gregg Blundell joined Darlington in the January 2007 transfer window from Chester City. He was previously at Doncaster Rovers where he helped them gain promotion tw seasons running from the Conference to League One. He is probably best known to Bees' fans from his time at Northwich Victoria for whom he scored 41 goals in little more than 2 years.

Richie Foran is an experienced striker who is on loan from Southend United. He has scored 3 goals in 9 games for Darlo during this loan spell. He has also played for Carlisle, Shelbourne and Motherwell.

Tommy Wright joined Darlington in last year following a short loan spell. Until joining Darlo, Wright had been around the football league without ever really setting things alight. He played for Leicester City and Barnsley and had loan spells at Brentford, Blackpool and Walsall. He has scored 11 goals in 26 starts this season for Darlington.

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PLAYER TO WATCH

Julian Joachim joined the club in August 2006 from Boston United and was Darlington's most expensive signing in nearly 15 years. He began his career at Leicester City and made 9 England under 21 appearances and scored 10 goals in his first season for the midlands club. In 1996, he moved to Aston Villa for £1.5m and scored 39 goals in 90 goals for Villa being voted player of the year in 1999. He subsequently played for Coventry City and Leeds United and has also played for Walsall, on loan.

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