Darwen F.C.

History

Darwen Football Club faced financial trouble as early as December 2003, when Carlsberg-Tetley attempted to have the club wound up. At the time, the team was in Division One of the North West Counties League, and it managed to survive that petition. However, a second winding-up order came from The Bee radio station in April 2008, over an unpaid advertising bill of £8,000. Blackburn with Darwen Council considered buying the Anchor Ground, but after Thwaites Brewery and ING Lease UK each filed their own petitions and rejected an offer of 25p for every pound owed, the 134-year-old club was officially dissolved by the High Court on 14 May 2009.

A new club, AFC Darwen, was formed almost immediately and took over the Anchor Ground in time for the 2009–10 season, though it had to start at step 7 of the football pyramid. After an eighth-place finish in its first campaign in the West Lancashire League Premier Division, the club earned promotion to Division One of the North West Counties League. In 2014–15, AFC Darwen won the Division One Trophy by beating Atherton Collieries 3–1 in the final, and after finishing third in the league, they secured promotion to the Premier Division by defeating Chadderton 2–1 and Hanley Town 5–3 in the play-offs.

The 2017–18 season ended with the team finishing last in the Premier Division, leading to relegation to Division One North. The club was renamed Darwen Football Club in June 2022.