Durham County Football Association
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| Formation | 1883 |
|---|---|
| Purpose | Football association |
| Headquarters | 'Codeslaw' Riverside South |
| Location |
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| John Topping | |
| Website | durhamfa.com |
The Durham County Football Association (also simply known as the Durham FA) is the governing body of football in the historic county of Durham, including Darlington, Gateshead, Hartlepool, South Tyneside, and Sunderland. The Durham FA was founded on 25 March 1883 and is the governing body for football in Durham from grass roots to professional level. They also run a number of cups for teams of all levels across the county, leagues for under-18, under-21 and ladies teams, and an under-18 representative team.
In 1879 the joint Durham and Northumberland Football Association was founded and they stayed that way until 1883 when increasing numbers and travel problems for the clubs necessitated a change. On 11 May 1883, 40 clubs met in the Alexandra Hotel in Newcastle and voted to form an independent body known as the Northumberland Football Association. The Durham clubs followed suit holding a meeting at the Three Tuns Hotel, Durham City, on 25 May 1883. The nine clubs who were represented at that meeting formed the Durham County Football Association.
In its second season 18 clubs took part in the Durham Challenge Cup, the only county cup competition in the country at that time. On the 125 year anniversary in 2007–08, the association organised 11 county cup competitions at various levels and a total of 988 clubs participated. The association now has 2,386 teams and 1,055 referees affiliated and also has a staff of 13, who deal with all issues relating to governance and development of football within the county. In 1883, the staff consisted of a part-time honorary secretary.
The association opened its first rented office at 10 Tenters Terrace, Durham City, on 1 October 1913. In June 1923, it purchased Codeslaw, The Avenue, Durham City, to provide "an office, meeting rooms and residence for the secretary". In 1971, the association moved to larger offices at The Sands, Durham City, which were officially opened by its then President, Arthur Askew. Owing to an increase in staff, another move was required and a custom-built suite of offices was erected at The Riverside, Chester-le-Street, which were officially opened on 9 June 2005 by the association’s president, Frank Pattison, and the chairman of The Football Association, Geoffrey Thompson.
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