Stockton Town vs Darlington Preview
DATE: Tuesday 14th July, 2026
KICK-OFF: 19:30
ENTRY: £7 Adults, £5 Concessions/U18’s, £4 U16’s, U5’s free. All season ticket holders gain free entry too.
GROUND: Stockton Town FC, Map Group UK Stadium, Bishopton Road West, Stockton-on-Tees, TS19 0QD
LIVE UPDATES: @stockton_townfc – Twitter/X
Stockton Town face their first higher opponent of pre-season by welcoming National League North’s Darlington.
A depleted Stockton side fell to a defeat against Dunston on Saturday, but saw star signing Frank Nouble find the target for the first time in pre-season.
The Anchors and the Quakers met last season during pre-season, where the visitors from Darlington breezed to a 4-1 win in terrible conditions.
Despite losing star forwards Jack Maskell and Cedric Main this summer, Steve Watson has recruited well to find replacements. The core of which being the re-signing of Mark Beck, who has spent time in the National League since leaving Darlington back in 2023.
He’s joined by former South Shields forward Dylan Stephenson and former Anchors junior Max Howells, who joined permanently after impressing on loan with Darlington from Middlesbrough last season. Howells will be a man to watch on the wing this evening.
Darlo dominated a pre-season meeting with Redcar Athletic on Saturday, picking up a 4-0 win, where Stephenson found the scoresheet.
Speaking after Saturday, manager Michael Dunwell looked ahead to the test by stating: “These are the games you want. It’s all about fitness and sharpness, and it’ll be a strong test where we won’t have the ball as much, so it gives us a chance to look at our shape off the ball, closing the lines and not letting them play through us.”
