We asked where Darlo fans are located around the world -- and Callum Parker contacted us from Australia!

Greetings from Melbourne! I am a second generation Darlo fan who follows along each week from the other side of the world. I was introduced to the club by my dad who was born in Darlington and followed them through his move to Australia. When my younger brother (also a fan) was in the UK a few years ago he bought me a shirt which I wore proudly and often until the poor thing wore out! The Internet and Twitter make being an overseas fan much easier and more rewarding. They help lessen the distance and make you feel part of a community of supporters.

I currently live in Melbourne but my initial experience with Darlo came as a child in outback South Australia. To begin with I remember only being able to get football results in the Tuesday newspaper or if you were really luck you would get the classified results on our radio at lunchtime on Sunday for the Saturday night games your time. This obviously provided no detail or context which is why the internet is so useful! I was actually really nervous about the playoff games as I felt that we genuinely deserved the promotion spot. Being so far away also means that the dates and times get confused so I remember searching for results on twitter one morning only to discover the game wasn’t on until the following day.

The highlights packages were fantastic in allowing me to see the goals and more importantly hear the cheers and the support of the crowd. I commented on a few of the goals on Twitter and picked up some Darlo supporters as followers which made me feel even more a part of it. Ultimately though the promotion and the club’s continued development help me to feel a strong link with my dad. I think that since he passed away I’m even more passionate about Darlo and being part of a “real” football club.

My favourite player is Graeme Armstrong. As an Australian who loves Australian Rules Football as well I love players who show great toughness and fortitude. Normally they’re defenders (like I was!) but Armstrong's efforts at the end of last season and coming back from such a serious injury so quickly is incredibly impressive. I’ve been impressed with the quality of what I’ve seen of the games. There are some very talented players and I love the support from the crowd. The game in Australia has grown a huge amount over the past 15 years and the quality of players coming through (particularly amongst the youth level) is great. We have a really strong multicultural mix which I think brings a lot to our football from both a knowledge and flair perspective.

What we don’t really have though is clubs linked to towns and communities. This is what really appeals to me about what has been done with Darlo. A community club who values the fans is a rare thing! It’s hard to draw comparisons to much with quality as you are playing on water logged, snow covered pitches and we don’t regularly have to worry about that! Our professional league now plays in the summer months which means the pitches are normally of a good standard.

I’ve listened to the radio broadcast a tiny bit because the time difference makes it very difficult. No one likes to be woken up by dad at 2am! My dad’s name was Arthur and I know that my uncle John was able to take my brother to a game a few years ago. I haven’t been that lucky yet but have the aim of representing my dad on the terraces (hopefully with my own children) before too long.