The club also runs a highly successful youth and mini rugby tournament every year Darlington Festival, traditionally on May Bank Holiday Weekend.

On 18 October 1863, the committee of Darlington Cricket Club held a special meeting to discuss the problem of members who drifted away during the winter months.

The North East's original Rugby Club – for such it was – was first captained by Tom Watson, a great sportsman whose family owned a saddlery business in town.

By 1865 it had 80 members, who organised matches amongst themselves, but by the late 1860s, mainly on Tom Watson's initiative, regular fixtures were arranged against Durham School, Leeds and Rochdale, among others.

Following a period of doldrums in the early 20th century, caused not least by the First World War, Darlington RFC gained new strength in the 1920s and 1930s, when it produced several first rate County players.