The team, formed in 1870, was an early pioneer of professional football in Northern England, reaching the semi-finals of the 1880–81 FA Cup.

In October 1878, at their Barley Bank ground, Darwen played a representative team from Blackburn under floodlights.

Darwen was the first club from Northern England to achieve any success in the FA Cup, reaching the quarter-finals in 1879.

They caused controversy in this competition by signing two professional players, Fergie Suter and Jimmy Love, both from Partick, a Scottish club based in Glasgow.

One London club proposed that "no side which does not consist entirely of amateurs, as defined by the rules to be drawn up by the committee, be entitled to compete in the Challenge Cup competition".

The motion was defeated and Darwen travelled down to the Oval to play the great amateur side Old Etonians in the quarter-final.

An FA Cup regulation of that time ruled that the final three rounds of the competition were to be played in London.

[1] In March 1892 they lost 12–0 to West Bromwich Albion, and this winning margin has never been surpassed in the League's top division (although it was equalled in 1909 when Nottingham Forest beat Leicester Fosse by the same score).

[4] Darwen Football Club Limited went into voluntary liquidation at the end of the 1898–99 season, being unable to meet its liabilities.

Darwen had refused Arsenal's offer of £150 to switch the tie to London and attracted a 7,000 crowd to the Anchor Ground.

Following two further petitions for liquidation brought by Thwaites Brewery and ING Lease UK and their refusal of an offer of 25p in the pound, on 14 May 2009 the Darwen Club was wound up in the High Court.

[11] [Champions Cup] Winners: 1967,1968 North West Counties Football League League Challenge Cup Champions 1982–83 During the early decades of its existence Darwen had a fierce rivalry with Blackburn Rovers, with many of their games being dogged by crowd trouble between both sets of fans.

The full list of England players (with the number of caps received whilst registered with Darwen F.C.)

were:[14] In August 2017 a play called "The Giant Killers" was produced at The Edinburgh Fringe festival, telling the story of the formation of the club and their 1878–79 cup run.

[15][16] In 2020, the club, their signing of Fergus Suter and their rivalry with Old Etonians was the basis of The English Game a series on Netflix.

Darwen Football Club Memories, by Breeze, Paul (Posh Up North Publishing: Nelson, 2001) ISBN 978-0953978243