The club was established in 1918 and initially competed in the Victory League, which was set up in celebration of the end of World War I,[1] finishing bottom of the table.

[3] Despite a mid-table finish in 1920–21, they were one of fourteen clubs automatically elected to the newly formed Third Division North of the Football League in 1921.

[4] In 1925–26 the club reached the second round of the FA Cup for the first time, losing 3–0 at home to Division Three North rivals Southport.

After finishing second-from-bottom in 1927–28, the club failed to win re-election, gaining only 11 votes to the 22 received by the newly elected Carlisle United.

They dropped into the Wearside League, but folded in November 1938, partly due to the introduction of greyhound racing at their Holiday Park ground.

In 1957–58 they went one better, reaching the second round, where they lost 3–0 at home to Tranmere Rovers in front of Ferens Park's record crowd.

[10] However, their main sponsor withdrew in the summer of 2009 after the Football Conference ruled that they would not accept clubs with artificial pitches, which Durham had.

[3] Durham continued to struggle, winning only one game in four years between April 2019 to May 2023, resulting in them being labelled "England's worst football club".

[11] However, a dispute with the landlord led to the club moving to Consett's Belle View Stadium in 2015,[19] where they played until the end of the 2016–17 season.