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, finishing bottom of the table. In 1919 they joined the
North Eastern League, finishing fifth in their first season. 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. They finished bottom of the division in
1922–23, but were re-elected. Durham dropped back into Division One of the North Eastern League, replacing their reserve team. They finished bottom of Division One in 1928–29 and were relegated to Division Two. However, after finishing as Division Two runners-up in 1930–31, they were promoted back to Division One. After three consecutive finishes in the bottom three between 1934–35 and 1936–37, they ended the 1937–38 season bottom of the league. They dropped into the
Wearside League, but folded in November 1938, partly due to the introduction of greyhound racing at their
Holiday Park ground. and joined the
Wearside League for the 1950–51 season. After two seasons they were admitted to the
Northern League. The club finished bottom of the league in
1954–55, but the
following season saw them reach the first round of the
FA Cup for the first time as a non-League club, eventually losing 3–1 at local rivals
Bishop Auckland. 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. As a result, the club lost most of its players and won only two league matches during the
2009–10 season. They finished bottom of the table with zero points after having six points deducted for playing a player under a false name, and were relegated back to Division One North. Although they managed to finish in mid-table in the following two seasons, they resigned from the league at the end of the
2011–12 season and returned to Division One of the Northern League. In 2013 the club was purchased by former Premier League player
Olivier Bernard, with a stated aim of making them a talent development club for local professional teams. After finishing in the bottom three in
2015–16, the club were relegated to Division Two. The
2019–20 and
2020–21 seasons were not completed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and club avoided relegation. However, in
2021–22 they finished bottom of Division Two and were relegated to Division One of the Wearside League. The following season saw them finish bottom of Division One, resulting in relegation to the second tier of the Wearside League (renamed Division One for the 2023–24 season).
Season-by-season record ==Ground==