Darlington is a town in North East England and the main population centre in the Borough of Darlington. Darlington has a resident population of 97,838 . The town lies within the traditional and ceremonial county of Durham. On 1 April 1997, the Borough of Darlington became a unitary authority, which separated it from the non-metropolitan county of Durham, for administrative purposes. Darlington's main railway station lies on the East Coast Main Line. There are also services from the historic North Road railway station and associated Darlington Railway Centre and Museum. The town is also home to the football team Darlington F.C., known as "The Quakers" because of the contributions made to the town by men such as Edward and Joseph Pease, members of the Religious Society of Friends.