Durham's first season in the Northern Premier League saw them win Division One North, earning promotion to the Premier Division; they also won the league's Chairman's Cup. 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. 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. After finishing in the bottom three in 2015–16, the club were relegated to Division Two.