Darren Barnard
Encyclopedia
Darren Sean Barnardis a former professional footballer and Welsh international
Wales national football team
The Wales national football team represents Wales in international football. It is controlled by the Football Association of Wales , the governing body for football in Wales, and the third oldest national football association in the world. The team have only qualified for a major international...

, playing 22 times for Wales between 1998 and 2004. He is currently joint-manager of Camberley Town
Camberley Town F.C.
Camberley Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club from the town of Camberley in Surrey. Founded in 1895 as St. Michael's, Camberley F.C., the club was renamed Camberley & Yorktown F.C. in 1901...

 and is also the club's Director of football
Director of football
"Director of football" is a term describing a senior management figure at a football club, most commonly used in Europe. The exact nature of the role is often unclear and extremely variable and causes much debate in the sports media...

 and notably played for Chelsea
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...

 and Barnsley
Barnsley F.C.
Barnsley Football Club are a professional English football club based in the town of Barnsley, South Yorkshire. Nicknamed the Tykes, they were founded in 1887 under the name Barnsley St. Peter's...

. He also played as a professional for Reading
Reading F.C.
Reading Football Club is an English association football club based in the town of Reading, Berkshire who currently play in the Championship...

, Bristol City
Bristol City F.C.
Bristol City Football Club is one of two football league clubs in Bristol, England . They play at Ashton Gate, located in the south-west of the City...

, Grimsby Town
Grimsby Town F.C.
Grimsby Town Football Club is an English football club based in the seaside town of Cleethorpes, in North East Lincolnshire, England, who compete in the Conference National. They were formed in 1878 as Grimsby Pelham and later became Grimsby Town...

 and Aldershot Town
Aldershot Town F.C.
Aldershot Town Football Club is an association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England, founded in the spring of 1992 just after the closure of debt-ridden Fourth Division club Aldershot Football Club...

.

Chelsea

Chelsea paid non-league Wokingham Town £100,000 to seal the signature of 18-year-old Darren Barnard in July 1990. A complete unknown, He had to wait almost 2 years for his first team debut as he was competing with the established Gareth Hall
Gareth Hall
Gareth Hall is an English-born former Welsh international footballer of the 1980s and 1990s.He started his career as an apprentice at Chelsea and made his first team debut on 5 May 1987 against Wimbledon F.C., having featured in a reserve match earlier in the day...

 and Frank Sinclair
Frank Sinclair
Frank Mohammed Sinclair is an English-born Jamaican footballer who plays for Hendon in the Isthmian League Premier Division.-Chelsea:...

 for a place in the team. During his time at Chelsea, Darren played for Bobby Campbell Ian Porterfield and Glenn Hoddle
Glenn Hoddle
Glenn Hoddle is an English former footballer and manager who played as an attacking midfielder for Tottenham Hotspur, AS Monaco, Chelsea and Swindon Town and at international level for England....

, but was only given a regular run in the team by caretaker manager David Webb
David Webb (footballer)
David James Webb is an English former professional footballer who made 555 appearances in the Football League playing for Leyton Orient, Southampton, Chelsea, Queens Park Rangers, Leicester City, Derby County, A.F.C. Bournemouth and Torquay United. He became a manager, taking charge of A.F.C...

. Barnard was signed at a time when the Blues were attempting to boost their standing in the First Division with the expensive purchases of Dennis Wise
Dennis Wise
Dennis Frank Wise is an English former football manager and player, and former Executive Director at Newcastle United....

 and Andy Townsend
Andy Townsend
Andrew "Andy" David Townsend is a former professional footballer, who played in two World Cups for the Republic of Ireland and is now a television and radio pundit....

, Darren was forced to wait almost two years for his first-team debut. Comfortable playing anywhere along the left-flank, his first appearance was as a replacement for Vinnie Jones
Vinnie Jones
Vincent Peter "Vinnie" Jones is an English film actor and retired Welsh footballer.Born in Hertfordshire, England, Jones represented and captained the Welsh national football team, having qualified via a Welsh grandparent. He also previously played for Chelsea and Leeds United. As a member of the...

 in a 2–1 win over West Ham United
West Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...

 towards the end of the 1991–92 season, and after two further substitute appearances he was rewarded with his first start, it coming in a disappointing 3–1 defeat at Aston Villa
Aston Villa F.C.
Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...

. Manager Ian Porterfield resisted the opportunity to include Darren in his side at the beginning of the following campaign, preferring to play Gareth Hall out of position in the absence of regular left-back Frank Sinclair, and with the exception of an outing at Coventry City
Coventry City F.C.
Coventry City Football Club, otherwise known as the Sky Blues owing to the traditional colour of their strip, are a professional English Football league club based in Coventry...

 in October it wasn't until the final three months of the campaign – after David Webb
David Webb (footballer)
David James Webb is an English former professional footballer who made 555 appearances in the Football League playing for Leyton Orient, Southampton, Chelsea, Queens Park Rangers, Leicester City, Derby County, A.F.C. Bournemouth and Torquay United. He became a manager, taking charge of A.F.C...

 was drafted in to replace Porterfield for the remainder of the season – that Darren became a regular fixture. Given the freedom to roam on the left of Chelsea's midfield, he impressed with a number of cultured displays, the best of which came against Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough F.C.
Middlesbrough Football Club , also known as Boro, are an English football club based in Middlesbrough, who play in the Football League Championship. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium since August 1995, their third ground since turning professional in 1889...

 when he tormented Boro's right-back Curtis Fleming
Curtis Fleming
Curtis Fleming is an english born Irish former international footballer. Fleming played his youth football at the famous Belvedere F.C.. Fleming played right back and won international honours for the Republic of Ireland at under-21, under-23 , and senior level. He started his career with St...

 to such an extent that the Irishman
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...

's revenge led to Barnard missing the following match with a cut shin. He scored his first goal for the club that day, in what was a 4–0 win, and could look back with pride on a record that season of eight starts resulting in five wins, two draws and just a single defeat. However, new manager Glenn Hoddle
Glenn Hoddle
Glenn Hoddle is an English former footballer and manager who played as an attacking midfielder for Tottenham Hotspur, AS Monaco, Chelsea and Swindon Town and at international level for England....

 remained unconvinced and Darren was restricted to only nine starts in 1993–94, primarily as a left-back. An awful league campaign was compensated for by a run to the final of the FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

, and although he did not feature in the final itself, Darren did play in the semi-final victory over Luton Town
Luton Town F.C.
Luton Town Football Club is an English professional football club based since 1905 at Kenilworth Road, Luton, Bedfordshire. The club currently competes in the fifth tier of English football, the Conference National, for the third consecutive season during the 2011–12 season.Formed in 1885, it was...

 after replacing the injured Craig Burley
Craig Burley
Craig William Burley is a Scottish former international association football player who played for clubs including Chelsea, Celtic and Derby County...

 late in the first-half. He struck his only goal of the season in a 2–0 defeat of West Ham
West Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...

 in March, and his final appearance for the club came six weeks later when he was selected for a weakened side that were beaten by Coventry City
Coventry City F.C.
Coventry City Football Club, otherwise known as the Sky Blues owing to the traditional colour of their strip, are a professional English Football league club based in Coventry...

 as Hoddle chose to protect his likely cup final team. Despite remaining with the club for a further 18 months, Darren failed to reappear in the first-team, eventually joining Bristol City in October 1995 for a fee of £175,000 a move which proved to be a launching pad for his career, as he went on to become a full international in the colours of Wales
Wales national football team
The Wales national football team represents Wales in international football. It is controlled by the Football Association of Wales , the governing body for football in Wales, and the third oldest national football association in the world. The team have only qualified for a major international...

.

Bristol City

Darren transferred to Bristol City
Bristol City F.C.
Bristol City Football Club is one of two football league clubs in Bristol, England . They play at Ashton Gate, located in the south-west of the City...

 for £175,000. Two seasons in Division Two
Football League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...

 culminated in losing in the play off semi finals to Brentford
Brentford F.C.
Brentford Football Club are a professional English football club based in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow. They are currently playing in Football League One....

. Bought from Chelsea, where he had made just a handful of first team appearances, Darren initially played on the left wing for City. However, manager Joe Jordan
Joe Jordan (footballer)
Joseph "Joe" Jordan is a Scottish football coach and former player and manager. He is currently first team coach for English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur, under manager Harry Redknapp....

 started to play him at left wing-back shortly after his move to the club, and before long, Darren was a fully fledged left wing-back. He was perhaps one of the most talented players to turn out for City during the 1990s. His ability to run with the ball down the wing, overlap with Brian Tinnion
Brian Tinnion
Brian Tinnion is a British former footballer and ex-manager. He made over 450 appearances for Bristol City, including a spell as player-manager...

 and, of course, his wonderful free kicks were all a joy to behold. When Mickey Bell joined the club in 1997 City fans were given a mouthwatering preview of what could be, when both Barnard and Bell played in a pre-season friendly against Liverpool
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...

. They linked together in amazing fashion, producing some breathtaking attacking football. Unfortunately, Darren left the club soon after,to join Barnsley in the Premier League ,so this partnership was never seen in a competitive City side.Darren scored 17 goals in 76 games for City. Darren went on to play in the Premiership with Barnsley
Barnsley F.C.
Barnsley Football Club are a professional English football club based in the town of Barnsley, South Yorkshire. Nicknamed the Tykes, they were founded in 1887 under the name Barnsley St. Peter's...

, where he continued to score his usual quota of amazing free kicks and long range volleys.Darren scored 28 goals in 201 appearances for the club with many assists.

Barnsley

Barnsley were looking to strengthen their squad after an unexpected promotion to the Premier League for the 1997-98 season, signing Darren for £750,000 as well as players like Eric Tinkler
Eric Tinkler
Eric Tinkler is a retired South African footballer who played for Wits in South Africa, Vitória de Setúbal and União de Tomar in Portugal, Cagliari in Italy and Barnsley in England....

 and Georgi Hristov
Georgi Hristov
Gjorgji Hristov or Ǵorǵi Hristov is a Macedonian football coach and former striker....

. Darren became a Welsh international during this season, making his debut for Wales in a 0-0 draw against Jamaica
Jamaica national football team
The Jamaica national football team is the national team of Jamaica and is controlled by the Jamaica Football Federation. After decades in CONCACAF obscurity, they gained many fans throughout the world after they qualified for the 1998 FIFA World Cup...

 on 25 March 1998 and went on to collect 18 caps whilst at Barnsley. Unfortunately for Barnsley the Premier League dream lasted only one season, but Darren played on for them in the First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....

 for another four seasons and played in the 1999-00 play off final defeat to Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town F.C.
Ipswich Town Football Club are an English professional football team based in Ipswich, Suffolk. As of 2011, they play in the Football League Championship, having last appeared in the Premier League in 2001–02....

, in which he missed the opening penalty in the match,the last missed penalty at the old Wembley stadium,although Barnsley were awarded another which Craig.Higgnett scored. The goal keeper Richard Wright as a result was sold to Arsenal for 7 million pounds). In the 1998-99 season, Darren turned down a move to go to Southampton in November, on his first game after he declined the move he scored what possibly could be one of the all time great goals for his club and himself, a left footed volley from the corner of the penalty area after a fine pass by Nicky Eaden. The goal was in Barnsley's 7-1 win over Yorkshire rivals Huddersfield Town
Huddersfield Town F.C.
Huddersfield Town Football Club is an English football club formed in 1908 and based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. They currently play in League One...

 on 27 November 1998, in which the game was on Sky Sports.

Grimsby Town

Darren joined Grimsby Town
Grimsby Town F.C.
Grimsby Town Football Club is an English football club based in the seaside town of Cleethorpes, in North East Lincolnshire, England, who compete in the Conference National. They were formed in 1878 as Grimsby Pelham and later became Grimsby Town...

 for the start of the 2002-03 season along with fellow Barnsley player Steve Chettle
Steve Chettle
Stephen "Steve" Chettle is an English former footballer who currently works as the U13 team coach at Nottingham Forest. He is best known for his time as a player at Forest...

. Barnard was used as a left sided midfielder in his first season while under manager Paul Groves, but was also used at left back, the latter was primarily his main position after the departure of Tony Gallimore
Tony Gallimore
Anthony Mark "Tony" Gallimore is an English former professional footballer who made more than 500 appearances in the Football League between 1990 and 2006, playing for Stoke City, Carlisle United, Grimsby Town, Barnsley and Rochdale. The major part of his career was spent at Carlisle United and...

 in the summer of 2003. In both Darren's seasons at Blundell Park
Blundell Park
Blundell Park is a football ground in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England and home to Grimsby Town Football Club. The stadium was built in 1898, but only one of the original stands remain. The current capacity of the ground is 9546, though with the introduction of all seating in the late...

 he suffered relegations in which Grimsby were went from Division One to Division Three. Following the clubs financial difficulties many of Barnard's colleagues had been inexperienced youngsters. Despite not having any luck at his club, Darren collected another 6 Welsh caps, the last as a substitute against Norway
Norway national football team
The Norway national football team represents Norway in association football and is controlled by the Football Association of Norway, the governing body for football in Norway. Norway's home ground is Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo and their head coach is Egil Olsen...

 on 27 May 2004, coincidentally alongside former Grimsby team-mates Danny Coyne
Danny Coyne
Daniel "Danny" Coyne is a Wales international footballer who plays for Middlesbrough as a goalkeeper. He has previously played for Tranmere Rovers, Grimsby Town, Leicester City and Burnley.-Tranmere Rovers:...

 and John Oster
John Oster
John Morgan Oster is an English born Welsh international footballer, who plays as a midfielder for Football League Championship club Doncaster Rovers. Oster progressed through the youth ranks at Grimsby Town before moving on to Premier League Everton...

.

Aldershot Town

The former Aldershot and Farnborough District schoolboy joined Aldershot Town
Aldershot Town F.C.
Aldershot Town Football Club is an association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England, founded in the spring of 1992 just after the closure of debt-ridden Fourth Division club Aldershot Football Club...

 in August 2004 after leaving Grimsby Town. The Welsh international left-sided defender was a major signing by the Aldershot manager Terry Brown
Terry Brown
Terry Brown may refer to:*Terry Brown , English-Canadian record producer*Terry Brown , former chairman of West Ham United football club*Terry Brown , manager of AFC Wimbledon...

, becoming the club's penalty taker.In 2007 Darren was made club captain as well as playing and captaining the Welsh semi Professional side.Darren scored 24 goals in 127 appearances for Aldershot Town.

Camberley Town

Darren moved to sign for Camberley Town
Camberley Town F.C.
Camberley Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club from the town of Camberley in Surrey. Founded in 1895 as St. Michael's, Camberley F.C., the club was renamed Camberley & Yorktown F.C. in 1901...

 prior to his release from Aldershot in 2007. As well as being used as a player, Darren was also appointed the Director of football
Director of football
"Director of football" is a term describing a senior management figure at a football club, most commonly used in Europe. The exact nature of the role is often unclear and extremely variable and causes much debate in the sports media...

 for the club, and later the General Manager. In May 2010 he was appointed joint first team manager alongside ex-Reading
Reading F.C.
Reading Football Club is an English association football club based in the town of Reading, Berkshire who currently play in the Championship...

 and Wycombe Wanderers
Wycombe Wanderers F.C.
Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional football team from High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, which has been promoted to Football League One after finishing third in Football League Two in the season 2010–11. The club's nicknames are "The Chairboys" and "The Blues", and they play...

 player Paul Miles.Darren has registered for playing in 2010/2011 season.In 2010 Darren completed all his coaching badges in Manchester with ex players and friends Shaun.Goater and Paul.Jones.

Masters Football

Masters football is a branded six-a-side game designed for older (35+) ex-professional footballers. Darren also played for Chelsea in the 2007 London masters
Masters football
Masters football is a 6 a-side indoor football competition in the United Kingdom, where players over the age of 35 are chosen by the Masters Football Selection Committee to represent a senior club which they played for. Regional heats are held, and the winners of each go forward to a national...

. Chelsea won the trophy with Darren collecting the Golden boot award. Darren also played for the PFA in the Hong Kong 2007 Sevens losing in the Finals.Darren collected the golden boot award for the second time in 2008 for Chelsea in the London Masters.In 2009 Darren played for Wales in the Sky Masters losing out in the final to Ireland.Darren got his third golden boot award in 2010 for Chelsea in the London Masters.Scored his first hat trick for Chelsea old boys against Reading old boys also in 2010.

External links

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