Darren Way
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Darren Way | ||
| Date of birth | 21 November 1979 | ||
| Place of birth | Plymouth, England | ||
| Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Yeovil Town Coach |
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| Youth career | |||
| 1994–1998 | Norwich City | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1998–2000 | Norwich City | 0 | (0) |
| 2000–2006 | Yeovil Town | 207 | (26) |
| 2006–2008 | Swansea City | 16 | (0) |
| 2007–2008 | → Yeovil Town (loan) | 8 | (1) |
| 2008–2010 | Yeovil Town | 15 | (2) |
| Total | 246 | (28) | |
| National team | |||
| –2003 | England Semi-Pro | 3 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Darren Way (born 21 November 1979 in Plymouth) is a retired English footballer chiefly known for being a hard tackling midfielder for Yeovil Town.
He announced his retirement on 4 February 2010 after failing to overcome injuries he sustained in a car crash 13 months earlier.
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[edit] Club career
[edit] Early Career at Norwich
A promising early career was ruined by injuries. He joined Norwich as an associate schoolboy in 1994 and progressed through the Norwich youth and reserve team ranks. He played for England Under-16's (Schoolboys) six times during the 1995/1996 season. He then signed a one year professional contract with Norwich City in May 1999 and sat on the bench for many first team matches. He was released at the end of the 1999/2000 season after failing to make a first team appearance for the club.
[edit] Signs for Yeovil
He signed for Yeovil in August 2000 and soon became a firm fan's favourite. He soon became nicknamed "Weasel" for his hard working attitude. He helped Yeovil battle for the conference title which eventually they lost due to losing 3-2 at home to Hereford thus gifting the Conference title to Rushden & Diamonds.
Thanks to his good performances he was called up for the England C for their friendly against Belgium. However illness prevented an appearance.
In his next season he helped Yeovil win the FA Trophy and, in the season after that, gain promotion to the football league including scoring the first goal in the 4-0 thrashing of Doncaster.
Two seasons later his impressive performances saw him named in the League Two Divisional team of the season with Yeovil gaining promotion. This brought him to the attention of lots of bigger clubs.
In the January transfer window he departed Yeovil after five and a half years of service.
[edit] Swansea snap him up
On 20 January 2006, Way signed for Swansea City for a fee of £150,000. After joining the Swans he suffered a series of injuries which restricted him to only 21 appearances for the club during his two-and-a-half years with them. In January 2007 he had an operation on a shin injury that he had sustained the previous October. The injury kept him out for over a year. He was loaned back to Yeovil, where he made his return from injury, in November 2007. He spent five weeks with his former club before returning to Swansea, where he made a further four appearances during the second-half of the season.
[edit] Third Spell at Yeovil
On 8 July 2008 he signed a two-year contract with Yeovil, marking the beginning of his third spell with the club. His comeback started well scoring two goals in 15 games and turning out some good performances.
On 17 December 2008, Way was involved in a serious accident on the A3088 Cartgate link road between the A303 and Yeovil whilst a passenger in a car. He was airlifted to Dorchester Hospital where his condition was described as serious but stable. It was later revealed that he had sustained breaks in his arm, leg and hip. He was hoping that one day soon he will be able to resume his footballing career. On 22 January 2009, Way was discharged from Yeovil hospital, after having in excess of 8 operations, marking a huge step on his road to recovery, although he was still in a wheelchair.[1]
During half-time at the Oldham Athletic game, 21 February 2009, he came on the pitch in his wheelchair and did a lap of honour as the next stage in his recovery.[2]
On the 4th July 2009 Way played in the dying seconds of Terry Skiverton's testimonial match. This was the first time and only time he played after sustaining his injury. He officially announced his retirement after 13 months out injured, on 4 February 2010 and was thus announced as part of the Yeovil coaching team. on the 11th May 2010 it was officially announced that a benefit game would be held at Huish Park for Darren's success. The game was played against Manchester United's reserve team on the 24th July 2010 and it ended in a 3 - 2 win to Yeovil. Way played in the final five minutes as well as Terry Skiverton. After the match, he announced his thanks to the fans, Terry Skiverton and his family for helping him through a difficult time.[3]
[edit] Career statistics
[edit] Club
| Club performance | League | Cup | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Club | League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| England | League | FA Cup | Total | |||||
| 2000-01 | Yeovil Town | Nationwide Conference | 41 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 44 | 8 |
| 2001-02 | 27 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 3 | ||
| 2002-03 | 40 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 41 | 1 | ||
| 2003-04 | Coca-Cola League Two | 39 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 41 | 0 | |
| 2004-05 | 45 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 50 | 9 | ||
| 2005-06 | Coca-Cola League 1 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 2 | |
| 2005-06 | Swansea City | Coca-Cola League One | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 2006-07 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | ||
| 2007-08 | Yeovil Town | Coca-Cola League One | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 |
| 2007-08 | Swansea City | Coca-Cola League One | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 2008-09 | Yeovil Town | Coca-Cola League One | 15 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 2 |
| 2009-10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 245 | 29 | 13 | 4 | 258 | 33 | ||
[edit] Season by Season
| Year | Division | Club | Games | Goals | Strike rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000–2001 | Conference | Yeovil Town | 41 | 9 | 0.21 |
| 2001–2002 | Conference | Yeovil Town | 27 | 3 | 0.11 |
| 2002–2003 | Conference | Yeovil Town | 40 | 1 | 0.02 |
| 2003–2004 | League Two | Yeovil Town | 39 | 5 | 0.12 |
| 2004–2005 | League Two | Yeovil Town | 45 | 7 | 0.15 |
| 2005–2006 | League One | Yeovil Town | 15 | 1 | 0.06 |
| 2005–2006 | League One | Swansea City | 5 | 0 | 0.00 |
| 2006–2007 | League One | Swansea City | 9 | 0 | 0.00 |
| 2007–2008 | League One | Swansea City | 2 | 0 | 0.00 |
| 2007–2008 | League One | Yeovil Town | 7 | 1 | 0.14 |
| 2008–2009 | League One | Yeovil Town | 15 | 2 | 0.13 |
| 2009–2010 | League One | Yeovil Town | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
[edit] Honours
Yeovil
- FA Trophy Winner: 1
- Nationwide Conference Winner: 1
- Coca-Cola League Two Winner: 1
Swansea City
- Coca-Cola League One Winner: 1
Individual
- Coca-Cola League Two Team of the Year: 1
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- 2004-05
[edit] References
- ^ "Darren Finds The Way To Go Home". Ciderspace. 2009-01-22. http://www.ciderspace.co.uk/ASP/news/news.asp?NewsItemId=8548. Retrieved 2009-01-22.
- ^ "The Weasel Returns". Yeovil Town FC. 2009-02-22. http://www.ytfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10673~1566264,00.html. Retrieved 2009-02-22.
- ^ "Yeovil midfielder Darren Way announces retirement". BBC Sport. 2010-02-04. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/y/yeovil/8498906.stm. Retrieved 2010-02-04.
[edit] External links
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