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Duane Darby

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Duane Darby
Personal information
Date of birth (1973-10-17) 17 October 1973 (age 51)
Place of birth Birmingham, England
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1992–1995 Torquay United 108 (26)
1995–1996 Doncaster Rovers 15 (4)
1996–1998 Hull City 79 (28)
1998–2000 Notts County 28 (5)
1999 → Hull City (loan) 8 (0)
2000–2003 Rushden & Diamonds 117 (47)
2003–2006 Shrewsbury Town 51 (13)
2006–2007 Nuneaton Borough 27 (9)
2007 Halesowen Town 4 (1)
2007–2008 Bromsgrove Rovers 6 (1)
2008–2009 Stourport Swifts (1)
2009 Hednesford Town 2 (0)
2009 Evesham United
2009–2010 Alvechurch
2010 Redditch United
Managerial career
2007–2008 Bromsgrove Rovers
2013 Cradley Town
2019–2020 Redditch United
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 12:00, 27 November 2019 (UTC)

Duane Darby (born 17 October 1973) is an English football manager and former player, who was previously the manager of Southern League Premier Division Central side Redditch United. As a player, he spent most of his career playing as a forward.

Darby has made over 400 senior appearances in English football and scored over 100 goals. He played a significant number of games for Torquay United and Hull City, and also helped both Rushden & Diamonds and Shrewsbury Town gain promotion from the Conference to the Football League.

Early career

Prior to signing for a professional club, Darby played as a youth for Halas Hawks Junior F.C, a junior football club based at Halesowen in the West Midlands. His manager at that time, Graham Barrett, was instrumental in obtaining his position at Torquay. Darby began his career as an apprentice with Torquay United, making his league debut while still a trainee, scoring in a 2–1 defeat at home to Reading having come on as a substitute, and he went on to make a further 13 league appearances that season. He turned professional on 3 July 1992 and went on to score 26 times in 108 league games for the Gulls. On 19 July 1995 he moved to Doncaster Rovers, but stayed less than a year, moving to Hull City on 27 March 1996 for a sum of £25,000.[1] He was a great success with the Tigers, scoring regularly and broke the Hull record for most goals in a competitive game when he scored 6 times against Whitby Town in an FA Cup 1st Round Replay in November 1996.

After scoring 27 times in 78 league games he moved on a 'Bosman' to newly promoted Notts County[1] on 2 July 1998, but missed most of his first season with the Magpies through injury. He returned to Hull City on loan on 25 March 1999.[1] He started the following season for Notts County in top form, but was surprisingly placed on the transfer list in March 2000 and finally left Notts County on 21 June 2000, joining Conference side Rushden & Diamonds for a fee of £100,000.[citation needed]

Promotions from the Conference

In his first season at Nene Park, he won the Conference Golden Boot award, his goals helping Rushden win the Conference and with it promotion to the Football League. In November 2000 he was charged with assault after an incident in the players tunnel at the end of the local derby against Kettering Town.[2]

In November 2003, Shrewsbury Town, recently relegated to the Football Conference signed Darby in order to bolster their striking force.[3] The signing was well received, with Shrewsbury fans hoping that Darby's experience and proven goalscoring record in the lower leagues would assist them towards promotion, especially when linked with highly regarded striker Luke Rodgers. The strike partnership with Rodgers never quite took off as Darby's time at Shrewsbury was punctuated with injuries, meaning he was unable to get a consistent run in the team. However, Darby's goals in the 2003–04 season were to prove vital as Shrewsbury made the Conference play-off final.[citation needed] In the final, Darby scored an equalising goal against Aldershot Town at Stoke City's Britannia Stadium. With the game finishing level at 1–1, Shrewsbury eventually won the final on penalties.[4]

Post-Football League

With Shrewsbury back in the Football League, Darby struggled to get into the Shrewsbury side. The arrival of new manager Gary Peters did not help Darby's cause, as Peters aimed to rebuild the squad with younger players. Unable to command a regular first team place, Darby was released by Shrewsbury in February 2006[5] and joined Nuneaton Borough, also becoming Nuneaton's Football in the Community coach.[6] He scored on his Nuneaton debut, a 2–2 draw at home to Moor Green[7] and was a regular for Nuneaton, but was released in May 2007.[8]

On 3 August 2007, Halesowen Town confirmed that Darby had joined the club along with two other former league players, in the shape of Terry Fleming and Stephen Cooke.[9] After a short spell at The Grove, he moved to local rivals Bromsgrove Rovers, taking over as caretaker player-manager just days after arriving at the club after Rod Brown's departure. He could not keep Rovers in the Southern League Premier Division, and was sacked in August 2008 as they were relegated at the end of the 2007–08 season. He joined Stourbridge Swifts as a player and finished the 2009–09 season with Hednesford Town. After a brief spell with Evesham United, he joined Midland Football Alliance club Alvechurch on 19 October 2009, scoring on his debut.[10] After he left Alvechurch, he joined Redditch United in October 2010.[11]

Management career

Bromsgrove Rovers

Darby's first taste of management came as he was installed as manager of Bromsgrove Rovers in January 2007, following the controversial sacking of Rod Brown.

Duane found himself dismissed on 28 August 2008, following a poor start to the campaign.[12]

Cradley Town

He took the manager position at Cradley Town in January 2013,[13] but moved on to become a coach at Bromsgrove Sporting in May 2013.[14]

Redditch United

Duane was named as manager of Southern League Premier Division Central side Redditch United on 27 November 2019.[15] In April 2020 it was announced that he had parted company with Redditch United.

References

  1. ^ a b c Stats and profile at oncloudseven.com
  2. ^ Darby pays for derby madness
  3. ^ Shrews finally bag Darby Archived 28 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "Shrews secure promotion". BBC. 16 May 2004. Retrieved 24 August 2010.
  5. ^ Shrewsbury release Lyng and Darby
  6. ^ Darby set for Boro debut Archived 28 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ Debut boy Darby salvages a draw
  8. ^ Darby allowed to go Archived 28 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ Triple coup for ambitious Yeltz Archived 30 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ "Duane Darby Profile". Rushden & Diamonds FC archived website. 12 August 2012. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
  11. ^ "Redditch United snap up Halesowen striker Nathan Smith". Birmingham Mail. 2 October 2010. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
  12. ^ "BGB Southern Midland - Bromsgrove axe Duane Darby". Birmingham Mail. 28 August 2008. Retrieved 28 August 2008.
  13. ^ "Darby takes Hammers hotseat". Halesown News. 29 January 2013. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  14. ^ "New line-up at Sporting". Bromsgrove Advertiser. 22 May 2013. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  15. ^ "1st TEAM Duane Darby Takes Charge at Redditch Utd". Redditch United. 27 November 2019. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
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