Current club: Sunderland
London-born Darren is an opportunistic striker who made his name with Ipswich Town and went on to score a hatful of goals for Charlton Athletic, Tottenham Hotspur and Sunderland.
After turning his back on a career in athletics, he was a first-teamer at Ipswich by the age of 17, making his debut in a UEFA Cup tie in November 2001 and scoring one goal in five Premier League appearances in that season. He notched 48 League goals in the next three seasons with the Tractor Boys before switching to Charlton in 2005.
He had two seasons at the Valley and two at White Hart Lane, racking up 49 Premier League goals. For England he would often come on as a late substitute for the Under-21s to score a crucial goal and he finished with an impressive nine strikes in 14 appearances at that level.
Unusually, his first five caps for the senior team were spread over five seasons. When he was 22, Sven-Goran Eriksson handed him his first as a starter against Uruguay in an Anfield friendly on 1 March 2006.
Darren’s second appearance came five months later in Steve McClaren’s first game in charge, against Greece at Old Trafford, when he substituted for Steven Gerrard.
