Darren Huckerby

Darren Huckerby
Personnel
Surname	Darren Carl Huckerby
birthday	April 23, 1976
place of birth	Nottingham ,  England
position	Striker , winger
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1993-1995	Lincoln City	28 0(5)
1995-1996	Newcastle United	1 0(0)
1996	→  Millwall FC  (loan)	6 0(3)
1996-1999	Coventry City	94 (28)
1999-2000	Leeds United	40 0(2)
2000-2003	Manchester City	69 (22)
2003	→  Nottingham Forest  (loan)	9 0(5)
2003	→  Norwich City  (loan)	16 0(5)
2003-2008	Norwich City	174 (36)
2008-2009	San Jose Earthquakes	28 0(9)
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals)
1998	England B	1 0(0)
1 Only league games are given.

Darren Carl Huckerby (born April 23, 1976 in Nottingham ) is a former English football player . The striker completed over 200 league games for Norwich City and was most recently active in North American Major League Soccer for the San José Earthquakes .

Athletic career

The first years (1993–1999)

Huckerby began his professional career at Lincoln City and moved to the much larger Newcastle United in November 1995 . There, however, his sporting breakthrough attempts failed and after an uneventful year that included a loan period at Millwall FC , the young attacker hired for a transfer fee of one million pounds at Coventry City .

In the club then coached by Gordon Strachan , the striker , who was strong at the game and dribbled , formed an effective attacking duo with Dion Dublin . In the ultimately successful relegation battle in the Premier League season 1996/97 , which ended with a 2-1 win at Tottenham Hotspur , Huckerby was a key player right away. The development curve of the "Sky Blues" showed further upwards, when he got a series of ten games without defeat and the entry into the FA Cup quarter-finals. He also scored 14 league goals in the 1997/98 season , including the 3-2 winner against Manchester United , which remained the best goal yield in the Premier League in his career.

Setbacks (1999-2003)

In the summer of 1999, Huckerby, who had played in England's B national team the year before, made the supposedly next development step when he - according to media reports - hired six million pounds at Leeds United . The "intermediate episode " at Elland Road , which lasted until December 2000 , was extremely disappointing and in 40 league encounters he managed only two goals, including one against his ex-club Coventry City. In addition, however, there was the fact that he had never been able to play permanently in the regular formation compared to the high-profile competition in the person of Mark Viduka , Alan Smith and Michael Bridges and had only been in the regular eleven in eleven Premier League games. He was granted a few highlights in the European Cup, including goals against Partizan Belgrade in the UEFA Cup (1-0) and against Beşiktaş Istanbul in the Champions League (6-0).

For more than three million pounds it went to Manchester City in December 2000 , where he could not realize the desired first division preservation. He was significantly more successful in the 2001/02 second division season when he scored 26 competitive goals and the club returned to the Premier League via the championship title. Although Huckerby managed the first goal of the season for his club there, the commitments of Nicolas Anelka and Jon Macken in the 2002/03 season ensured that Huckerby lost his regular place and was loaned to Nottingham Forest in February 2003 until the end of the current season .

Norwich City (2003-2008)

At the beginning of the 2003/04 season, Huckerby hired on loan at Norwich City and signed a permanent contract there in December 2003. The transfer fee was initially 750,000 pounds and grew to a million pounds after the successful rise. Behind Craig Fleming he was elected the club's second best player of the year in the 2003/04 promotion round and in the 2004/05 Premier League season he established himself in his new club more on the somewhat withdrawn left wing position.

Despite the descent of the "Canaries" in 2005, Huckerby was a very popular player with the local appendix, which was expressed in the multiple awards for best club player of the year (2005, 2007) and in the early admission to the "Hall of Fame". On May 4, 2008 he played the last game for Norwich City in the 4-1 defeat by Sheffield Wednesday , as he was told two days later that his expiring contract should not be extended.

Career conclusion (2008–2009)

In July 2008, Huckerby left his home country to join the San José Earthquakes in the North American Major League Soccer . He found his way there as well, led the club to a series of seven games without defeat and in 2008 was honored with the award for "best newcomer in the league". However, the 2009 season was under a worse star and after a hip operation, Huckerby had to put an end to his sporting career.

Web links

• Darren Huckerby in the soccerbase.com database
• Profile at norwich.vitalfootball.co.uk

Individual evidence

1. ↑ "The day Hedman lost his head" (The Independent)
2. ↑ "Leeds United 1 Partizan Belgrade 0" (OzWhiteLUFC)
3. ↑ "Leeds in overdrive to belittle Besiktas" (The Independent)
4. ↑ "Sheff Wed 4-1 Norwich" (BBC Sport)
5. ↑ "Canaries release forward Huckerby" (BBC Sport)
6. ↑ "Darren Huckerby joins San Jose Earthquakes" (BBC Sport)
7. ↑ "Huckerby named Newcomer of the Year" ( memento of the original from November 23, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (MLS Net)  
8. ↑ "Huckerby hangs up his boots" ( memento of the original from September 11, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (teamtalk.com)