Darren Beckford

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Darren Beckford born 12 June 1967 is a retired professional footballer.

Darren was a product of the Manchester City youth team he made eleven appearances for the Maine Road side before spending loan periods at Bury and Port Vale, moving to Vale on a permanent basis.

He played 167 league games and scored 68 times for Port Vale before signing for Norwich in 1991. The fee that Norwich paid for him - £925,000 - was set by a football league tribunal (Vale had wanted £1,500,000) and was a club record that stood until 1994. Norwich manager Dave Stringer had been looking to sign a regular goalscorer for some time, and when Beckford signed he described him as "The answer to the Norwich supporters prayers". His spell at Carrow Road was inconsistent, however, and he only scored 13 times in 49 appearances, including a hat-trick in a 4-3 win against Everton.

After less than two seasons with Norwich, Beckford was sold to Oldham in 1993 for £300,000, where he played 52 times and scored 17 goals before being released in the summer of 1996. Beckford then played for Hearts, Fulham, Walsall, Rushden, Southport and Total Network Solutions before retiring.

Darren also began working for the Prince's Trust working with youngsters in Manchester.In September 1998 he won a successful tribunal case against the trust for being racially victimised.

[edit] External links

• Career Information on Flown from the Nest website