Darren Huckerby

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Darren Huckerby
Personal information
Full name	Darren Huckerby
Date of birth	April 23, 1976
Place of birth	Nottingham, England
Height	5' 10"
Nickname	Hucks
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Norwich City
Number	6
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1993-1995 1995-1996 1996 1996-1999 1999-2000 2000-2003 2003 2003-	Lincoln City Newcastle United → Millwall (loan) Coventry City Leeds United Manchester City → Nottingham Forest (loan) Norwich City	028 0(5) 001 0(0) 006 0(3) 094 (28) 040 0(2) 069 (22) 009 0(5) 139 (31)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 12:36, 7 January 2007 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Darren Huckerby (born April 23, 1976 in Nottingham, England), is a professional footballer who has played for Lincoln City, Millwall (on loan), Newcastle United, Coventry City, Leeds United, Manchester City, Nottingham Forest (on loan), and now Norwich City. Huckerby spent a three month loan spell with Norwich before signing for them permanently in December 2003, for a fee of around £750,000. He is a winger who can also play as a conventional forward.

Huckerby is a player who has excited supporters wherever he has played with his pace and flair, although at some of his clubs he made an early impact before losing form and moving on. Consequently he has played for a number of clubs. However, he now appears to have settled at Norwich City. He was instrumental in Norwich's march to the Division One championship in the 2003-04 season, and came second in the supporters vote for player of the season behind Craig Fleming.

Huckerby has often been described by pundits as "too good for The Championship but not good enough for The Premiership". In many spells in the second tier of English football, Huckerby has terrorised defences, including scoring 26 times for Manchester City in their 2001-02 promotion season. Since moving to Norwich, Huckerby's career has settled. In a striking role in the then First Division in 2003-04, he netted 14 times. Reverting to a left wing role for much of Norwich's Premiership spell in 2004-05, Huckerby scored a respectable seven goals and dazzled fans and pundits alike with his skillful dribbling and quick turn of pace down the left flank. His accurate delivery resulted in a number of assists which came close to preserving Norwich's Premiership status. Linked with a move to Liverpool in January 2005 and to Celtic in summer 2006, Huckerby spoke of his intention to see out his contract in East Anglia, even after relegation. He was voted Norwich City player of the year by supporters for the 2004-05 season and was voted in second place behind Gary Doherty for the following 2005-06 season.

In his time at Coventry he scored one of the most memorable goals in the Premiership against Manchester United who at that time were the current champions. It was 2 - 2 with 90 minutes on the clock and the referee was seconds from blowing the whistle. Huckerby collected the ball and dribbled from the half way line past numerous players and finished into the bottom left corner to help Coventry win the game 3 - 2.

On 9 December 2006, Huckerby signed a new contract with Norwich that will keep him at the club until the end of the 2007-08 season.

[edit] External links

• Darren Huckerby career stats at Soccerbase

Norwich City F.C. - Current Squad
1 Marshall | 2 Louis-Jean | 3 Drury | 4 Shackell | 6 Huckerby | 7 Croft | 8 Thorne | 9 Dublin | 10 Earnshaw | 11 Chadwick | 12 Warner | 14 Brown | 15 Safri | 16 Fotheringham | 17 Hughes | 18 McVeigh | 19 Lappin | 20 Etuhu | 21 Gallacher | 24 Colin | 25 Rossi Jarvis | 26 Eagle | 27 Doherty | 28 Spillane | 29 Halliday | 31 Cave-Brown | 34 Arnold | 35 Martin | Manager: Grant