Darren Way

Darren Way
Personal information
Date of birth (1979-11-21) 21 November 1979
Place of birth Plymouth, England
Height 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Playing position Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Yeovil Town (manager)
Youth career
1994–1998 Norwich City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
1998–2000 Norwich City 0 (0)
2000–2006 Yeovil Town 207 (26)
2006–2008 Swansea City 16 (0)
2007–2008 → Yeovil Town (loan) 8 (1)
2008–2010 Yeovil Town 15 (2)
Total 246 (29)
National team
2001–2003 England Semi-Pro 3 (0)
Teams managed
2015– Yeovil Town

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

† Appearances (goals)

Darren Way (born 21 November 1979) is an English former professional footballer, chiefly known for being a hard tackling midfielder for Yeovil Town. He announced his retirement on 4 February 2010, after failing to overcome injuries he sustained in a car crash 13 months earlier.

Having been a part of Yeovil's coaching set-up since his retirement, he was announced as interim manager of the club, following the sacking of Paul Sturrock.[1] On 31 December 2015, he was appointed manager of Yeovil.[2]

Club career

Norwich City

A promising early career was ruined by injuries. He joined Norwich as an associate schoolboy in 1994 and progressed through the Norwich youth and reserve team ranks. He played for England Under-16's (Schoolboys) six times during the 1995/1996 season. He then signed a one-year professional contract with Norwich City in May 1999 and sat on the bench for many first team matches. He was released at the end of the 1999/2000 season after failing to make a first team appearance for the club.

Yeovil Town

He signed for Yeovil in August 2000, and soon became a firm fan's favourite. He soon became nicknamed "Weasel" for his hard working attitude. He helped Yeovil battle for the conference title, which eventually they lost due to losing 3–2 at home to Hereford, thus gifting the Conference title to Rushden & Diamonds.

Thanks to his good performances he was called up for the England C for their friendly against Belgium. However, illness prevented an appearance.

In his next season he helped Yeovil win the FA Trophy and, in the season after that, gain promotion to the football league including scoring the first goal in the 4–0 thrashing of Doncaster.

Two seasons later, his impressive performances saw him named in the League Two Divisional team of the season with Yeovil gaining promotion. This brought him to the attention of lots of bigger clubs.

In the January transfer window he departed Yeovil, after five and a half years of service.

Swansea City

On 20 January 2006, Way signed for Swansea City for a fee of £150,000. After joining the Swans, he suffered a series of injuries which restricted him to only 21 appearances for the club during his two-and-a-half years with them. In January 2007, he had an operation on a shin injury that he had sustained the previous October. The injury kept him out for over a year. He was loaned back to Yeovil, where he made his return from injury, in November 2007. He spent five weeks with his former club before returning to Swansea, where he made a further four appearances during the second-half of the season.

Return to Yeovil

On 8 July 2008, he signed a two-year contract with Yeovil, marking the beginning of his third spell with the club. His comeback started well scoring two goals in 15 games and turning out some good performances.

On 17 December 2008, Way was involved in a serious accident on the A3088 Cartgate link road between the A303 and Yeovil whilst a passenger in a car. He was airlifted to Dorchester Hospital where his condition was described as serious but stable. It was later revealed that he had sustained breaks in his arm, leg and hip. He was hoping that one day soon he will be able to resume his footballing career. On 22 January 2009, Way was discharged from Yeovil hospital, after having in excess of 8 operations, marking a huge step on his road to recovery, although he was still in a wheelchair.[3]

During half-time at the Oldham Athletic game, on 21 February 2009, he came on the pitch in his wheelchair and did a lap of honour as the next stage in his recovery.[4]

On 4 July 2009, Way played in the dying seconds of Terry Skiverton's testimonial match. This was the first time and only time he played after sustaining his injury. He officially announced his retirement after 13 months out injured, on 4 February 2010, and was thus announced as part of the Yeovil coaching team. On 11 May 2010, it was officially announced that a benefit game would be held at Huish Park for Way's success with the club. The game was played against Manchester United's reserve team on 24 July 2010 and it ended in a 3–2 win to Yeovil. Way played in the final five minutes as well as Terry Skiverton. After the match, he announced his thanks to the fans, Terry Skiverton and his family for helping him through a difficult time.[5]

After a spell as interim manager, on 31 December 2015, Way was appointed as permanent Yeovil manager.[6]

Career statistics

Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Yeovil Town
2000–01[7]
 Conference 41951—5[lower-alpha 1]25112
2001–02[8]
 Conference 27300—7[lower-alpha 2]0343
2002–03[9]
 Conference 40130—5[lower-alpha 3]0481
2003–04[10]
 Third Division 39520102[lower-alpha 4]0445
2004–05[11]
 League Two 457522000529
2005–06[12]
 League One 151112100183
Yeovil Town (loan)
2007–08[13]
 League One 8100000081
Yeovil Town
2008–09[14]
 League One 15210201[lower-alpha 4]0192
Total 230291747120227436
Swansea City
2005–06[12]
 League One 5000003[lower-alpha 4]080
2006–07[15]
 League One 90000000 90
2007–08[13]
 League One 2000002[lower-alpha 4]040
Total 160000050210
Career total 246291747125229536
  1. ↑ Three appearances and one goal in FA Trophy, two appearances and one goal in Conference League Cup
  2. ↑ Six appearances in FA Trophy, one appearance in Football League Trophy
  3. ↑ Four appearances in FA Trophy, one appearance in Football League Trophy
  4. 1 2 3 4 Appearances in Football League Trophy

Managerial statistics

As of match played 13 February 2016.
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record Ref
PWDLWin %
Yeovil Town 1 December 2015 Present 14 4 6 4 28.6 [16][17]
Total 14 4 6 4 28.6 —

Honours

Yeovil Town

Swansea City

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "Yeovil Town: Paul Sturrock leaves League Two's bottom club". BBC Sport. 1 December 2015. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  2. ↑ "Yeovil Town: Darren Way appointed as Glovers manager". BBC Sport. 31 December 2015.
  3. ↑ "Darren Finds The Way To Go Home". Ciderspace. 22 January 2009. Retrieved 22 January 2009.
  4. ↑ "The Weasel Returns". Yeovil Town FC. 22 February 2009. Retrieved 22 February 2009.
  5. ↑ "Yeovil midfielder Darren Way announces retirement". BBC Sport. 4 February 2010. Retrieved 4 February 2010.
  6. ↑ "Way unveiled as new Yeovil Town manager". Yeovil Town F.C. 31 December 2015. Retrieved 31 December 2015.
  7. ↑ "Games played by Darren Way in 2000/2001". Soccerbase. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
  8. ↑ "Games played by Darren Way in 2001/2002". Soccerbase. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
  9. ↑ "Games played by Darren Way in 2002/2003". Soccerbase. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
  10. ↑ "Games played by Darren Way in 2003/2004". Soccerbase. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
  11. ↑ "Games played by Darren Way in 2004/2005". Soccerbase. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
  12. 1 2 "Games played by Darren Way in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
  13. 1 2 "Games played by Darren Way in 2007/2008". Soccerbase. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
  14. ↑ "Games played by Darren Way in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
  15. ↑ "Games played by Darren Way in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
  16. ↑ "Yeovil Town: Paul Sturrock leaves League Two's bottom club". BBC Sport. 1 December 2015. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
  17. ↑ "Managers: Darren Way". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 January 2016.

External links

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