{{Short description|English footballer (born 1967)}} {{Use British English|date=October 2022}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2022}} {{Infobox football biography | name = Darren Beckford | image = | caption = | fullname = Darren Richard Lorenzo Beckford<ref>{{cite book|last=Sherwin|first=Phil|title=The Port Vale Miscellany|publisher=The History Press|location=Brimscombe Port|year=2010|pages=32|isbn=978-0-7524-5777-2}}</ref> | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1967|05|12|df=y}}<ref name="flown">{{cite web |title=Flown From the Nest - Darren Beckford |url=http://www.ex-canaries.co.uk/players/beckford.htm |website=www.ex-canaries.co.uk |access-date=30 October 2022}}</ref> | birth_place = Moss Side, Manchester, England | height = {{height|ft=6|in=1}}<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/rothmansfootball00roll |url-access=registration |title=Rothmans Football Yearbook 1980–81 |editor-first=Jack |editor-last=Rollin |publisher=Queen Anne Press|location=London |year=1980 |isbn=0362020175 |page=230}}</ref> | position = Forward | youthyears1 = 1980–1984| youthclubs1 = Manchester City | years1 = 1984–1987| clubs1 = Manchester City | caps1 = 11| goals1 = 0 | years2 = 1985 | clubs2 = → Bury (loan) | caps2 = 12| goals2 = 5 | years3 = 1987 | clubs3 = → Port Vale (loan) | caps3 = 11| goals3 = 4 | years4 = 1987–1991| clubs4 = Port Vale | caps4 = 167| goals4 = 67 | years5 = 1991–1993| clubs5 = Norwich City | caps5 = 38| goals5 = 8 | years6 = 1993–1996| clubs6 = Oldham Athletic | caps6 = 52| goals6 = 11 | years7 = 1996–1997| clubs7 = Heart of Midlothian| caps7 = 8| goals7 = 0 | years8 = 1997 | clubs8 = Preston North End | caps8 = 2| goals8 = 0 | years9 = 1997 | clubs9 = Fulham | caps9 = 0| goals9 = 0 | years10 = 1997 | clubs10= Walsall | caps10= 8| goals10= 0 | years11 = 1997 | clubs11 = Rushden & Diamonds | caps11 = | goals11 = | years12 = 1997 | clubs12 = Southport | caps12 = 0| goals12 = 0 | years13 = 1997 | clubs13 = Total Network Solutions| caps13 = 4| goals13 = 1 | years14 = 1997–1998| clubs14 = Bury | caps14 = 0| goals14 = 0 | years15 = 1998 | clubs15 = Bacup Borough | caps15 = | goals15 = | totalcaps = 313| totalgoals = 96 | nationalyears1 = 1982 | nationalteam1 = England Schoolboys | nationalcaps1 = | nationalgoals1 = | nationalyears2 = 1983–1984 | nationalteam2 = England U17 | nationalcaps2 = 15 | nationalgoals2 = 6 }}
'''Darren Richard Lorenzo Beckford''' (born 12 May 1967) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward. His younger brother Jason also played professional football.
In 14 years as a professional footballer, he scored 96 goals in 302 league games. Advancing through the Manchester City youth team, he also spent a brief time on loan at Bury before joining Port Vale in 1987. He enjoyed the most successful time of his career at Vale, scoring 68 goals in 167 league games, helping the club to promotion via the play-offs in 1989. After four successive seasons as the club's top scorer, he earned a £925,000 move to Norwich City in 1991. Unable to find the form he hit at Vale Park, he was sold to Oldham Athletic for £300,000 in 1993. Three years later, he moved on to Scottish side Hearts. He later played for Preston North End, Fulham, Walsall, Rushden & Diamonds, Southport, Total Network Solutions, Bury and Bacup Borough.
==Career==
===Manchester City=== Beckford was a product of the Manchester City youth team and made his first-team debut at the age of 16.<ref name="beano1">{{cite journal |title=The Darren Beckford Interview |journal=The Vale Park Beano |volume=45}}</ref> As a member of Jehovah's Witnesses, he rejected the opportunity to represent England at youth team level as he refused to stand for the national anthem, seeing it as saluting the flag and therefore unchristian behaviour.<ref name="beano1"/> This is a somewhat dubious claim considering he played for the England Under 17 side on 15 occasions. The management at Maine Road took a dim view at this stance and did not play him in the first-team for another 12 months.<ref name="beano1"/> He went out on loan at Third Division club Bury, scoring five goals in twelve games at Gigg Lane.<ref name="beano1"/>
===Port Vale=== Beckford joined Port Vale on an initial loan basis, with Manchester City manager Jimmy Frizzell believing that a striking partnership with another youngster in Andy Jones would aid his development.<ref name="beano1"/> He stayed for three months at the end of the 1986–87 season and then joined the club permanently for a fee of £15,000 (plus 50% of any future transfer fee – a clause that Vale later bought out for an undisclosed sum).<ref name="beano1"/><ref name="fund"/> This was settled by a Football League tribunal as a compromise between Vale's offer of £5,000 and City's demand of £60,000.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kent|first=Jeff|title=Port Vale Tales: A Collection Of Stories, Anecdotes And Memories|publisher=Witan Books|date=December 1991|pages=262|isbn=0-9508981-6-3}}</ref> Vale fans raised £7,500 of the fee with a 'buy a player' fund.<ref name="fund">{{cite news |last1=Baggaley |first1=Michael |title=Bargain buy Darren was the darling of Port Vale fans after Notts County treble |url=https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/darren-beckford-vale-notts-county-3984209 |access-date=30 March 2020 |work=Stoke Sentinel |date=25 March 2020}}</ref> He later admitted that throughout his early career his nerves caused him to vomit before games.<ref>{{cite news|title=Underdog has its day as Vale rout Ipswich Town|last=Sherwin|first=Phil|date=9 July 2011|work=The Sentinel}}</ref>
{{Blockquote|"A terrific goal-scorer. Darren was very athletic, had unbelievable spring in his legs and could finish. As a striker, he ticked all the boxes. If we came up against a top team, we knew he was easily good enough to hold his own. Darren had a unique personality. If someone upset him off the pitch then you knew it could affect his performance. Then again, management would be easy if every player was like Andy Porter. In his case, you just gave him the shirt, told him what to do and then let him get on with it. In Becky's case, he was more likely to stop the training session halfway through to ask why we were doing such-and-such drills. The rest of us would be urging him to just get on with it, or we'd never get finished."|Robbie Earle in 2012.<ref>{{cite news|last=Earle|first=Robbie|title=Pope is having a great season, but these Port Vale strikers are top of my hit parade|url=http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/Robbie-Earle-Pope-having-great-season-Port-Vale/story-17168508-detail/story.html|access-date=27 October 2012|newspaper=The Sentinel|date=26 October 2012}}</ref>}}
He scored his first hat-trick for the club on 2 April 1988, during a 5–0 demolition of Doncaster Rovers.<ref name="sfsg">{{cite news |title=Clipping Hero #1: Darren Beckford |url=https://www.onevalefan.co.uk/2015/05/clipping-hero-1-darren-beckford/ |access-date=5 June 2020 |work=onevalefan.co.uk |date=16 May 2015}}</ref> Throughout 1987–88 he was the club's top scorer with ten goals, along with David Riley. That season Vale won every game in which Beckford made it onto the score sheet. He was once again top scorer in 1988–89, this time bagging 23 goals as the club won promotion to the Second Division via the play-offs. On 19 September, he scored a hat-trick in a 5–0 home win over Chesterfield. On 25 March, he scored a hat-trick in a 4–1 victory over Notts County.<ref name="fund"/> On 25 May, he scored a hat-trick as Vale beat Preston North End 3–1 in the play-off semi-final second leg, giving them a 4–2 aggregate victory. He also provided the crucial second goal of the 1989 final, flicking on a corner for Robbie Earle to knock into the net. He adapted well to tougher opposition in the 1989–90 season. He managed 21 goals to become the club's top scorer yet again. He became the club's top scorer for the fourth consecutive season with 23 goals in 1990–91. He managed to bag a hat-trick against Blackburn Rovers and also found the net against former club Manchester City in the FA Cup. After the hat-trick against Blackburn, Beckford told the press he was happy at the club and dismissed numerous transfer rumours linking him with moves to other clubs.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Baggaley |first1=Mike |title=Shrewsbury loss shoves Vale closer to the drop |url=https://portvalethevaliant.substack.com/p/shrewsbury-loss-shoves-vale-closer |access-date=10 March 2024 |work=Valiant's Substack |date=10 March 2024}}</ref>
{{Blockquote|"Darren Beckford was a brilliant striker for the Vale, but a nightmare to manage. It was like throwing a blancmange at the wall, you just hope that a bit of it sticks!"|Manager John Rudge.<ref>{{cite book|last=Sherwin|first=Phil|title=The Port Vale Miscellany|publisher=The History Press|location=Brimscombe Port|year=2010|pages=142|isbn=978-0-7524-5777-2}}</ref>}}
He played 214 games and scored 81 times for John Rudge's side. He was sold to Norwich City of the First Division (soon to be rebranded as the Premier League) in June 1991.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kent|first=Jeff|title=Port Vale Personalities|publisher=Witan Books|page=22|year=1996|isbn=0-9529152-0-0}}</ref> The fee that Norwich paid for him – £925,000 – was set by a Football League tribunal (Vale had wanted £1.5 million) and was a club record that stood until 1994. £200,000 of the sum went to Manchester City.<ref name="fund"/> Vale signed his brother Jason to replace him, though he could not replicate his elder sibling's success.
===Norwich City=== Norwich manager Dave Stringer had been looking to sign a regular goalscorer for some time, and when Beckford signed, he described Beckford as "the answer to the Norwich supporter's prayers". However, he injured his thigh in pre-season training in Russia and, by Christmas, underwent a double hernia operation.<ref name="beano2">{{cite journal |title=The Darren Beckford Interview (Part 2) |journal=The Vale Park Beano |volume=46}}</ref> His spell at Carrow Road was inconsistent and he only scored 13 times in 49 appearances. Supporters, in particular, criticised that many of these goals were scored against weaker opposition in the League Cup. The highlight of his time at Norwich was his hat-trick in a 4–3 win against Everton – a victory which would prove key to the Canaries avoiding the drop in 1991–92. That season, he also proved to be a versatile player, taking over in goal when Bryan Gunn sustained a back injury during a game against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane. He made several fine saves but was finally beaten Ian Bryson in a 1–0 defeat. He did, though, end the season with a ruptured ankle ligament sustained in the penultimate match of the campaign.<ref name="beano2"/>
The 1992–93 season signalled the beginning of the end for Beckford as a Norwich City player. In the close season, Mike Walker signed Mark Robins for £800,000 from Manchester United and started to push Chris Sutton up from central defence to lead the Norwich attack. A lack of form also meant that he had now fallen behind Lee Power and Rob Newman in the pecking order. However, Beckford was still able to make some crucial contributions, including scoring a vital goal in a 3–2 victory against fellow title chasers Aston Villa at Villa Park.
===Oldham and final years=== After less than two seasons with Norwich, Beckford was sold to Oldham Athletic in March 1993 for £300,000.<ref name="beano2"/> Manager Joe Royle had been a long-term admirer of Beckford.<ref name="beano2"/> He played 52 times and scored 17 goals before being released in the summer of 1996 after sustaining a hamstring injury.<ref name="beano2"/> He then unsuccessfully searched for a club to give him first-team football for the next two years. Initially, after leaving Oldham, he joined Hearts, where he contributed to their run to the 1996 Scottish League Cup final. After goals against St Johnstone<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/aberdeen/o-boyle-goal-raises-saints-hopes-but-it-s-all-in-vain-robertson-eases-the-pressure-on-hearts-1.437640|title=O'Boyle goal raises Saints' hopes but it's all in vain Robertson eases the pressure on Hearts|publisher=Herald Scotland|access-date=4 December 2011}}</ref> and Dundee,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/hearts-claim-place-in-final-1359946.html?CMP=ILC-refresh|title=Hearts claim place in final|publisher=Independent|access-date=5 December 2011|location=London|first=David|last=McKinney|date=24 October 1996}}</ref> he played as a substitute in the final itself.<ref name="h96">{{cite news |last1=McKinney |first1=David |title=Football: Rangers revel in records |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football-rangers-revel-in-records-1354109.html |access-date=20 June 2025 |work=The Independent |date=25 November 1996 |language=en}}</ref> These were, however, the only two goals he scored for Hearts. He then signed short-term deals with Fulham, Walsall, Rushden & Diamonds, Southport,<ref>{{cite web |title=Player Details |url=http://www.southportfootballclub.co.uk/players/player-details/?id=1718 |website=SFC FPA |access-date=1 November 2022 |date=9 November 2016}}</ref> Total Network Solutions, Bury, and Bacup Borough before retiring.<ref name="flown"/>
==Post-retirement== Beckford also began working for The Prince's Trust working with youngsters in Manchester.<ref name="Rovv">{{cite web|url=http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/news/Memory-Match-Bristol-Rovers-1-Port-Vale-1-31-1989/article-2578985-detail/article.html|title=Memory Match: Bristol Rovers 1 Port Vale 1 May 31, 1989|last=Sherwin|first=Phil|date=28 August 2010|work=The Sentinel|access-date=29 August 2010}}</ref> In September 1998 he won a successful tribunal case against the trust for being racially victimised.<ref name="flown"/>
Beckford was featured on the Sky Sports series "Where Are They Now?",{{When|date=June 2010}} and he is now working as an attendance officer at Claremont Primary School in Moss Side, Manchester.<ref name="flown"/>
==Personal life== His parents, Dudley and Valdene, were from Jamaica.<ref name="black coach">{{cite web |last1=HiProfile.com |first1=Paul Martin- |title=Black Coaches Canada Present Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Advocacy in Sports |url=https://www.blackcoaches.ca/jasonbeckford.html |website=Black Coaches Canada |access-date=5 March 2022 |language=en}}</ref> His brother Jason Beckford is a former professional footballer. His nephew Ethan Beckford has also played professional football.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ethan Beckford - Men's Soccer |url=https://gopsusports.com/sports/mens-soccer/roster/ethan-beckford/3388 |website=Penn State University Athletics |access-date=15 August 2020 |language=en}}</ref> Lauren, his daughter from his first marriage, played for Manchester United Women and Everton.<ref name="beano2"/> His stepson, Danny Webber, also played professional football.<ref>{{Citation|last1=Williams|first1=Alex|last2=Buckley|first2=Andy|title=You Saw Me Standing Alone|publisher=Bucko Media|year=2023|isbn=978-1-3999-5882-0}}</ref>
==Career statistics== {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition<ref>{{ENFA}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Player Details|url=http://www.southportfootballclub.co.uk/players/player-details/?id=1718|website=Port Online|access-date=28 August 2017|date=9 November 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Soccerbase}}</ref><ref name="hearts">{{cite web |title=Darren Beckford - Hearts Career - from 14 Aug 1996 to 14 Dec 1996 |url=https://www.londonhearts.com/scores/newplayers/h01652.html |website=www.londonhearts.com |access-date=14 November 2023}}</ref> |- !rowspan="2"|Club !rowspan="2"|Season !colspan="3"|League !colspan="2"|National cup{{efn|Includes FA Cup, Scottish Cup, Welsh Cup}} !colspan="2"|Other !colspan="2"|Total |- !Division!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals |- |rowspan="4"|Manchester City |1984–85 |Second Division |4||0||0||0||1||0||5||0 |- |1985–86 |First Division |3||0||0||0||0||0||3||0 |- |1986–87 |First Division |4||0||0||0||0||0||4||0 |- !colspan="2"|Total !11!!0!!0!!0!!1!!0!!12!!0 |- |Bury (loan) |1985–86 |Third Division |12||5||0||0||0||0||12||5 |- |Port Vale (loan) |1986–87 |Third Division |11||4||0||0||0||0||11||4 |- |rowspan="6"|Port Vale |1986–87 |Third Division |11||4||0||0||0||0||11||4 |- |1987–88 |Third Division |40||9||6||1||4||0||50||10 |- |1988–89 |Third Division |42||20||3||0||10||3||55||23 |- |1989–90 |Second Division |42||17||3||1||6||3||51||21 |- |1990–91 |Second Division |43||21||2||2||2||0||47||23 |- !colspan="2"|Total !178!!71!!14!!4!!22!!6!!214!!81 |- |rowspan="3"|Norwich City |1991–92 |First Division |30||7||3||0||6||4||39||11 |- |1992–93 |Premier League |8||1||2||1||0||0||10||2 |- !colspan="2"|Total !38!!8!!5!!1!!6!!4!!49!!13 |- |rowspan="5"|Oldham Athletic |1992–93 |Premier League |7||3||0||0||0||0||7||3 |- |1993–94 |Premier League |22||6||6||3||2||1||30||10 |- |1994–95 |First Division |3||0||2||0||0||0||5||0 |- |1995–96 |First Division |20||2||1||2||2||0||23||4 |- !colspan="2"|Total !52!!11!!9!!5!!4!!1!!65!!17 |- |Heart of Midlothian |1996–97 |Scottish Premier Division |8||0||0||0||4||2||12||2 |- |Preston North End |1996–97 |Second Division |2||0||0||0||1||0||3||0 |- |Fulham |1996–97 |Third Division |0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0 |- |Walsall |1996–97 |Second Division |8||0||0||0||0||0||8||0 |- |Southport |1997–98 |Conference |0||0||0||0||1||1||1||1 |- |Total Network Solutions |1997–98 |League of Wales |4||1||0||0||0||0||4||1 |- |Bury |1997–98 |First Division |0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0 |- !colspan="3"|Career total !313!!96!!28!!10!!39!!14!!380!!120 |} {{notelist}}
==Honours== '''Port Vale''' *Football League Third Division play-offs: 1989<ref>{{cite book|last=Kent|first=Jeff|title=Port Vale Promotion Chronicle 1988-1989: Back to Where We Once Belonged!|publisher=Witan Books|year=1989|isbn=0-9508981-3-9}}</ref>
'''Heart of Midlothian''' *Scottish League Cup runner-up: 1996<ref name="h96"/>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beckford, Darren}} Category:1967 births Category:Living people Category:People from Moss Side Category:English men's footballers Category:Black British sportsmen Category:English people of Jamaican descent Category:Sportspeople of Jamaican descent Category:Men's association football forwards Category:Manchester City F.C. players Category:Bury F.C. players Category:Port Vale F.C. players Category:Norwich City F.C. players Category:Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Category:Heart of Midlothian F.C. players Category:Preston North End F.C. players Category:Fulham F.C. players Category:Walsall F.C. players Category:Rushden & Diamonds F.C. players Category:Southport F.C. players Category:The New Saints F.C. players Category:Bacup Borough F.C. players Category:English Football League players Category:Premier League players Category:Scottish Football League players Category:National League (English football) players Category:Cymru Premier players Category:Former Jehovah's Witnesses Category:20th-century English sportsmen Category:20th-century Black British people