Darren Charles Bishop (born 16 February 1968) is an English former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a defender. He played in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

and

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

, making more than 350 senior appearances.

Playing career

Born in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

, Bishop started his playing career as an apprentice at

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

before joining

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

in April 1986, but he did not make a senior appearance for either club. He signed for

ahead of the 1987–88 season and went on to score six goals in 114 league matches for the side. In the summer of 1991 Bishop transferred to

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

outfit

for a fee of £50,000. He spent five years with the

Oakwell Oakwell is a multi-purpose sports development in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England used primarily by Barnsley Football Club for playing their home fixtures, and those of their reserves. While the name 'Oakwell' generally refers to the main s ...

club, making more than 150 first-team appearances in all competitions and scoring once. He lost his first-team place to

Steve Davis Steve Davis (born 22 August 1957) is an English retired professional snooker player who is currently a Sports commentator, commentator, musician, DJ, and author. He is best known for dominating professional snooker during the 1980s, when he rea ...

during his final season with Barnsley and was consequently loaned out on two occasions, firstly to

, where he played four league matches, before joining

on the last day of the 1996 transfer window. Bishop made his debut for Burnley on 30 March 1996 in the 1–4 away defeat to

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their home ...

, taking the place of

Chris Vinnicombe Chris Vinnicombe (born 20 October 1970) is an English former professional footballer. Club career Exeter City and Rangers (1986–1994) Vinnicombe was a product of Exeter City's youth system, and made his professional debut for the club in 198 ...

, who was out with a broken ankle. He played eight more matches for the Lancashire club before leaving at the end of the 1995–96 season. Burnley manager

Adrian Heath Adrian Paul Heath (born 11 January 1961) is an English football manager and former player. He currently serves as head coach of Major League Soccer club Minnesota United FC. As a player, he is best known for his six seasons at Everton, where h ...

considered signing Bishop on a permanent deal that summer but the player instead moved to

for a transfer fee of £20,000. He made 32 appearances for the club before joining

for the same fee in December 1997, where he played 12 league games during an 18-month spell. Bishop ended his playing career with a spell at non-league Ilkeston Town before retiring from football in 2000.

Managerial career

Towards the end of the 2000–01 season, Bishop was one of a trio of managers alongside Chris Marples and former Burnley teammate Ian Helliwell hired by Ilkeston Town, who then played in

Southern League Premier Division The Southern League is a men's football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from the South and Midlands of England. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven and eight of the English foot ...

, to save the club from relegation. The task was achieved successfully and Marples was consequently given the managerial role on a permanent basis while Helliwell returned to his playing role and Bishop left the club. In October 2002, Bishop was appointed manager of Ilkeston for a second time with fellow former player John Knapper as his assistant. The pair took over from

John McGinlay John McGinlay (born 8 April 1964) is a Scottish football manager, former professional footballer and scout who is the club ambassador of Bolton Wanderers. As a player, he was a striker over a 26-year career that saw him notably play in the Pr ...

, who had been sacked the previous week. The team were relegated during his first season in charge to the Southern League Western Division. Ilkeston started the following campaign well but following a run of poor form which included five defeats in six matches, Bishop was dismissed and

Phil Stant Philip Richard Stant (born 13 October 1962) is an English football manager, former professional footballer and British Army soldier who served in the Falklands War and was attached to the SAS. As a player he was a striker who after serving in ...

was brought in as his replacement.

Career statistics

Source:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bishop, Charlie 1968 births Living people Footballers from Nottingham English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Stoke City F.C. players Watford F.C. players Bury F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Ilkeston Town F.C. (1945) players English football managers Ilkeston Town F.C. managers English Football League players