Darren Baxter (born 26 October 1981) 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 ...

Playing career

Baxter was born in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

and began his football career as a trainee with

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

. He left Chelsea in the 2000–2001 season at the end of his three-year traineeship. On leaving Chelsea he joined Heart of Midlothian, but having missed the transfer deadline was restricted to playing for their reserve side. He joined

Worthing Worthing () is a seaside town in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of Chichester. With a population of 111,400 and an area of , the borough is the second largest component of the Brighton and Hov ...

in the summer of 2001, but moved to St Albans City in March 2002, having played one match on loan for them in October 2001. In 2003, he played abroad in the

USL Pro Select League The USL Second Division (commonly referred to as USL-2) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States, operated by United Soccer Leagues (USL). It was at the third tier of soccer in the United States, behind Major League Soccer ...

with New York Freedom. In 2004, he joined

USL A-League The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

side

Toronto Lynx Toronto Lynx was a Canadian soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1997, the team last played in the 2014 season of the Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Great Lakes D ...

, making his debut for the club on 1 May 2004 in a match against the Rochester Rhinos in a 4–0 defeat. In his first season with the Lynx, Baxter recorded 4 goals and 2 assists, which ranked him third in scoring for the Lynx in his rookie season. When the season came to a conclusion he was awarded team's Best Offensive Player award. In 2005, Baxter was acquired by the Oakville Blue Devils in the Canadian Professional Soccer League after

Duncan Wilde Duncan Wilde is an English soccer manager who is currently the manager of Blue Devils FC in League1 Ontario. Managerial career On May 15, 2003 at the Canadian Professional Soccer League press conference the Hamilton Thunder announced Wilde as th ...

was appointed the new head coach. He made his debut for the club on 5 June 2005 in a 2–1 victory over the

Vaughan Shooters Vaughan () (2021 population 323,103) is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located in the Regional Municipality of York, just north of Toronto. Vaughan was the fastest-growing municipality in Canada between 1996 and 2006 with its population increas ...

. He helped Oakville finish second in the western conference allowing the club to clinch a playoff berth, which ultimately resulted in the club claiming the CPSL Championship. On 18 April 2006 Baxter re-signing with the Lynx was announced in a press conference which revealed the 2006 team roster. He appeared in eight matches for the club in the 2006 season. On 9 January 2007, he returned to England, joining

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

, making his debut as a half-time substitute for Chris McPhee in the 5–0 defeat away to

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and ...

on 30 January 2007. However, this was to be his only appearance for Torquay, as along with Nathan Simpson, he left on 6 February 2007, having learnt that his initial one-month contract was not going to be renewed.Gulls will not extend duo's deals
/ref> In October 2007, Baxter joined

Dorchester Town Dorchester Town Football Club are a semi-professional football club, based in Dorchester, Dorset, England. They currently play in the . The club is affiliated to the Dorset County Football Association and is a FA chartered Standard club. They ...

on trial, scoring in a reserve game against Torquay United's reserve team.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baxter, Darren 1981 births Living people Footballers from Brighton English footballers Association football defenders Association football midfielders Chelsea F.C. players Heart of Midlothian F.C. players Worthing F.C. players St Albans City F.C. players New York Freedom players Toronto Lynx players Brampton United players Torquay United F.C. players USL Second Division players USL First Division players A-League (1995–2004) players Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) players English Football League players English expatriate footballers English expatriate sportspeople in Canada Expatriate soccer players in Canada English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer players in the United States