Darren Cann (born 17 June 1969) 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

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. He is the men's soccer coach at St. Thomas University in

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

Career

Cann was born in

Torquay Torquay ( ) is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies south of the county town of Exeter and east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paignton ...

. He joined

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 ...

as an apprentice, making his debut v Burnley in the 1986–87 season whilst still an apprentice as Torquay, managed by

Stuart Morgan Stuart Edward Morgan (born 23 September 1949 in Swansea) is a Welsh former professional footballer and football manager. A central defender, he made 222 appearances in the Football League playing for Torquay United, Reading, Colchester United ...

struggled to retain their place in the Football League. He turned professional in June 1987, but was released at the end of the following season having made 12 league appearances, scoring one goal. In 1987 Cann was selected to represent the FA Colts 11. While with Torquay, he also had a spell on loan with Weymouth. In July 1988 he joined Barnstaple Town and embarked on a successful career in semi-professional football. He later played for Clevedon Town, joining Gloucester City in the 1994–95 season. He played 13 times for Gloucester and was sent off in his final game, away to Atherstone United, before joining Elmore. In the summer of 1995 he left Elmore to join

Taunton Town Taunton Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Taunton, Somerset. They compete in the , the sixth tier of English football and play their home matches at Wordsworth Drive, which they moved into during the 1953 season. ...

's successful Western League side, winning a Championship medal in his first season. He played one Conference game for

Bath City Bath City Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Bath, Somerset, England. The club is affiliated to the Somerset FA and currently competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club have ...

in December 1996, before leaving Taunton for Minehead Town in the summer of 1998. He helped Minehead to promotion and the Western League First Division title before returning to

in the 1999 close-season, also playing for

Tiverton Town Tiverton Town Football Club are an English football club based in Tiverton, Devon. The club are currently members of the and play at Ladysmead. History The club was established in 1913 as Tiverton Athletic, and initially played at the Athle ...

Dartmouth A.F.C. Dartmouth Association Football Club is a association football, football club based in Dartmouth, Devon, Dartmouth, Devon, England. They are currently members of the and play at Long Cross. History Established in 1908 as Dartmouth United, the ...

and

Newton Abbot Newton Abbot is a market town and civil parish on the River Teign in the Teignbridge District of Devon, England. Its 2011 population of 24,029 was estimated to reach 26,655 in 2019. It grew rapidly in the Victorian era as the home of the Sou ...

in the

Devon County Football League The Devon County Football League was a football competition based in England. It consisted of 20 clubs and sat at step 7 (or level 11) of the National League System. History The league was formed in 1992 in order to form an intermediate level be ...

, when available and had also played for

Penzance Penzance ( ; kw, Pennsans) is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is about west-southwest of Plymouth and west-southwest of London. Situated ...

. The following two seasons saw Taunton retain the Western League title, giving Cann his third winner's medal. During his playing career Cann was selected to play for Devon County FA 18 times. He emigrated to his wife's hometown in

, Canada at the end of the 2000–01 season, one of his final games for Taunton being the 2–1

FA Vase The Football Association Challenge Vase, usually referred to as the FA Vase, is an annual football competition for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English National League System (or equivalently, tier 9 or 10 of the overall English footbal ...

Final win over Berkhamsted Town on 6 May 2001 at

Villa Park Villa Park is a football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, England, with a seating capacity of 42,682. It has been the home of Premier League side Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witton and Aston railway stations ...

. This was especially apt for Cann as the tournament was sponsored by

Carlsberg Carlsberg may refer to: Places * Carlsberg (district), a district in Copenhagen, Denmark ** Carlsberg station, its train station * Carlsberg, Germany, a municipality in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany * Carlsberg Fjord, Greenland Other uses * Carlsbe ...

, for which he worked as a lorry driver. On arriving in Canada he coached with the

Fredericton Fredericton (; ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of New Brunswick. The city is situated in the west-central portion of the province along the Saint John River, which flows west to east as it bisects the city. The river is the do ...

and District Soccer Association at several soccer camps, building on his previous experience as a tournament coordinator for the Riviera International Cup held in

Torbay Torbay is a borough and unitary authority in Devon, south west England. It is governed by Torbay Council and consists of of land, including the resort towns of Torquay, Paignton and Brixham, located on east-facing Tor Bay, part of Lyme ...

. On 18 July 2001, Cann was appointed as head coach to the

University of New Brunswick The University of New Brunswick (UNB) is a public university with two primary campuses in Fredericton and Saint John, New Brunswick. It is the oldest English-language university in Canada, and among the oldest public universities in North Americ ...

men's soccer team, but left in 2003 when the job was turned into a position requiring a university

degree Degree may refer to: As a unit of measurement * Degree (angle), a unit of angle measurement ** Degree of geographical latitude ** Degree of geographical longitude * Degree symbol (°), a notation used in science, engineering, and mathematics ...

. In October 2003, Cann was appointed as men's soccer coach at St Thomas University, also in

. Cann received the ACAA Coach of the year for the season 2008–09.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cann, Darren 1968 births Living people Footballers from Torquay English men's footballers Men's association football central defenders Torquay United F.C. players Weymouth F.C. players Barnstaple Town F.C. players Clevedon Town F.C. players Gloucester City A.F.C. players Elmore F.C. players Taunton Town F.C. players Bath City F.C. players Minehead A.F.C. players Dartmouth A.F.C. players Newton Abbot A.F.C. players Penzance A.F.C. players English Football League players Western Football League players National League (English football) players