Darren Hare (born 2 April 1967) is an English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

coach and former player, who is first team coach at Faversham Town.

Career

Born in

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

, he began his career playing for the youth teams of

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

and Gillingham and went on to play for a number of

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

-based

non-league Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

teams, including Ashford Town (where he was club leading scorer for two seasons), Thanet United, Canterbury City,

Herne Bay Herne Bay is a seaside town on the north coast of Kent in South East England. It is north of Canterbury and east of Whitstable. It neighbours the ancient villages of Herne and Reculver and is part of the City of Canterbury local government ...

and

Sittingbourne Sittingbourne is an industrial town in Kent, south-east England, from Canterbury and from London, beside the Roman Watling Street, an ancient British trackway used by the Romans and the Anglo-Saxons and next to the Swale, a strip of sea separa ...

. He also managed Canterbury and

Folkestone Invicta Folkestone Invicta Football Club is a association football, football club based in Folkestone, Kent, England. They are currently members of the and play at Cheriton Road. History The club was established in 1936 and joined the East Kent Wedne ...

, and worked as Youth Development Officer for the

Kent County Football Association The Kent County Football Association, known as ''Kent FA'', is the governing body of football in the county of Kent, England, and was formed in 1881. The Kent FA run over 20 County Cups at different levels of football for affiliated teams across K ...

. Hare later became Head of Youth Development for Gillingham. In December 2004 he served as acting manager after the resignation of both

Andy Hessenthaler Andrew Hessenthaler (born 17 August 1965) is an English football manager and former player who is head of recruitment at club Gillingham. He began his career in non-league football and did not turn professional until he joined Watford at ...

and

caretaker manager In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular Manager (association football), manager is dismissed or leaves for a ...

John Gorman John Gorman may refer to: * John Gorman (director) (1884–1936), American movie director *John Gorman (entertainer) (born 1936), English vocalist and musician *John Gorman (politician) (1923–2014), Northern Ireland politician *John Gorman (footb ...

. The following year he left

Priestfield Stadium Priestfield Stadium (popularly known simply as Priestfield and officially known from 2007 to 2010 as KRBS Priestfield Stadium and from 2011 as MEMS Priestfield Stadium for sponsorship purposes) is a football stadium in Gillingham, Kent. It has ...

to become Head of Education and Welfare in the academy system at

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building * ...

, and made a brief playing comeback at the age of 38. In 2007, he joined

Dover Athletic Dover Athletic Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in the town of Dover, Kent, England. The club currently competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club was formed in 198 ...

as assistant to Hessenthaler, the club's new manager, who is also his brother-in-law. When Hessenthaler began his second period as manager at Gillingham in May 2010, Hare also returned to Priestfield, as youth team manager. Hare was appointed as manager of Hastings United of the Isthmian League South Division in May 2016. He led the side to the play-offs during his one season in charge, but Hasings were defeated by Dorking Wanderers in the semi-finals on penalties following a 1–1 draw. He resigned from the role in May 2017, citing a desire to concentrate on his family and business interests. In October 2018 he rejoined Dover and Andy Hessenthaler, taking on the position of joint first team coach. In November 2020, Hare resigned from his position due to personal reasons. On 29 November 2022, Hare was appointed first team coach of

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

South East Division club Faversham Town to new manager

Sammy Moore Samuel Leslie Moore (born 7 September 1987) is a former English professional footballer who is currently manager of Faversham Town. He made his league debut for Ipswich Town at the age of 19. He went on to play for both Brentford and Stevena ...

Personal life

Hare is married to Alison, a nurse, and has three children,

Josh Josh is a masculine given name, frequently a diminutive (hypocorism) of the given names Joshua or Joseph, though since the 1970s, it has increasingly become a full name on its own. It may refer to: People A–J * "Josh", an early pseudonym of S ...

, Chloe and James. Josh is a footballer who as of 2022 plays professionally for

Dagenham & Redbridge Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club is a professional association football club based in Dagenham, Greater London, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Often known simply as Dag ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hare, Darren 1967 births Living people English footballers Sportspeople from Canterbury Footballers from Kent Association football forwards Dover Athletic F.C. players Ebbsfleet United F.C. players Ashford United F.C. players Margate F.C. players Canterbury City F.C. players Hastings United F.C. players Folkestone Invicta F.C. players Herne Bay F.C. players Sittingbourne F.C. players English football managers Canterbury City F.C. managers Folkestone Invicta F.C. managers Gillingham F.C. managers Hastings United F.C. managers English Football League players