Darren Edward Kenton (born 13 September 1978) 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 last played for

Rochester Rhinos Rochester New York FC, formerly known as the Rochester Rhinos, are an American professional soccer team based in Rochester, New York, United States. Founded in 1996, as the Rochester Raging Rhinos, they changed their name to Rochester Rhinos to ...

in the

USL First Division The USL First Division (usually referred to as USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States and Canada from 2005 to 2010. During its existence, it formed the second tier of soccer in the United States soccer league system b ...

Career

Norwich City

Kenton was born in

Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan The London Plan is the statutory spatial development strategy for the Gre ...

and started his career at Norwich City in 1997. He played 158 league games and scored nine goals for the Canaries in the old

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

Southampton/Leicester City

Kenton signed for

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

in 2003 on a free transfer. He made his debut in December 2003 in a match against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. In a Premier League match against Chelsea in May 2004 he was described as "''the best player on the pitch''" and "''outstanding''" despite his side losing 4-0. Kenton scored his only goal for Southampton in an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

match against

MK Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The ...

on 7 January 2006. Having been released by

in May 2006, he joined Leicester City on 27 June 2006, a team for which he had previously had a loan spell in 2005. He started the 2006–07 Championship season as a first-team regular, despite scoring an own goal against

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

in his sixth game for the club. He struggled with injury towards the end of the season. On 31 March 2007 he scored his first goal for the club in a 4–2 defeat away to

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 ...

and got his second of the season in a 2–1 loss against Norwich City on 14 April 2007. On 19 June 2007 Kenton was placed on the transfer list by then manager Martin Allen. However, the injury of

Stephen Clemence Stephen Neal Clemence (born 31 March 1978) is an English football coach and former player, who made nearly 250 appearances in the Premier League and Football League playing as a midfielder. Clemence began his career with Tottenham Hotspur, wher ...

and

James Wesolowski James Peter Wesolowski (born 25 August 1987) is an Australian former professional soccer player who played as a midfielder. Club career Leicester City Wesolowski played for Australian side Northern Spirit before signing for Leicester City in ...

on 23 October 2007 saw a recall into the senior squad, playing in midfield position. He was regularly involved in the first team in November and December 2007.

Leeds United

On 10 January 2008, Kenton joined League One side Leeds United on a one-month loan deal He then had his Leicester contract terminated by mutual consent on 31 January 2008 and he joined Leeds permanently on the same day. He played 12 games for the club as they finished sixth, but he did not play in their play-off campaign and he was released at the end of the season.

Cheltenham Town

On 2 October 2008, Kenton joined

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league syst ...

, he signed at the same time as former Leicester teammate

and linked up with former Leicester manager Martin Allen. He made 13 league appearances before turning down an extended contract and consequently left the club on 6 January 2009. He scored once for Cheltenham, in a 4–3 win over Colchester United.

Rochester Rhinos

After an unsuccessful trial with

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BMO ...

in February 2009, Kenton joined

on a one-year contract on 9 April.

References

External links

Rochester Rhinos bio
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kenton, Darren 1978 births Living people Norwich City F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Leeds United F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Cheltenham Town F.C. players English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Premier League players Rochester New York FC players USL First Division players English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States English expatriate men's footballers Footballers from the London Borough of Wandsworth People from Wandsworth