Darren Oliver (born 1 November 1971) is a former English

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 ...

who played as a defender. He signed for Bolton as a youth trainee in the summer of 1990, working firstly under the management of

Phil Neal Philip George Neal (born 20 February 1951) is an English retired footballer who played for Northampton Town, Liverpool and Bolton Wanderers as a full back. He is one of the most successful English players of all time, having won seven First D ...

and then

Bruce Rioch Bruce David Rioch (; born 6 September 1947) is a football manager and former player for the Scotland national team. His last managerial post was at AaB in the Danish Superliga in 2008. As a player, he made more than 550 appearances in the Fo ...

. Rioch gave him his Football League debut in October 1992 in an away game at

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a profession ...

replacing the experienced David Burke as the Wanderers left-back. Towards the end of his time at Bolton he had a short loan spell with

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...

, scoring the winning goal in his only appearance for them against Barnsley in the Coca-Cola Cup.https://www.theposhtrust.co.uk/player/darren-oliver, The Posh Trust profile Oliver spent a total of six years at

Burnden Park Burnden Park was the home of English football club Bolton Wanderers who played home games there between 1895 and 1997. As well as hosting the 1901 FA Cup Final replay, it was the scene in 1946 of one of the greatest disasters in English footba ...

before moving to Rochdale for £30,000 in 1993. He later played for

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population ...

, Barrow and Stafford Rangers in non-league football.

References

1971 births Living people English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Altrincham F.C. players Barrow A.F.C. players Stafford Rangers F.C. players English Football League players Footballers from Liverpool {{England-footy-defender-1970s-stub