Darren John Purse (born 14 February 1977) 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 now coaches the
Cardiff City U23s.
A
centre-back
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 began his career 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 professio ...
, before winning a £100,000 move to
Oxford United
Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and t ...
in July 1996. He continued to impress, and was bought by
Birmingham City
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...
for £700,000 in February 1998. He played for the "Blues" in the
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
and the
2001 Football League Cup Final
The 2001 Football League Cup Final was a football match played between Birmingham City and Liverpool on 25 February 2001 at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. It was the final match of the 2000–01 Football League Cup, the 41st season of the Foo ...
, before switching to
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 ...
for a £750,000 fee in June 2004. After a year with the "Baggies", he was transferred to
Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this system ...
side
Cardiff City
Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...
for just under £1 million.
Appointed as club captain, he was an unused substitute in the
2008 FA Cup Final
The 2008 FA Cup Final was an association football match between Cardiff City and Portsmouth held at Wembley Stadium, London, on 17 May 2008. The final was the showpiece match of English football's primary cup competition, the 2007–08 Footba ...
, where they were defeated by
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
. He joined
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...
in July 2009, and was again appointed as captain. The "Owls" suffered relegation into
League One
The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...
, and he moved on to
Millwall
Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...
in January 2011. Loaned out to
Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to:
* Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset
* Yeovil Town L.F.C.
Bridgwater United Women's Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Bridgwater, Somerset who wer ...
, he switched to
Plymouth Argyle
Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...
for a 12-month spell in January 2012.
He left Plymouth for
Port Vale
Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...
in January 2013, and helped the club to secure promotion out of
League Two
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
in 2012–13. He left England in August 2013 to play for Finnish club
IFK Mariehamn
IFK Mariehamn is an Ålandic football club based in Mariehamn, the capital of the Åland Islands. It plays in the Finnish Premier Division (''Veikkausliiga''). The club is managed by Daniel Norrmén, and it plays its home matches at Wiklö ...
, before heading into English non-League football with
Chesham United,
Welling United
Welling United Football Club is a professional football club, based in Welling in the London Borough of Bexley, England. The club's first team play in the National League South, at the sixth tier of English football.
History
Welling United Foot ...
,
Staines Town
Staines Town Football Club was a semi-professional Association football, football club based in Staines-upon-Thames, Middlesex.
History
Early days
Staines Town FC was founded in 1892 and was known under various names including ''Staines F.C ...
,
AFC Rushden & Diamonds
A.F.C. Rushden & Diamonds is an English football club based in Rushden in Northamptonshire. They played their opening season at Kiln Park, the home of Raunds Town, in 2011–12 and subsequently shared the Dog & Duck ground with Wellingboroug ...
,
Hayes & Yeading United,
Bishop's Stortford
Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, just west of the M11 motorway on the county boundary with Essex, north-east of central London, and by rail from Liverpool Street station. Stortford had an estimated po ...
, and
Enfield Town
Enfield is a large town in north London, England, north of Charing Cross. It had a population of 156,858 in 2018. It includes the areas of Botany Bay, Brimsdown, Bulls Cross, Bullsmoor, Bush Hill Park, Clay Hill, Crews Hill, Enfield Highway ...
. Over the course of his 24-year playing career he made 796 league and cup appearances, scoring a total of 51 goals.
Club career
Leyton Orient
Purse was born in
Stepney
Stepney is a district in the East End of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The district is no longer officially defined, and is usually used to refer to a relatively small area. However, for much of its history the place name appl ...
, London and attended
Cardinal Pole Roman Catholic School in
Hackney. As a youngster Purse played in the same Sunday league side as
Lee Bowyer
Lee David Bowyer (; born 3 January 1977) is an English football manager and former professional player.
As a player, he was a midfielder who featured for Charlton Athletic, Leeds United, West Ham United (two spells), Newcastle United, Birmingha ...
. He rejected apprenticeships at
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 ...
and
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
in favour of training with the
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 professio ...
first team on the promise of a professional contract on his 17th-birthday.
He made his senior début at Orient under
Peter Eustace just three days after his 17th-birthday, in a defeat to
Brighton & Hove Albion
Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...
at the
Goldstone Ground
The Goldstone Ground (or The Goldstone) was a football stadium in Hove, East Sussex that was the home ground of Brighton & Hove Albion between 1902 and 1997.
History
The Goldstone Ground stood on Old Shoreham Road, Hove, opposite Hove Park i ...
.
He spent close to two seasons at
Brisbane Road
Brisbane Road, originally known as Osborne Road, is a football stadium in Brisbane Road, Leyton, East London, England. It has been the home ground of Leyton Orient since 1937, before which it was the home of amateur football team Leyton F.C., w ...
, and scored five goals in 66 league and cup appearances for the club. Orient were relegated out of the
Second Division
In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...
in last place in
1994–95, and finished 21st in the
Third Division in
1995–96. He also spent time in Finland on loan at
Kakkonen
Kakkonen or II divisioona is the third level in the league system of Finnish football and comprises 36 Finnish football teams. The II divisioona was introduced in 1973 and in the mid-1990s became known as the Kakkonen (Finnish for 'Number Two' ...
(Second Division) club
BK-IFK.
Oxford United
In July 1996, Purse was signed by
Oxford United
Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and t ...
for a £100,000 fee. He made 31 appearances in the
1996–97 season, as
Denis Smith's "Yellows" posted a 17th-place finish in the
First Division. Purse impressed at the
Manor Ground, and scored six goals in 35 games in
1997–98.
Birmingham City
Purse joined
Birmingham City
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...
for £600,000 plus
Kevin Francis (valued at £100,000) in February 1998. He started just two First Division games at the end of the
1997–98 season after making an unimpressive debut.
He made 11 league starts and nine substitute appearances in the
1998–99 campaign, and also appeared at
St Andrew's as a substitute in the play-off defeat to
Watford
Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne.
Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...
after
David Holdsworth
David Gary Holdsworth (born 8 November 1968) is an English former professional footballer turned manager.
As a player, he was a defender who played between 1986 and 2005 for Watford, Sheffield United, Birmingham City, Walsall, Bolton Wanderers ...
was sent off – he converted a penalty in the shoot-out, which ended in a 7–6 victory for Watford.
Purse established an effective centre-back partnership with
Michael Johnson in the
1999–2000 season, making 41 starts in league and cup competitions for the "Blues".
He played at the
Millennium Stadium
The Millennium Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm y Mileniwm), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Principality) for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it is the home of the Wales national rug ...
in the
2001 League Cup Final, and scored a 90th-minute penalty to take the game into
extra time
Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...
.
He also converted his penalty in the shoot-out, which was won by
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
5–4.
With four goals in 49 appearances in the
2000–01 season, Purse won the vote to be named as the club's player of the season.
This represented a significant turnaround for a young defender who was barracked by City supporters at the start of the campaign.
He missed the start of the
2001–02 season after a training ground shot from manager
Trevor Francis
Trevor John Francis (born 19 April 1954) is an English former footballer who played as a forward for a number of clubs in England, the United States, Italy, Scotland and Australia. In 1979 he became Britain's first £1 million player follo ...
broke his wrist. Francis was sacked just after Purse returned to full fitness, though the defender managed to keep his first team place under new boss
Steve Bruce
Stephen Roger Bruce (born 31 December 1960) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as a centre-back. He most recently managed West Bromwich Albion F.C., West Br ...
, and started 40 matches in the
2001–02 season.
In August 2002, Purse "ended months of speculation" by signing a three-year deal (with an option for a fourth year). Having been courted by
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 ...
,
Charlton Athletic
Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...
and
Everton, he had previously been stripped of the club captaincy after twice rejecting Birmingham's offer of a £10,000 per week five-year contract. The protracted negotiations were put down to his ambitions for top-flight football, which were secured with victory in the
2002 play-off Final (Purse did not feature in the matchday squad). However, he missed a large chunk of the
2002–03 season after his ankle became infected following surgery.
Purse had a quiet
2003–04 campaign, making only nine
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
appearances. He did, however, hit the headlines after elbowing
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 ...
striker
Adrian Mutu
Adrian Mutu (; born 8 January 1979) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player, who is in charge of Liga I club Rapid București. During his playing career, he was deployed as a forward or an attacking midfielder.
Mutu starte ...
; the Romanian reportedly launched a "volley of expletives" at Purse in a post-match dressing room incident.
West Bromwich Albion
Purse moved to
Gary Megson
Gary John Megson (born 2 May 1959) is an English former football player and manager.
He has previously managed Norwich City, Blackpool, Stockport County, Stoke City, West Bromwich Albion, Nottingham Forest, Leicester City, Bolton Wanderers and ...
's
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 ...
for £750,000 in June 2004.
On signing with the club he said "I've probably got the best years of my career ahead of me." He spent a single season with Albion in the
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
, making 24 appearances in all competitions, and was frozen out of the first team from February onwards. He therefore played no part in the "
Survival Sunday" victory over
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
that ensured the "Baggies" retained their top-flight status. He had made "significant errors" on the pitch, and, as at Birmingham, was deemed surplus to requirement at
The Hawthorns
The Hawthorns is an all-seater association football, football stadium in West Bromwich, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England, with a capacity of 26,688. It has been the home of EFL Championship, Championship club West Bromwich Albion F ...
by new boss Bryan Robson.
Cardiff City
In July 2005, Purse moved to
Cardiff City
Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...
in a deal worth just under £1 million. Five players (
Alan Lee,
Rhys Weston,
Tony Warner
Anthony Randolph Warner (born 11 May 1974) is a football coach and former professional footballer who is the goalkeeping coach at Reading.
Warner notably played in the Premier League for Fulham, having also being contracted to Liverpool and Hul ...
,
Chris Barker
Christopher Andrew Barker (2 March 1980 – 1 January 2020) was an English professional footballer who played as a defender. He represented Alfreton Town, Barnsley, Cardiff City, Stoke City, Colchester United, Queens Park Rangers, Plymouth Arg ...
and
Neil Alexander
James Neil Alexander (born 10 March 1978) is a Scottish football coach and former professional player. He began his career in the Scottish Football League with spells at Stenhousemuir and Livingston, before joining Cardiff City in May 200 ...
) accepted "substantial reductions in their wages" to allow the club to meet Purse's wage demands. He was appointed
team captain
In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...
, and forged a reputation for hard work and consistency as the foundation of the Cardiff defence, forming an effective partnership with
Glenn Loovens
Glenn Loovens (born 22 September 1983) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a centre-back.
Club career Early career
Loovens is the son of Hans Loovens, who played for FC Twente. He also has a brother called Ivo. He signed for ...
. He scored six goals in 43 games in
2005–06 and scored four goals in 33 games in
2006–07. Purse signed a one-year extension to his contract at
Ninian Park
Ninian Park was a football stadium in the Leckwith area of Cardiff, Wales, that was the home of Cardiff City F.C. for 99 years. Opened in 1910 with a single wooden stand, it underwent numerous renovations during its lifespan and hosted fixture ...
in July 2007.
In August 2007, he received an injury to his knee cartilage and it was expected that he would be unavailable for up to four weeks, but he contracted an infection during an operation on the injured knee that delayed his return for a much longer period. He made his return to first team football in October, and went on to score a headed goal in the 2–1
League Cup
In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...
defeat by
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
at
Anfield
Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892. ...
on 31 October. The
2007–08 season turned into a disappointment for Purse as he was forced out of the side by "Bluebirds" fan favourite
Roger Johnson. He also scored several own goals, including a spectacular volleyed pass back that proved too powerful for Cardiff goalkeeper
Peter Enckelman
Peter Mikael Enckelman (born 10 March 1977) is a Finnish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Enckelman represented Finland and previously played for TPS Turku, Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Cardiff City, St Johnstone an ...
. He was also labelled a "muppet" by
Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...
forward
Andrew Cole, after Purse was sent off for what was deemed a dangerous tackle against Cole, although Cardiff manager
Dave Jones defended the player and the ban was later overturned. Purse did not feature in City's
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 ...
run to
the final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
*Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event
** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
at
Wembley
Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...
, and was an unused substitute as Cardiff were beaten 1–0 by
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
.
Purse began the
2008–09 season on the bench until Glenn Loovens was sold to
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
, and he returned to the starting line-up alongside Roger Johnson in September. He spent three months in the first team before losing his place in the side again, this time to
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
international
Gábor Gyepes
Gábor Gyepes (; born 26 June 1981) is a Hungarian former professional Association football, footballer.
Gyepes began his career with Ferencvárosi TC, Ferencváros, where he won two List of Hungarian football champions, Hungarian national cha ...
who was signed as a replacement for Loovens, after a 2–1 defeat to
Plymouth Argyle
Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...
on 22 November after which Cardiff manager Dave Jones slammed the defensive performance of the team. Purse responded by criticising his manager and stating that he did not deserve to be dropped from the side. Purse was told that he could leave the club if a replacement could be signed during the January transfer window and was allowed to open talks with fellow Championship side
Norwich City
Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...
, but Cardiff could not find a suitable replacement in time and the move was cancelled. Able to secure a play-off place on the last day of the
2008–09 season, Cardiff instead suffered defeat and missed out on the play-offs on goal difference. At the end of the season Purse was not offered an extension to his contract and left the club.
Sheffield Wednesday
![Darren Purse](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/Darren_Purse.jpg)
Purse signed a two-year contract with
Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this system ...
club
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...
in May 2009. He was immediately named as team captain. He made 41 appearances in the
2009–10 season, only missing a handful of games due to a hamstring injury. The "Owls" struggled, and manager
Brian Laws
Brian Laws (born 14 October 1961) is an English former professional footballer and manager.
Playing as a defender, Laws made over 100 appearances for each of Burnley, Middlesbrough, and Nottingham Forest. In 1994, Laws became player-manager of ...
was sacked and replaced by
Alan Irvine. On the final day of the season, a win over
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 ...
at
Hillsborough would ensure survival at Palace's expense.
Purse scored an 87th-minute goal to level the game at 2–2, however no more goals followed and Wednesday were relegated into
League One
The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...
.
He made 30 appearances in the first half of the
2010–11
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
season, before he left the cash-strapped club by mutual consent in January 2011.
Millwall
The day after his release from Sheffield Wednesday, 21 January 2011, Purse signed with
Millwall
Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...
– the club he supported as a boy – on a contract until the end of the
2010–11
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
season. Purse made his début for Millwall two days later in a 4–2 defeat away at
Leicester City
Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...
. He scored his first goal for the club on 23 April, in a 4–0 win over
Preston North End
Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...
at
The Den
The Den (previously The New Den) is a football stadium in New Cross, south-east London, and the home of Millwall Football Club. The Den is adjacent to the South London railway originating at , and a quarter of a mile from the Old Den, which it ...
, and dedicated the goal to his father. He signed a one-year contract with
Kenny Jackett
Kenneth Francis Jackett (born 5 January 1962) is a former professional football player and manager, who is currently Director of Football at club Gillingham.
A skilful left-footed player, able to play in defence or midfield, Jackett was cappe ...
's "Lions" in April 2011.
Having found himself out of the first team at the start of the
2011–12 campaign, Purse joined
Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to:
* Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset
* Yeovil Town L.F.C.
Bridgwater United Women's Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Bridgwater, Somerset who wer ...
on a one-month loan in October in the hope of proving himself worthy of a starting place at Millwall. He made five appearances during that time and "Glovers" manager
Terry Skiverton
Terence John Skiverton (born 26 June 1975) is an English former footballer who enjoyed a long playing career at Yeovil Town for 11 years, appearing 382 times in all competitions, before becoming their manager and subsequently, assistant manager ...
stated that he would have liked to extend his stay at
Huish Park
Huish Park is a football stadium located in Yeovil, Somerset, England. The stadium has been home to Yeovil Town F.C. since its completion in 1990, following their relocation from Huish. Huish Park has a capacity of 9,565 (of which two stands ...
.
Plymouth Argyle
In November 2011, Purse moved to
Plymouth Argyle
Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...
on loan with a permanent 18-month contract to be signed when the transfer window opened the following January. He ended the
2011–12 campaign with 24 appearances for the "Pilgrims", as the team's "solid" defence helped to keep the club in the
English Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engl ...
. He later said that helping Plymouth to stay in the league was "one of the best things I have done in my career".
At the start of the
2012–13
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
season, Purse was named as the club's new captain by manager
Carl Fletcher. The 35-year-old said he would be "honoured" to captain the club. In December, he was transfer listed "with some reluctance" in the hope of releasing funds for recruitment of new players in the January 2013 transfer window. In January 2013, he was reported to have begun talks with League Two club
Port Vale
Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...
. He left
Home Park
Home Park is a football stadium in Plymouth, England. The ground has been the home of Football League One club Plymouth Argyle since 1901. by mutual consent on 4 January, having made 46 appearances for Argyle in all competitions.
Port Vale
Purse signed for
Port Vale
Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...
on 5 January 2013. His signing was announced on the same day as the "Valiants"'
League Two
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
clash with former club Plymouth Argyle, and only a few days after centre-back
John McCombe
John Paul McCombe (born 7 May 1985) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre back. He made 473 league and cup appearances in a 19 year professional and semi-professional career, scoring 29 goals. His brother, Jamie, al ...
was ruled out of action for several weeks with a knee injury. He was named man of the match on his debut on 12 January, as a 2–1 victory over
Gillingham sent Vale to the top of the table. Vale secured promotion with a third-place finish at the end of the
2012–13
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
season, with Purse providing experience at the back in his 17 games. He was not offered a new contract at the end of the season and was released as a free agent, with manager
Micky Adams
Michael Richard Adams (born 8 November 1961) is an English former professional association football, footballer and football manager. As a player, he was a Full-back (football), full back, and made a total of 438 league appearances in a ninete ...
putting this decision down to the defender's age rather than as a reflection on his performances in the 17 games.
Later career
Purse joined
Northampton Town
Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system.
Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...
on trial in July 2013, with manager
Aidy Boothroyd
Adrian Neil Boothroyd (born 8 February 1971) is an English former footballer who is currently the manager of Indian Super League club Jamshedpur.
At club level, he was manager of Watford from 2005 to 2008. During his time with Watford, he was r ...
worried over the fitness of centre-half
Kelvin Langmead
Kelvin Steven Langmead (born 23 March 1985) is an English professional footballer who plays for Kettering Town. He began his career as a striker, but since September 2006 has been employed as a central defender, most notably for Shrewsbury Town ...
. The following month he signed with Finnish side
IFK Mariehamn
IFK Mariehamn is an Ålandic football club based in Mariehamn, the capital of the Åland Islands. It plays in the Finnish Premier Division (''Veikkausliiga''). The club is managed by Daniel Norrmén, and it plays its home matches at Wiklö ...
until the end of the
2013 Veikkausliiga
The 2013 Veikkausliiga was the 83rd season of top-tier football in Finland. The season began on 13 April 2013 and ended on 26 October 2013. HJK Helsinki are the defending champions.
Teams
FC Haka were relegated to Ykkönen after finishing at the b ...
season. He joined
Southern League Premier Division club
Chesham United in January 2014, and helped the "Generals" to reach the play-off final at the end of the
2013–14 season, where they were denied promotion following a 3–1 defeat to
St Albans City.
In January 2015, Purse signed for
Conference National
The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...
club
Welling United
Welling United Football Club is a professional football club, based in Welling in the London Borough of Bexley, England. The club's first team play in the National League South, at the sixth tier of English football.
History
Welling United Foot ...
. Two months later he moved on to
Staines Town
Staines Town Football Club was a semi-professional Association football, football club based in Staines-upon-Thames, Middlesex.
History
Early days
Staines Town FC was founded in 1892 and was known under various names including ''Staines F.C ...
of the
Conference South
The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...
, scoring on his debut in a 1–1 draw at
Farnborough Farnborough may refer to:
Australia
* Farnborough, Queensland, a locality in the Shire of Livingstone
United Kingdom
* Farnborough, Hampshire, a town in the Rushmoor district of Hampshire, England
** Farnborough (Main) railway station, a railw ...
. Staines dropped out of the division after a last place finish in the
2014–15 campaign. Purse signed with
AFC Rushden & Diamonds
A.F.C. Rushden & Diamonds is an English football club based in Rushden in Northamptonshire. They played their opening season at Kiln Park, the home of Raunds Town, in 2011–12 and subsequently shared the Dog & Duck ground with Wellingboroug ...
in December 2015. He moved on to
Hayes & Yeading United one month later. He played 18 matches for Hayes as they were relegated at the end of the
2015–16 season. He rejoined Chesham United in July 2016. He signed with National League South club
Bishop's Stortford
Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, just west of the M11 motorway on the county boundary with Essex, north-east of central London, and by rail from Liverpool Street station. Stortford had an estimated po ...
in March 2017. Only one month later, he left the club and rejoined AFC Rushden & Diamonds of the
Northern Premier League
The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...
Division One South. Rushden finished fifth at the end of the
2016–17 season, before losing to
Witton Albion Witton may refer to one of several places in England:
*Witton, historic name of an area of Northwich, Cheshire
**Witton Albion F.C.
*Witton Gilbert, County Durham
*Witton-le-Wear, County Durham
*Witton, an area of Blackburn, Lancashire
* Witton, B ...
in the play-offs; Purse did not feature in the game. In May 2017, he joined
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 ...
Premier Division club
Enfield Town
Enfield is a large town in north London, England, north of Charing Cross. It had a population of 156,858 in 2018. It includes the areas of Botany Bay, Brimsdown, Bulls Cross, Bullsmoor, Bush Hill Park, Clay Hill, Crews Hill, Enfield Highway ...
as both a player and as assistant manager to Andy Leese.
International career
Purse won two caps for
England at under-21 level in 1998, playing against
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
and
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
.
Coaching career
In July 2014 he helped to set up the Malcolm Arnold Academy in
Northampton
Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...
, and was appointed director of football. He was appointed as under-16 coach at
Oxford United
Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and t ...
in April 2018. He was appointed as manager of the
Cardiff City U23 team in December 2021.
Style of play
Speaking in June 2004,
Gary Megson
Gary John Megson (born 2 May 1959) is an English former football player and manager.
He has previously managed Norwich City, Blackpool, Stockport County, Stoke City, West Bromwich Albion, Nottingham Forest, Leicester City, Bolton Wanderers and ...
said that Purse is "comfortable on the ball, good in the air, strong and wants to get on and win".
In December 2002,
Steve Bruce
Stephen Roger Bruce (born 31 December 1960) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as a centre-back. He most recently managed West Bromwich Albion F.C., West Br ...
said that "he's big, he's brave, he's honest and he's quick. He needs to learn to take the rashness out of his game and then he'll have a chance." Describing himself in January 2013, Purse said he was a "no-nonsense defender...
hocan play a bit of football if I need to, but I like to organise and motivate people".
Career statistics
Honours
Birmingham City
*
League Cup
In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...
runner-up:
2001
The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...
Cardiff City
*
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 ...
runner-up: 2008
Port Vale
*
League Two
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
third-place promotion:
2012–13
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
Individual
*
Birmingham City
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...
player of the season:
2000–01
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Purse, Darren
1977 births
Living people
Footballers from Stepney
English footballers
England under-21 international footballers
Association football defenders
Leyton Orient F.C. players
English expatriate footballers
Expatriate footballers in Finland
Oxford United F.C. players
Birmingham City F.C. players
West Bromwich Albion F.C. players
Cardiff City F.C. players
Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players
Millwall F.C. players
Yeovil Town F.C. players
Plymouth Argyle F.C. players
Port Vale F.C. players
IFK Mariehamn players
Chesham United F.C. players
Welling United F.C. players
Staines Town F.C. players
AFC Rushden & Diamonds players
Hayes & Yeading United F.C. players
Bishop's Stortford F.C. players
Enfield Town F.C. players
English Football League players
Premier League players
Veikkausliiga players
Southern Football League players
National League (English football) players
Northern Premier League players
Isthmian League players
Association football coaches
Oxford United F.C. non-playing staff
Cardiff City F.C. non-playing staff