Darren Robert Russell Robinson (born 29 December 2004) is a Northern Irish 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 plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for club Derby County.

Club career

Having joined the club from Portadown in 2019, Robinson signed his first professional contract with

Dungannon Swifts Dungannon Swifts Football Club is a Northern Irish, semi-professional football club playing in the NIFL Premiership. The club, founded in 1949, has risen from the Mid-Ulster league to the top tier in Northern Ireland since its election to the ...

in January 2021. During the 2020–21 season, he spent time training at English clubs

Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Fleetwood, Lancashire. Established in 1997, the current Fleetwood Town F.C. is the fourth incarnation of the club; it was originally formed in ...

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 Derby County. He made his first-team debut for Dungannon Swifts on 29 May 2021 as a late substitute against

Glenavon Glenavon Football Club is a Northern Irish semi-professional football club that competes in the NIFL Premiership. Founded in 1889, the club hails from Lurgan and plays its home matches at Mourneview Park. Club colours are blue and white. Gar ...

, and it was announced that Robinson had joined

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...

club Derby County on a three-year professional contract two days later. After Derby County went into administration in November 2021, it was reported that Dungammon Swifts were owed £36,000 for the transfer of Robinson. On 15 January 2022, he was named on Derby's first-team bench for their 2–0 win over Sheffield United, having impressed for both the under-18 and under-23 teams. He made his debut for Derby on 23 April 2022 as a 82nd-minute substitute in a 3–1 defeat to

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

. During the 2022–23 season, Robinson was a regular in the under-21 team and made two first team appearances, both in the

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...

. He signed his professional contract for the club, until June 2024 and was named club scholar of the year for a second year in a row in May 2023. In the lead up the 2023–24 season, Robinson was promoted to the first team squad, taking a full part in all first team pre-season activities.

International career

Robinson was called up to the Northern Ireland under-19 team in March 2022. He made 3 appearances during the March 2022 international break.

Career statistics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Darren 2004 births Living people Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland Men's association football midfielders Portadown F.C. players Dungannon Swifts F.C. players Derby County F.C. players NIFL Premiership players English Football League players Northern Ireland men's youth international footballers Northern Ireland men's under-21 international footballers