Jesse Asieddu Darko (born 29 November 1993) is an Austrian

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 currently plays as a striker for Chatham Town.

Career

Early years

Born in Austria, Darko moved to England at the age of 10. His goal scoring exploits for

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, char ...

's youth teams attracted the interest of Cardiff City, aged 16. His parents are originally from

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

Cardiff City

Having failed to make an appearance for the first team, Darko was loaned out to

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 ...

side

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional Association football, football club, based in London Borough of Merton, Merton, London, that plays in the EFL League Two, after being relegated from the EFL League One following the 2021–22 EFL Leagu ...

on 21 February 2013 on an initial one-month deal. Reunited with former teammates

Jonathan Meades Jonathan Turner Meades (born 21 January 1947) is an English writer and film-maker, primarily on the subjects of place, culture, architecture and food. His work spans journalism, fiction, essays, memoir and over fifty highly idiosyncratic tele ...

and Kevin Sainte-Luce, the trio developed at the South Wales club under the guidance of

Neal Ardley Neal Christopher Ardley (born 1 September 1972) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a right midfielder. He is currently the manager of Solihull Moors. Ardley was capped at Under-21 level by England. Ar ...

. On 23 February 2013, Darko made his professional debut for

in a 1–0 win over

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 ...

, coming on as a second-half substitute for Gary Alexander. After helping Wimbledon secure their Football League status, Darko returned to Cardiff, where he was released.

Episkopi

On 25 July 2013, Darko joined Greek

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 Engla ...

South Group side

Episkopi Episkopi ( el, Επισκοπή), or Latinised forms Episcopia or Piscopia, may refer to the following places: ;Cyprus: * Episkopi Bay, on the southeast coast * Episkopi, Limassol, a village on Episkopi Bay * Episkopi Cantonment, a British military ...

on a three-year contract. He made his debut on 30 September 2013, coming off the bench in a 3–0 win against

Fostiras Fostiras Football Club ( el, Α.Π.Ο. Φωστήρας Ταύρου) is a Greek football club based in Tavros, a suburb of Athens, Greece. They play in the Gamma Ethniki, the fourth tier of the Greek football league system. They played Alpha Et ...

. Darko went on to make a further three appearances, scoring in his final game for the club on 20 October 2013. He later cancelled his contract with the Greek club due to personal reasons.

Kingstonian

Darko returned to England ahead of the 2014–15 season, and enjoyed a trial at

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

in November 2014. Despite having his initial trial extended, a contract was not offered to the striker. In December 2014, he joined

Kingstonian Kingstonian Football Club is an English semi-professional football club based in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London which currently plays in the Isthmian League Premier Division. The club was founded in 1885 by YMC ...

. He made his debut in a 2–0 win at Walton Casuals in the

Isthmian League Cup The Alan Turvey Trophy, formerly the Isthmian League Cup is a football knock-out cup competition organised by the Isthmian League in England. History Isthmian League Chairman and President Alan Turvey was among the FA's "150 Grassroots Heroes" ...

, scoring the opener just 35 minutes into his K's career. He finished the 2014-15 campaign with five goals in 22 appearances, having been deployed as an impact substitute by manager Tommy Williams for much of the season.

Greenwich Borough

Darko joined Greenwich Borough shortly after his departure from

, and scored on his debut in a 2-1 cup victory over Phoenix Sports. With his side finishing as champions of the Southern Counties East League and earning promotion to the Isthmian Division One South, he managed just eight appearances during the season. Managing six wins and two draws during his involvement, Darko suffered two horrific injuries and faced a prolonged spell on the sidelines. On 29 August 2015, while playing 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 at Beckenham Town, Darko collided with the opposing goalkeeper and suffered a broken fibula. Making his return in late February, he suffered a second leg break a week later against Lordswood on 27 February 2016. In September 2017 he joined

Glebe Glebe (; also known as church furlong, rectory manor or parson's close(s))McGurk 1970, p. 17 is an area of land within an ecclesiastical parish used to support a parish priest. The land may be owned by the church, or its profits may be reserved ...

of the Southern Counties East League Premier Division. Shortly after he transferred to league rivals Chatham Town.

References

External links

Career Statistics
at Soccerbase {{DEFAULTSORT:Darko, Jesse 1993 births Living people Austrian men's footballers Austrian people of Ghanaian descent Men's association football forwards Cardiff City F.C. players AFC Wimbledon players Kingstonian F.C. players Greenwich Borough F.C. players English Football League players