Date / Year of birth: 1st May 1982

Position: Striker

Season of first appearance: 2003/04

Season of last appearance: 2005/06

Also played for: Mullingar Town (Eire), Oxford United (0), Grimsby Town (0), Bristol Rovers (0), Hendon, Kingsbury Town, Chipstead, Whyteleafe and Lingfield

6' 3" tall, unorthodox striker who went to school in Redcar, Yorkshire but later moved to the London area.

As a teenager Darren spent time at the London Soccer Academy and in 2001 numerous trainees from the academy moved to Ireland to play for Mullingar after London-based building contractor Jim Moore invested £100,000 in the club. His aim was to get his hometown team into the League of Ireland and Darren and the young players from London were given accommodation as well as some 'pocket money'. They had to train twice a day and in September 2001 Darren scored Mullingar's first goal in the Ireland Under-21 League as they beat Drogheda 1-0. The club only played in the Under-21 League and their squad were all youngsters - Darren was 19 at the time.

He had a spell playing in France after leaving Mullingar and in September 2003 Darren started a trial at Oxford United. He had a few outings in the reserves and scored twice after coming on as a substitute in a match against Wycombe Reserves. His two late strikes gave Oxford a 3-1 win and the U's website described his first goal as "a magnificent diving header".

At the start of October 2003 Darren signed for Margate and coach Kevin Hales described him as being "Full of youth, stature and pure rawness." Darren made his debut in a 1-1 draw at Telford in the Conference on 4.10.03 and the Thanet Times said he seemed "to be lacking match fitness". He started Margate's next game too - a 4-0 defeat at Dagenham & Redbridge on 7.10.03 - and the Isle of Thanet Gazette said Darren "worked hard despite often being forced wide". He then spent almost two months as a substitute and made six appearances from the bench in the next nine matches. On 25.10.03 Darren headed his first goal after coming on in an FA Cup tie at Grays. His goal helped Margate pull back from 3-1 down to draw 3-3 and the Thanet Times said Darren's "height made him a handful".

On 1.11.03 he came on as a sub after 13 minutes of a Conference game at Morecambe and Darren went on to score a hat-trick as Margate drew 3-3. He was injured scoring his third goal and had to go off with 11 minutes left. It was only the second time a substitute had scored a hat-trick for Margate, matching Colin Clewlow's effort in an 8-0 win over Tunbridge Wells on 19.1.74 - almost 30 years earlier.

Despite his heroics at Morecambe Darren didn't start a match again until he played in a 1-1 draw at Farnborough on 6.12.03 but he then started four of Margate's next five games. In a report on a 2-0 win at Aldershot on 20.12.03 The Times said Darren "made life so uncomfortable for Bradley Thomas, the 21-year-old on loan from Peterborough, that the defender was substituted just past the half-hour".

On 27.12.03 Darren got his fifth goal of the season in a 3-1 defeat against Gravesend & Northfleet at Dover and his run in the starting line-up ended after a 2-0 win over Forest Green at Dover on 4.1.04. He made three more sub appearances during the next month before starting a 2-0 win over Halifax at Dover on 8.2.04. The Thanet Times said Darren's "strength caused no end of problems". His next outing was as a sub in a game against Northwich at Witton Albion on 14.2.04 and Darren scored three minutes after making his entrance as Margate won 3-0.

He was in and out of the side again for the next few weeks after that and scored after coming on in a game at Leigh on 28.2.04 that Margate lost 4-2. Darren then started a Kent Senior Cup tie against Welling at Ramsgate on 2.3.04 and made it back-to-back goals when he fired home a spectacular effort in a 2-0 win. The Isle of Thanet Gazette said his "neat turn and cracking 25-yard shot...left keeper Gavin Kelly with no chance". Darren kept his place for a 3-3 draw with Dagenham & Redbridge at Dover on 6.3.04 but that was his last start of the campaign. He made five more sub appearances in Margate's last 11 games of the season but didn't add to his tally of eight goals, six of which had been scored when Darren came off the bench. In all he made 27 appearances, 16 of them as a sub. Remarkably Darren didn't manage to play any full games, being substituted every time he started a match. In its round-up of the 2003/04 campaign the Isle of Thanet Gazette said Darren had "surprised many pundits and caused defences problems".

In the summer of 2004 he had a trial with Grimsby and Darren scored in a friendly against Doncaster played behind closed doors that ended in a 5-5 draw. His trial extended past the start of the 2004/05 season and Darren played in some reserve team games before Grimsby decided not to offer him a contract after he picked up an injury. Shortly before Grimsby let him go Margate's assistant manager Kevin Raine had told the KM Extra newspaper "If they don't offer him anything, then he will come back to us, and it will be pretty good for us in terms of his fitness. Darren's a bit of an enigma, but has a lot of ability and skill, and he is quick for a big lad. He is still only young, and there is plenty to work with. He has had a few trials at other clubs, but I think what he needs now is a bit of stability."

Darren rejoined Margate at the start of October 2004 and having recovered from injury he made his first appearance of the 2004/05 campaign when he came on as a substitute in a 2-0 defeat at Sutton in the Conference South on 26.10.04. The Isle of Thanet Gazette said "his appearance added leadership as well as height to the attack" and Darren also came off the bench in Margate's next game against Weston-Super-Mare at their adopted home in Ashford on 30.10.04. He scored in a 2-0 win and the Thanet Times' match report was headlined "Elementary For Watson". Darren made two more sub appearances in Margate's next three matches and in the second of them - a 5-1 win over Havant & Waterlooville at Ashford on 13.11.04 - he scored again.

Darren then joined Bristol Rovers on trial and missed Margate's next two games as a result. He scored for Rovers' reserve side in a 4-0 win over Swindon Reserves on 17.11.04 but wasn't signed by the club.

On 29.11.04 Darren returned to the Margate side when he came on as a substitute in a 2-1 win at Thurrock in the Conference Cup and on 7.12.04 he got his third goal of the season in a 1-1 draw with Lewes at Ashford, again after coming on as a substitute. Margate manager Chris Kinnear told the Isle of Thanet Gazette "Darren scored and he's done well, but he's not 100 per cent fit, so he can only come on as sub. It's just a matter of slowly building up fitness."

Darren finally made his first start of the season in a 1-0 defeat at Hayes on 11.12.04 and played the whole game. It was the first time he'd completed a full 90 minutes since originally joining Margate in October 2003 and it was Darren's 35th outing in a Margate shirt. He then started three of the next four matches but after a 1-0 defeat at Welling on 1.1.05 Darren missed three games altogether due to a toe injury.

He returned as a substitute in a 2-1 win over Basingstoke at Ashford on 5.2.05 and the Thanet Times said Darren's "presence turned the game in Margate's favour" as when he came on with 20 minutes to go Basingstoke were 1-0 up. The paper said "fitness has restricted the striker's appearances this season, but his pace and power struck fear into Basingstoke hearts". Darren then featured as a sub in Margate's next eight matches and on 19.2.05 he headed a late equaliser to level the scores at 1-1 after coming on in a Conference South game against Sutton at Ashford. The Thanet Times said he had "considerable aerial presence".

On 1.3.05 Darren scored his fifth and sixth goals of the season after coming on in a Kent Senior Cup tie against Cray played at Ramsgate and his two extra time strikes secured a 4-3 win. The Isle of Thanet Gazette said he "tore the Cray defence apart". In its report on Margate's next match - a 1-0 defeat at Hornchurch on 12.3.05 - the Thanet Times noted that Darren came on as sub "surprisingly sporting a pair of full-length tights, much to the delight of the Hornchurch fans" and after a 1-0 defeat against Carshalton at Ashford on 19.3.05 the paper wrote "it is apparently Watson's fitness that is keeping him from starting matches, but his appearance from the subs' bench again seemed to cause the Carshalton defence most worries". The Times also said Darren "imposed himself well".

On 25.3.05 he started his first game for almost three months as Margate lost 5-0 at Grays but Darren was back amongst the substitutes for a 2-0 defeat against Cambridge City at Ashford on 28.3.05. He then made two more starts before dropping back to the bench after a 3-2 defeat against St.Albans at Ashford on 5.4.05. Darren made four sub appearances in the last five matches of the campaign as Margate were relegated to the Isthmian League Premier Division and he finished the season having scored six times in 29 outings, 22 of which were as a substitute. All of Darren's goals were scored as a substitute.

In August 2005 Chris Kinnear told the Isle of Thanet Gazette that Darren had "Great potential, but maybe not had the right direction in the past." and added "Hopefully he can fulfill his potential here." Darren started the new campaign in the starting line-up and in its report on a 1-0 home win over Maldon in an Isthmian League Premier Division game on 20.8.05 the Thanet Times said he was an "all-action player fans love" and "worked so hard, he could barely stand towards the end". Chris Kinnear agreed and said "Darren worked very hard." It had been Margate's first match back at Hartsdown Park following three seasons of groundsharing.

On 29.8.05 Darren started his fifth game in a row as Margate entertained Redbridge and the Thanet Times said his "confidence must be good as he was trying all sorts of tricks". The match finished 0-0 and Darren then found himself on the substitutes bench for a trip to Worthing on 3.9.05. He came on early in the second half but looked short of fitness and barely lasted 30 minutes before being taken off as Margate drew 1-1.

Darren missed the next game altogether but returned to the starting line-up on 10.9.05 as Margate took on Cowes in an FA Cup tie at Hartsdown Park. He opened the scoring in a 4-0 win and the Thanet Times said he "may have missed a few (chances) this season" but "emphatically" fired home a bouncing ball to open his account for the campaign. The paper said Darren was "a player to divide a crowd if ever there was one" but felt he "did his utmost to win people over" and Chris Kinnear said "Darren's still not fit. Mind you, I don't know when he will be ! He's got ability, his problem is he's such a quiet guy and so laid back and he's like that on the pitch. I've spoken to him, players have spoken to him, everyone's spoken to him, but it's hard to get him going."

Despite his goal Darren found himself back on the bench for Margate's next match on 17.9.05, coming on in a 2-2 home draw with Slough, and he then only made one sub appearance in the next four games. On 8.10.05 he had another outing from the bench as Margate lost 3-0 at home to Cray in the FA Cup and that turned out to be Darren's last game for the club. He was released shortly afterwards having scored once from ten appearances (four as sub) and Chris Kinnear told the Thanet Times "We're disappointed at letting Darren go because he's been with us a while but never really fulfilled his potential. He is a nice guy - there's no two ways about it - and while there's nothing wrong with that, we need players with that drive and ambition and desperation to win."

After a few months out of football Darren resurfaced in February 2006 when he joined Isthmian League Premier Division club Hendon where he was reunited with his old Mullingar striking partner Blaise O'Brien. Darren scored on his debut as Hendon beat Redbridge 2-0 on 4.2.06 before being substituted after 63 minutes and he made nine more appearances without scoring before being loaned to Isthmian League Division 2 outfit Kingsbury at the end of March 2006.

Darren didn't play for Kingsbury's first team although he finished the season there.

In the summer of 2006 he scored in one of Hendon's friendlies but Darren then dropped out of football before the 2006/07 campaign began.

After two years out of the game he resurfaced at Isthmian League Division 1 South club Chipstead at the start of the 2008/09 season and Darren scored in his first two outings there. On 25.8.08 he scored twice in the first half of a home game against Leatherhead to take his goal tally to four from four outings but Darren then picked up a serious knee injury and had to go off before half-time. The game finished 3-3 and Darren didn't feature again for Chipstead until December 2008. He continued to be hampered by injuries during the remainder of the campaign and Darren finished the season having scored four times in a total of ten league appearances (two as sub).

In the summer of 2009 he signed for Whyteleafe and Darren scored on his debut as they lost 2-1 at Sittingbourne in the Isthmian League Division 1 South on 15.8.09. He got two more goals before the end of August but then spent some time away from football before returning to Whyteleafe in December 2009. Darren enjoyed a good second half of the season and ended up with a tally of 14 goals from 26 league outings (eight as sub).

He stayed with Whyteleafe for the 2010/11 campaign but again struggled with various injuries and in November 2010 the Leafe manager Nicky English said "If he made an effort to get himself even 50 or 60 per cent fit he would be a match-winner every single week. He's a lovely guy, a gentle giant - he just doesn't seem to have that push to get himself fit. He is hard to get fit but he makes a big difference." Darren scored once from 11 league appearances (four as sub) before joining Sussex County League club Lingfield on a dual registration basis early in 2011.

He made eight appearances (three as sub) for Lingfield without scoring and at the end of the 2010/11 season Darren dropped out of senior football once more aged 29.