Darren Beckford

Darren Richard Lorenzo Beckford (born 12 May 1967) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward. His younger brother Jason also played professional football.

In fourteen years as a professional footballer, he scored 96 goals in 302 league games. Advancing through the Manchester City youth team, he also spent a brief time on loan at Bury before joining Port Vale in 1987. He enjoyed the most successful time of his career at Vale, scoring 68 goals in 167 league games, helping the club to promotion via the play-offs in 1989. After four successive seasons as the club's top scorer, he earned a £925,000 move to Norwich City in 1991. Unable to find the form he hit at Vale Park, he was sold to Oldham Athletic for £300,000 in 1993. Three years later, he moved on to Scottish side Hearts. He later played for Preston North End, Fulham, Walsall, Rushden & Diamonds, Southport, Total Network Solutions, Bury and Bacup Borough.

Beckford was a product of the Manchester City youth team and made his first-team debut at the age of 16.^[4] As a member of Jehovah's Witnesses, he rejected the opportunity to represent England at youth team level as he refused to stand for the national anthem, seeing it as saluting the flag and therefore unchristian behaviour.^[4] This is a somewhat dubious claim considering he played for the England Under 17 side on fifteen occasions. The management at Maine Road took a dim view at this stance and did not play him in the first-team for another 12 months.^[4] He went out on loan at Third Division club Bury, scoring five goals in twelve games at Gigg Lane.^[4]

Beckford joined Port Vale on an initial loan basis, with Manchester City manager Jimmy Frizzell believing that a striking partnership with another youngster in Andy Jones would aid his development.^[4] He stayed for three months at the end of the 1986–87 season and then joined the club permanently for a fee of £15,000 (plus 50% of any future transfer fee – a clause that Vale later bought out for an undisclosed sum).^[4][5] This was settled by a Football League tribunal as a compromise between Vale's offer of £5,000 and City's demand of £60,000.^[6] Vale fans raised £7,500 of the fee with a 'buy a player' fund.^[5] He later admitted that throughout his early career his nerves caused him to vomit before games.^[7]

"A terrific goal-scorer. Darren was very athletic, had unbelievable spring in his legs and could finish. As a striker, he ticked all the boxes. If we came up against a top team, we knew he was easily good enough to hold his own. Darren had a unique personality. If someone upset him off the pitch then you knew it could affect his performance. Then again, management would be easy if every player was like Andy Porter. In his case, you just gave him the shirt, told him what to do and then let him get on with it. In Becky's case, he was more likely to stop the training session halfway through to ask why we were doing such-and-such drills. The rest of us would be urging him to just get on with it, or we'd never get finished."

— Robbie Earle in 2012.^[8]

He scored his first hat-trick for the club on 2 April 1988, during a 5–0 demolition of Doncaster Rovers.^[9] Throughout 1987–88 he was the club's top scorer with ten goals, along with David Riley. That season Vale won every game in which Beckford made it onto the score sheet. He was once again top scorer in 1988–89, this time bagging 23 goals as the club won promotion to the Second Division via the play-offs. On 19 September, he scored a hat-trick in a 5–0 home win over Chesterfield. On 25 March, he scored a hat-trick in a 4–1 victory over Notts County.^[5] On 25 May, he scored a hat-trick as Vale beat Preston North End 3–1 in the play-off semi-final second leg, giving them a 4–2 aggregate victory. He also provided the crucial second goal of the 1989 final, flicking on a corner for Robbie Earle to knock into the net. He adapted well to tougher opposition in the 1989–90 season. He managed 21 goals to become the club's top scorer yet again. He became the club's top scorer for the fourth consecutive season with 23 goals in 1990–91. He managed to bag a hat-trick against Blackburn Rovers and also found the net against former club Manchester City in the FA Cup. After the hat-trick against Blackburn, Beckford told the press he was happy at the club and dismissed numerous transfer rumours linking him with moves to other clubs.^[10]

"Darren Beckford was a brilliant striker for the Vale, but a nightmare to manage. It was like throwing a blancmange at the wall, you just hope that a bit of it sticks!"

— Manager John Rudge.^[11]

He played 214 games and scored 81 times for John Rudge's side. He was sold to Norwich City of the First Division (soon to be rebranded as the Premier League) in June 1991.^[12] The fee that Norwich paid for him – £925,000 – was set by a Football League tribunal (Vale had wanted £1.5 million) and was a club record that stood until 1994. £200,000 of the sum went to Manchester City.^[5] Vale signed his brother Jason to replace him, though he could not replicate his elder sibling's success.

Norwich manager Dave Stringer had been looking to sign a regular goalscorer for some time, and when Beckford signed, he described Beckford as "the answer to the Norwich supporter's prayers". However, he injured his thigh in pre-season training in Russia and, by Christmas, underwent a double hernia operation.^[13] His spell at Carrow Road was inconsistent and he only scored 13 times in 49 appearances. Supporters, in particular, criticised that many of these goals were scored against weaker opposition in the League Cup. The highlight of his time at Norwich was his hat-trick in a 4–3 win against Everton – a victory which would prove key to the Canaries avoiding the drop in 1991–92. That season, he also proved to be a versatile player, taking over in goal when Bryan Gunn sustained a back injury during a game against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane. He made several fine saves but was finally beaten Ian Bryson in a 1–0 defeat. He did, though, end the season with a ruptured ankle ligament sustained in the penultimate match of the campaign.^[13]

The 1992–93 season signalled the beginning of the end for Beckford as a Norwich City player. In the close season, Mike Walker signed Mark Robins for £800,000 from Manchester United and started to push Chris Sutton up from central defence to lead the Norwich attack. A lack of form also meant that he had now fallen behind Lee Power and Rob Newman in the pecking order. However, Beckford was still able to make some crucial contributions, including scoring a vital goal in a 3–2 victory against fellow title chasers Aston Villa at Villa Park.

After less than two seasons with Norwich, Beckford was sold to Oldham Athletic in March 1993 for £300,000.^[13] Manager Joe Royle had been a long-term admirer of Beckford.^[13] He played 52 times and scored 17 goals before being released in the summer of 1996 after sustaining a hamstring injury.^[13] He then unsuccessfully searched for a club to give him first-team football for the next two years. Initially, after leaving Oldham, he joined Hearts, where he contributed to their run to the 1996 Scottish League Cup final. After goals against St Johnstone^[14] and Dundee,^[15] he played as a substitute in the final itself. These were, however, the only two goals he scored for Hearts. He then signed short-term deals with Fulham, Walsall, Rushden & Diamonds, Southport,^[16] Total Network Solutions,^[17] Bury, and Bacup Borough before retiring.^[2]

Beckford was an athletic forward who had pace, power and a tremendous leap.^[18]

Beckford also began working for The Prince's Trust working with youngsters in Manchester.^[19] In September 1998 he won a successful tribunal case against the trust for being racially victimised.^[2]

Beckford was featured on the Sky Sports series "Where Are They Now?",^[when?] and he is now working as an attendance officer at Claremont Primary School in Moss Side, Manchester.^[2]

His parents, Dudley and Valdene, were from Jamaica.^[20] His brother Jason Beckford is a former professional footballer. His nephew Ethan Beckford has also played professional football.^[21] Lauren, his daughter from his first marriage, played for Manchester United Women and Everton.^[13] His stepson, Danny Webber, also played professional football.^[22]

Port Vale

• Football League Third Division play-offs: 1989^[27]