Darren Byfield

Darren Byfield

Personal information
Full name	Darren Asherton Byfield[1]
Date of birth	29 September 1976 (1976-09-29) (age 35)
Place of birth	Birmingham, England
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Playing position	Forward
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1997–1999	Aston Villa	7	(0)
1998–1999	→ Preston North End (loan)	5	(1)
1999	→ Northampton Town (loan)	6	(1)
1999	→ Cambridge United (loan)	4	(0)
2000	→ Blackpool (loan)	3	(0)
2000–2002	Walsall	77	(13)
2001	→ Rotherham United (loan)	3	(2)
2002–2004	Rotherham United	65	(20)
2004	Sunderland	17	(5)
2004–2006	Gillingham	67	(19)
2006–2007	Millwall	31	(16)
2007–2008	Bristol City	33	(8)
2008–2009	Doncaster Rovers	15	(0)
2008–2009	→ Oldham Athletic (loan)	8	(1)
2009	Oldham Athletic	3	(0)
2009–2011	Walsall	56	(12)
National team
2003	Jamaica	6	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 09:11, 26 May 2011 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals).

Darren Asherton Byfield (born 29 September 1976) is an English-born professional footballer of Jamaican descent who played for Walsall. His predominant position is as a forward.

Career

Byfield started his career at Aston Villa, coming through the ranks to make 10 first team appearances in all competitions. During his time at Villa Park Byfield went on loan to Preston, Northampton, Cambridge United and Blackpool to gain first team experience. It was at Preston that Byfield scored his first career goal, on his debut, in a 4–1 victory over local rivals Burnley on 7 November 1998.

During the summer of 2000, Byfield turned down a number of offers to join Walsall on a permanent deal. While at Walsall, Byfield scored the winning goal in the 109th minute in the 2001 Second Division play-off Final, giving Walsall a 3–2 victory over Reading.^[2]

Byfield's time at Walsall came to an end in March 2002 when Rotherham United paid £50,000 for his services. 22 league goals in just under 2 years at Millmoor earned Byfield a move to Sunderland in February 2004. Byfield scored 5 goals for Sunderland, helping them to the play-offs after finishing in 3rd place, but unfortunately losing to Crystal Palace in the Play Off semi-final on penalties. It was during this time that Byfield earned his 6 caps for Jamaica.

Byfield was surplus to requirements at the Stadium of Light, and Gillingham were quick to snap up the striker in July 2004. Byfield scored 14 goals during Gillingham's 2005–06 campaign, one short of the target set by manager Ronnie Jepson.^{[citation needed]} His contract with Gillingham was not renewed at the end of the season, and on 8 June, it was announced that he had rejected a deal to stay with the club^[3] and instead joined rivals Millwall.^[4]

Byfield's 19 goals in League One for Millwall earned him a move to newly promoted Bristol City. City performed above all expectations in 2007–08, with Byfield's 8 goals helping them to the play-offs. However, the final ended in defeat to Hull City at Wembley. On 26 May 2008, Byfield and several other players were released by Bristol City after failing to earn promotion to the Premier League.^[5] On 15 July, he joined Doncaster Rovers on a two-year deal.^[6] He made his debut with the Rovers on 30 August 2008 in a 1–0 win versus Coventry City.^[7]

After only four months with Doncaster, Byfield signed on loan with Oldham Athletic on 14 November on a one month loan,^[8] though it was later extended until January 2009^[9]—a deal which excited Byfield.^[10] His Latics debut came in a 1–0 win versus Northampton, in which Byfield received a yellow card.^[11] His first goal for Oldham on Boxing Day against Crewe Alexandra, scoring the opening goal in a 3–0 victory.^[12] He returned to Doncaster at the end of the season but was released from his contract on 7 May.^[13]

On the 6 August 2009, it was announced that Byfield had joined Oldham Athletic on a short term deal.^[14] He made his debut for the club in the opening game of the 2009–10 season, coming on as a substitute in the 69th minute in a 0–0 draw.^[15] However, after four appearances with no goals, he was released from Oldham on 25 August.^[16]

Three days following his release from Oldham, Byfield returned to Walsall on 28 August. He was given a contract through January 2010, with an option to extend it until the end of the 2009–10 season.^[17] Byfield scored his first goal back at Walsall in a 3–2 win at Tranmere Rovers.

On 10 May 2011, Byfield announced on Twitter that he has been released from his contract, along with left-back Aaron Lescott.^[18]

Personal life

His ex-wife is the singer Jamelia, with whom he has a daughter named Tiani born 21 October 2005. To his embarrassment, she revealed on Soccer AM that his nickname is "Baby Boy". On Tuesday, 9 October 2007 the couple announced their engagement.

On 3 November 2009 a statement came out saying that the couple were filing for divorce.^[19] They then reconciled and announced their engagement in December 2009.

References

1. ^ "Search 1984 to 2006 – Birth, Marriage and Death indexes". Findmypast.com. http://www.findmypast.co.uk/birth-indexes-search-start.action. Retrieved 2010-08-12. 
2. ^ "Walsall break Reading hearts". BBC Sport. 2001-05-27. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_2/1352124.stm. Retrieved 2009-01-05. 
3. ^ "Scally denies Byfield deal claims". BBC Sport. 2006-06-23. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/g/gillingham/5109720.stm. Retrieved 2009-01-05. 
4. ^ "Byfield agrees deal with Millwall". BBC Sport. 2006-06-08. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/millwall/5060932.stm. Retrieved 2009-01-05. 
5. ^ "Byfield goes as City release five". BBC Sport. 2008-05-26. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/7420636.stm. Retrieved 2009-01-05. 
6. ^ "Striker Byfield joins Doncaster". BBC Sport. 2008-07-15. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/d/doncaster/7508411.stm. Retrieved 2009-01-05. 
7. ^ "Doncaster 1–0 Coventry". BBC Sport. 2008-08-30. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/7578448.stm. Retrieved 2009-01-05. 
8. ^ "Latics land Byfield on loan". Sky Sports. 2008-11-14. http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11734_4498986,00.html. Retrieved 2008-11-16. 
9. ^ "Byfield to stay at Boundary Park". Oldham Athletic AFC. 2008-12-16. http://www.oldhamathletic.co.uk/page/NewsUpdate/0,,10337~1490531,00.html. Retrieved 2009-01-05. 
10. ^ "I always wanted to stay: Byfield". Oldham Athletic AFC. 2008-12-17. http://www.oldhamathletic.co.uk/page/NewsUpdate/0,,10337~1491568,00.html. Retrieved 2009-01-05. 
11. ^ "Northampton 0–1 Oldham". BBC Sport. 2008-11-15. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_2/7713225.stm. Retrieved 2009-01-05. 
12. ^ "Crewe 0–3 Oldham". BBC Sport. 2008-12-16. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_2/7787715.stm. Retrieved 2009-01-05. 
13. ^ "O'Driscoll wields the axe". Sky Sports. 2009-05-07. http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11688_5294304,00.html. Retrieved 2009-05-07. 
14. ^ "Latics seal double deal". Sky Sports. 2009-08-06. http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12875_5476621,00.html. Retrieved 2009-08-06. 
15. ^ "Oldham 0–0 Stockport". BBC Sport. 2009-08-08. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_2/8186242.stm. Retrieved 2009-08-25. 
16. ^ "Byfield shown exit door by Oldham". BBC Sport. 25 August 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/o/oldham_athletic/8220804.stm. Retrieved 25 August 2009. 
17. ^ "Byfield is back!". Walsall FC. 28 August 2009. http://www.saddlers.co.uk/page/News/0,,10428~1777276,00.html. Retrieved 28 August 2009. 
18. ^ "Darren talks about release from Walsall". Twitter. 10 May 2011. http://twitter.com/#!/darrenbyfield. Retrieved 10 May 2011. 
19. ^ "Jamelia heads for divorce court". BBC. 3 November 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8340054.stm. Retrieved 3 November 2009. 

External links

• Darren Byfield career stats at Soccerbase
• Darren Byfield at National-Football-Teams.com

Persondata
Name	Byfield, Darren
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	29 September 1976
Place of birth	Birmingham, England
Date of death
Place of death