Darren Ambrose

Darren Ambrose

Personal information
Full name	Darren Paul Ambrose
Date of birth	29 February 1984 (1984-02-29) (age 27)
Place of birth	Harlow, England
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Crystal Palace
Number	7
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2001–2003	Ipswich Town	30	(8)
2003–2005	Newcastle United	37	(5)
2005–2009	Charlton Athletic	112	(13)
2008–2009	→ Ipswich Town (loan)	9	(0)
2009–	Crystal Palace	86	(25)
National team‡
2003–2005	England U21	10	(2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21:12, 1 November 2011 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 12:00, 10 July 2006

Darren Paul Ambrose (born 29 February 1984) is an English footballer who currently plays for Crystal Palace. Ambrose is a midfielder.

Club career

Ipswich Town

Born in Harlow, Essex, Ambrose started his career at Ipswich Town and made his debut as an 18 year-old against Arsenal on 21 April 2002, replacing Martijn Reuser during a 2–0 defeat at Highbury. Ipswich lost their Premiership status the following month, though Ambrose started brightly in the next campaign, scoring on his full debut in a 2–0 victory against Walsall at the Bescot stadium, and went on to score ten more goals in a total of thirty-seven appearances, combining superbly throughout the season with his close friend, striker Darren Bent. In March, however, with Ipswich having fallen into administration, Ambrose was sold to Newcastle United for what was considered a bargain £1m.^[1] The sale was ordered by the administrators, and completed at Newcastle by former Ipswich manager Bobby Robson. Ambrose was reportedly upset to leave Ipswich.

Newcastle United

After returning from a short injury lay-off, Ambrose made his début for the Magpies on 11 May 2003 against West Brom, the final day of the 2002–03 Premier League season, and became a success during his first full season with the Toon, amassing three goals in 37 appearances, including one on his European début, against NAC Breda in the UEFA Cup, and another during a thrilling 3–3 draw with Southampton at St. Mary's Stadium in May. Ambrose scored another three goals in 2004–05, scoring a notable long-range effort against Bolton Wanderers at the Reebok Stadium on Halloween, however moments like these were sparse as he made only 12 Premiership appearances for the club under new manager Graeme Souness. After being in and out of the team for most of the season, Ambrose was called back into the starting line up for a match against Manchester Utd at Old Trafford on 24 April 2005. In a game that Newcastle eventually lost 2–1 thanks to Wayne Rooney's memorable strike, Ambrose was his team's outstanding performer and capped the performance with a fine solo goal. Many pundits claimed that this was the sort of form that convinced previous manager Sir Bobby Robson to fork out a seven-figure sum for the player, though he would ultimately fail to gain a regular place in the starting line-up.

Eventually he voiced his frustrations at the lack of first team opportunities, declaring that while he had warmed to Newcastle and its fans, he was in need of regular games and starts, something that Souness couldn't guarantee the player. A number of clubs expressed their interest in him, including Aston Villa and Blackburn, although he would eventually sign with Alan Curbishley's Charlton Athletic, stating on his arrival at the London club that his lack of chances in the Newcastle first team were a big contributor to his decision to join up with the Addicks. In total, he scored 6 goals in 56 appearances for United.^[2]

Charlton Athletic

He joined Charlton Athletic on 8 July 2005 for a fee estimated to be in the region of £1.5 million,^[3] stating that he was delighted to move to as big an ambitious and determined club as the Addicks and believed that Alan Curbishley was the perfect man to develop himself into a better player and further his footballing education. Things started well at his new club, as they won their first four matches of the new premier league season, with Darren Bent (who had joined up with Ambrose once again after moving from Ipswich in the summer) in particularly good form. Ambrose scored his first goal for his new club on 22 October 2005, against Portsmouth at Fratton Park, in a 2–1 victory for his side. However, Charltons form dropped dramatically as the season progressed and despite the player scoring three more goals against Manchester United (a brilliant 25-yard effort in November that levelled the scores at 1–1), Blackburn (in the 4th round of the League Cup) and Sunderland at The Valley respectively, the team eventually slumped to an 11th place finish in the table, despite Bent's 22 goal haul and Ambrose's impressive form in midfield. Things got worse for Ambrose as Curbishley left the club after 15 years of service.

Iain Dowie was named as Curbishley's successor, joining from London rivals Crystal Palace (a future club of Ambrose), after much controversy surrounding his departure. The 2006–07 season got off to a dismal start, with only two league wins by November. On 13 November 2006, the Charlton hierarchy had decided enough was enough, and relieved Dowie of his post. After youth team coach Les Reed had a short stint in charge, Alan Pardew was unveiled as Charlton's third manager of the season and fourth of the year, on Christmas Eve 2006. The club's results miraculously improved under the stewardship of the former West Ham manager and Ambrose began to regain the promising form he had shown in glimpses at Newcastle and during his first season with Athletic. Ambrose grabbed his first goal of the season against Fulham at The Valley on 27 December 2006, though the team were held to a 2–2 draw after a last minute Cottagers equaliser. Ambrose also found the net in a 4–0 defeat of Pardew's former club, West Ham at The Valley, on 24 February, rounding off the scoring after the team had led 3–0 at half-time. Ambrose scored a crucial goal in the very next match, a 2–2 draw with fellow struglers Watford at Vicarage Road, pulling a goal back for his team after the Hornets raced into an early 2–0 lead. Despite further improving results, the early season poor form of the team ultimately proved to much to gain points back on and after a 2–0 home defeat to high-flying Tottenham on 7 May, the team were relegated to English football's second tier for the first time since 2000.

There was much speculation regarding a transfer exodus during the summer transfer window, with Ambrose's name mentioned as one of those players in the exodus. However, Pardew and Ambrose stayed loyal to the club and despite the inevitable sale of Darren Bent, who moved to spurs for a fee in excess of £16.5 million, many of Charlton's key player's remained with the Addicks. At the beginning of the 2007–08 season, Charlton were widely tipped to bounce straight back up the top flight, however, just as in the previous season, the team made a less than impressive start, with mixed early results piling pressure on Pardew and his job. Despite Ambrose's team boasting among one of the best squads in the division, and results against the bigger teams in the division proving this fact, inconsistency proved the teams biggest downfall, and they despite Ambrose hitting nine goals in 42 appearances, he could not prevent the club from finishing in a disappointing 11th place.

After failing to gain promotion back to the Premier League in 2007–08, Ambrose was sent to former club Ipswich Town on loan in the first half of the 2008–09 season due to financial reasons, (ironically under similar circumstances to that of when Ambrose first moved from Ipswich in 2003)^[4] with rumors that Ipswich were reportedly interested in making the deal permanent in January 2009 for an estimated fee of £250,000, although no deal eventually materialised. He made nine appearances with no goals for the club, making his debut against Doncaster Rovers on 15 November 2008 and playing his last match on Boxing Day in a 1–0 defeat to Birmingham at Portman Road. On 2 January 2009, Ambrose returned to Charlton, who by now were fighting relegation for the second time in three years. Pardew had left the club by mutual consent in October and former Colchester and Hull boss Phil Parkinson was now in charge of improving the Addicks fortunes. He scored the winner in a 1–0 FA Cup Third Round Replay win over Norwich City, and played in most of Athletic's remaining fixtures. Unfortunately, Ambrose once again could not stop the club from suffering relegation, this time to the Coca-Cola Football League One. This was one relegation too many, and Ambrose began searching for a new club. He ended his four year stint with the club with a total of 17 goals from 127 appearances in all competitions.^[5]

Crystal Palace

With his contract at Charlton ending at the end of that season, Ambrose was free to leave the club, and decided to remain in South London, joining local rivals Crystal Palace. He had a fantastic start to life with Neil Warnock's club, setting a career-best record of 12 goals in 20 games by November, a run that saw him named as the division's "Player of the Month" for the November.^[6]

For a while it looked like Ambrose might fire his side into the play-offs, but this was ended in January when the club was put into administration. The goals began to dry up after that, but he still managed to score a memorable 37-yard free-kick in an FA Cup tie at home to Aston Villa and to end the season having scored the goal that kept the Eagles up on the final day, finishing the season with 20 goals in all competitions. With Crystal Palace in administration, It was looking certain that Ambrose was going to leave at the end of the season, and was set to join QPR. (The club Neil Warnock and former Palace team mates Clint Hill and Shaun Derry joined due to Palace in administration) but Ambrose eventually made his mind up to stay with the Eagles and signed a new 3 year contract with Crystal Palace on 26 July 2010 ^[7]

International Career

Even though Ambrose is a former England U21 national, Ambrose is eligible for the Republic of Ireland national football team through an Irish born grandparent and has been rumoured he might make the switch.

Career statistics

As of 1 November 2011.

Club	Season	League			Cup[8]			Europe			Play-Offs			Total
		Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists
Ipswich Town	2001–02	1	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	0	0
	2002–03	29	8	0	4	2	0	3	0	0	-	-	-	36	10	0
	Total	30	8	0	4	2	0	3	0	0	-	-	-	37	10	0
Newcastle United	2002–03	1	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	0	0
	2003–04	24	2	1	2	0	0	11	1	0	-	-	-	37	3	1
	2004–05	12	3	0	2	0	0	4	0	0	-	-	-	18	3	0
	Total	37	5	1	4	0	0	15	1	0	-	-	-	56	6	1
Charlton Athletic	2005–06	28	3	2	5	1	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	33	4	2
	2006–07	26	3	2	4	0	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	30	3	2
	2007–08	37	7	5	2	1	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	39	8	5
	2008–09	21	0	0	2	1	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	23	1	0
	Total	112	13	9	13	3	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	125	16	9
Ipswich Town (loan)	2008–09	9	0	1	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	9	0	1
	Total	9	0	1	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	9	0	1
Crystal Palace	2009–10	46	15	9	7	5	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	53	20	12
	2010–11	28	8	2	1	0	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	29	8	2
	2011–12	12	2	1	3	2	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	15	4	1
	Total	86	25	12	11	7	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	97	32	15
Career total		274	51	23	32	12	3	15	1	0	-	-	-	321	64	26

Personal life

Darren married Rachel in 2007. Their wedding was at Clearwater Beach in Florida. Their first daughter Jessica was born in 2007. Their second daughter, Lily, was born in 2009. Darren's first son Harry was born in 2011.

Honours

• November 2009 Championship Player of the Month

References

1. ^ "Ambrose signs for Magpies". BBC Sport. 2003-03-25. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/n/newcastle_united/2882977.stm. Retrieved 2009-07-02. 
2. ^ Sky Sports – "Ambrose wants to play" SkySports Joins Charlton
3. ^ "Charlton sign Newcastle's Ambrose". BBC Sport. 2005-07-08. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/c/charlton_athletic/4663085.stm. Retrieved 2009-07-02. 
4. ^ "Ambrose rejoins Ipswich on loan". BBC Sport. 2008-11-11. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/i/ipswich_town/7721498.stm. Retrieved 2009-07-02. 
5. ^ Ambrose Back With Addicks
6. ^ "Ambrose named Player of the Month". The Football League. 2009-12-05. http://www.football-league.co.uk/page/ChampionshipHome/0,,10794,00.html. Retrieved 2009-12-05. 
7. ^ cpfc.co.uk Ambrose signs new Eagles deal
8. ^ Includes FA Cup, League Cup and FA Community Shield

External links

• Darren Ambrose career stats at Soccerbase
• Darren Ambrose Official website at officialplayerwebsites.com
• Darren Ambrose profile at the Crystal Palace website

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Paddy McCarthy	Crystal Palace F.C. Goal of the Season 2009–10 against Aston Villa (H) 14th February 2010	Succeeded by Incumbent

Persondata
Name	Ambrose, Darren
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	29 February 1984
Place of birth	Harlow, England
Date of death
Place of death