Darren Edward James Pitcher (12 October 1969 – 25 November 2018) was an English professional

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 lea ...

who played as a defender and a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. He notably played in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

for

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

during the 1994–95 and 1997–98 seasons, he also played in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

for both

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

and

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club, commonly referred to as Orient, is a professional association football club based in Leyton, Waltham Forest, London, England. The team compete in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. ...

as well as a brief loan spell in Ireland with

Galway United Galway United Football Club () is an Irish professional football club based in Galway. They play in the League of Ireland Premier Division following promotion from the First Division in 2023. They were founded as Galway Rovers F.C. during the ...

. He retired from professional football due to injury but later spent time in Non-League football and turned out for

Romford Romford is a large List of places in London, town in east London, east London, England, located northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Havering, the town is one of the major Metropolitan centres of London, metropolitan centr ...

Purfleet Purfleet-on-Thames is a town in the Thurrock unitary authority, Essex, England. It is bordered by the A13 road to the north and the River Thames to the south and is within the easternmost part of the M25 motorway but just outside the Greater ...

, Carshalton Athletic, Chelmsford City and

Ilford Ilford is a large List of areas of London, town in East London, England, northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Redbridge, Ilford is within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. It had a po ...

Career

Pitcher played for

and

. Pitcher started his career as a right full back at Charlton, but then converted to an effective defensive midfielder. He signed on loan for Seamus McDonagh at

in January 1989 and made his

League of Ireland The League of Ireland is a national association football Sports league, league consisting of professional clubs in the Republic of Ireland and Derry, Derry City in Northern Ireland. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland. It was ...

debut at Athlone on the 16th. When

Frank Worthington Frank Stewart Worthington (23 November 1948 – 22 March 2021) was an English footballer who played as a forward. Worthington was born into a footballing family in Shelf, near Halifax, West Riding of Yorkshire. Both of his parents had played ...

made his debut on 12 February Pitcher scored the equaliser at

St Patrick's Athletic St Patrick's Athletic Football Club, commonly known as Pat's or The Athletic, is a professional List of association football clubs in the Republic of Ireland, Irish association football club based in Inchicore, Dublin, that plays in the League ...

. Pitcher joined Crystal Palace in 1994. In his first season at the club he helped Palace to the semi-finals of both domestic cups. It was in these cup runs that he scored his only two goals for Palace. In the League Cup quarter final against

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

he scored his first goal, and his second came in an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

quarter final replay against

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

. However Palace's runs were ended by

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

in the League Cup semi final and

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

in the FA Cup semi final. His career ended at Crystal Palace in a match against

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

in August 1996, after a challenge by Paul Reid. He attempted to bring a case of negligence against Huddersfield Town, which he lost. He never played for Palace again, and never played professional football again except for a brief loan spell at Leyton Orient in January 1998. Pitcher later played in

Non-League football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

, for

, Carshalton Athletic, Chelmsford City and

Personal life and death

After retiring from football, Pitcher worked in the building trade. On 26 November 2018, it was announced that Pitcher had died.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pitcher, Darren 1969 births 2018 deaths People from Stepney 20th-century English sportsmen English men's footballers Footballers from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders Premier League players English Football League players League of Ireland players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Galway United F.C. (1937–2011) players Crystal Palace F.C. players Leyton Orient F.C. players Romford F.C. players Thurrock F.C. players Carshalton Athletic F.C. players Chelmsford City F.C. players Ilford F.C. players English expatriate men's footballers English expatriate sportspeople in Ireland Expatriate men's association footballers in the Republic of Ireland