Darren Cole (born 3 January 1992) is a Scottish

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 plays as a defender. He has previously played for

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland and currently plays in the . Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not ...

, Greenock Morton, Livingston, Derry City, as well as with several clubs in the

NIFL Premiership The NIFL Premiership, known as the Sports Direct Premiership for sponsorship purposes, and Irish Premiership colloquially, is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Northern Ireland Football L ...

Club career

Rangers

Cole signed a two-year contract extension with

on 2 December 2010 and made his first-team debut five days later against Turkish side

Bursaspor Bursaspor Kulübü Derneği, commonly known as Bursaspor, is a Turkey, Turkish professional sports club based in the city of Bursa. Founded in 1963, the club is best known for its football team, which has a rich history in Football in Turkey, Turk ...

in Rangers' final

2010–11 UEFA Champions League The 2010–11 UEFA Champions League was the 56th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 19th under the UEFA Champions League format. The final was held at Wembley Stadium in London on 28 May 2011, where Ba ...

group match, which ended 1–1. Cole's performance was praised by manager

Walter Smith Walter Ferguson Smith (24 February 1948 – 26 October 2021) was a Scottish football player, manager and director, primarily associated with his two spells as manager of Glasgow club Rangers. A defender, Smith's playing career consiste ...

. Cole did not feature in the Rangers first team under

Ally McCoist Alistair Murdoch McCoist (; born 24 September 1962) is a Scottish former association football, footballer who has since worked as a Manager (association football), manager and TV pundit. McCoist began his playing career with Scottish club St Jo ...

during the 2011–12 season. He was loaned to

in early January. Cole suffered ankle ligament damage in January 2013, which was expected to rule him out for the remainder of the 2012–13 season. He did make an appearance in the final game of the season, against

Berwick Rangers Berwick Rangers Football Club is a football team based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed in England, who play in the Scottish football system. Founded in 1881, they currently play in the , the fifth tier of Scottish football, despite being ba ...

. Cole had his contract with Rangers terminated on 28 August 2013, after he failed to report for a reserve team friendly game with junior club Cambuslang Rangers.

Greenock Morton

On 27 December 2013, Cole signed for Greenock Morton until the end of the season. He left Morton in the summer of 2014 after just six months at the club.

Livingston

On 20 February 2015, Cole signed for

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association footb ...

club Livingston until the end of the 2014–15 season. After impressing in his first season at Livingston, he not only won a new contract, but also was named captain for the season 2015–16. Following the club's relegation to League One, Cole was released from his contract on 15 July 2016.

Broxburn Athletic

In August 2016, Cole signed a one-year contract with Junior Super League club Broxburn Athletic. He was a regular in the team, appearing 28 times for the Albyn Park club, scoring one goal. Cole's missed out on playing in the 2017 Fife and Lothians Cup Final against Tranent Juniors, as his side lost 1–0, at New Victoria Park, Newtongrange.

Derry City

In June 2017 Cole signed a six-month contract with

League of Ireland Premier Division The League of Ireland Men's Premier Division (), also known as the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the Republic of Ireland and the highest level of the Republic of I ...

club Derry City. On the 16 September, Cole scored in the 2018 League of Ireland Cup Final in a 3–1 win over

League of Ireland First Division The League of Ireland First Division, also known as the SSE Airtricity League First Division for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in both the League of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland football league system. The division w ...

side Cobh Ramblers. He signed a new contract with the club in February 2019.

Glentoran

Cole signed for

Glentoran Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club based in East Belfast, Northern Ireland, that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882 and has since won more than 130 major honours. They are one of three Northern Iris ...

in December 2021. The defender signed for

Dungannon Swifts Dungannon Swifts Football Club is a Northern Irish semi-professional football club playing in the NIFL Premiership. The club, founded in 1949, has risen from the Mid-Ulster league to the top tier in Northern Ireland since its election to the I ...

on loan in August 2022.

International career

Cole has represented Scotland at various age levels.

Career statistics

Honours

Rangers *

Scottish League Two The Scottish League Two, known as William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill League Two for sponsorship reasons, is the fourth tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association football, foo ...

: 2012–13 Derry City *

League of Ireland Cup The League of Ireland Cup, also referred to in Ireland as the 'League Cup', was an annual knockout competition in men's football in Ireland. It was contested by League of Ireland clubs and invited clubs from the lower levels of the Irish footb ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, Darren 1992 births Living people Footballers from Edinburgh Scottish men's footballers Scotland men's youth international footballers Scotland men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football defenders Rangers F.C. players Partick Thistle F.C. players Scottish Football League players League of Ireland players Greenock Morton F.C. players Livingston F.C. players Scottish Professional Football League players Broxburn Athletic F.C. players Derry City F.C. players Glentoran F.C. players Coleraine F.C. players Dungannon Swifts F.C. players 21st-century Scottish sportsmen NIFL Premiership players