Darren Barry Andduet Freeman (born 22 August 1973) is an English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager and former professional player who played as a winger and striker, making over 130 appearances in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

between 1995 and 2001.

Playing career

Born in

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

, Freeman played youth football for Whitehawk and Sussex County Youth, making his first team debut at the age of 16. He scored the winner as a 17 year old in the RUR Cup Final against Peacehaven & Telscombe in March 1991 while also appearing in the County Youth Cup Final later in the season, earning trials at

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

, Southend United and Maidstone United. After playing for

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional Association football, football league covering Greater London, East of England, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, th ...

Worthing Worthing ( ) is a seaside town and borough in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of Chichester. With a population of 113,094 and an area of , the borough is the second largest component of the Br ...

and

Horsham Horsham () is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

he was signed by Gillingham. Following a successful loan spell at Glenavon, he went on to play 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 ...

with

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

and Brighton & Hove Albion, making a total of 134 appearances. He retired from professional football in August 2001 due to an ongoing hernia problem. He returned to non-league football in June 2002 with

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Thanet District of Kent, England. It is located on the north coast of Kent and covers an area of long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and W ...

and Three Bridges, the latter as player-coach, before ending his playing career back at his first club Whitehawk, joining in 2005–06, before taking on a player-coaching role in 2008. Freeman made 16 league and cup appearances in the 2007–08 season and a further 12 league and cup appearances in the 2009–10 season. His final ever appearance was from the bench in a Sussex Senior Challenge Cup tie at

on 26 November 2013.

Coaching career

Freeman was appointed sole manager of Whitehawk in May 2010, having previously been joint-manager of the club alongside George Parris since May 2009. Despite taking the club from the Sussex County League to the Conference South League with three promotions in four years, he was sacked by Whitehawk in January 2014. Freeman was appointed manager of

Division One South side Peacehaven & Telscombe in August 2015 but left after just two months to take up the manager's position at nearby

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. The town is the administrative centre of the wider Lewes (district), district of the same name. It lies on the River Ouse, Sussex, River Ouse at the point where the river cuts through the Sou ...

. On 2 April 2016, Lewes were relegated from the Isthmian Premier League to the Isthmian Division One South with three games of the season remaining. On 13 April 2018, the Rooks won promotion back to the Isthmian Premier League, eventually finishing the 2017-18 Isthmian Division One South season in 2nd place, behind Carshalton Athletic, on 99 points. Freeman left Lewes in October 2019 to take up a full-time role with the SportsTotal agency with his former teammate at

, Dirk Hebel. Hebel named his son Darren after Freeman.

Personal life

Freeman was educated at Varndean School in Brighton and has two sons, Leighton and Stacey with his partner Lorraine. Stacey Freeman played in his father's team at

. His father Reg died in August 2009 and was cited as an inspiration to Freeman's career. As a player, Freeman was notable for his long hair, modelled on Braveheart's Mel Gibson.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Freeman, Darren 1973 births Living people English men's footballers English football managers Lewes F.C. players Horsham F.C. players Worthing F.C. players Gillingham F.C. players Glenavon F.C. players Fulham F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Margate F.C. players Three Bridges F.C. players Whitehawk F.C. players English Football League players Men's association football wingers Men's association football forwards English expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's association footballers in Northern Ireland Whitehawk F.C. managers Lewes F.C. managers People educated at Varndean College Littlehampton Town F.C. players Footballers from Brighton NIFL Premiership players