Darren Peacock (born 3 February 1968) is an English football manager and former 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 ...

. As a player, he was a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

who made nearly 400 league appearances. 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

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

and

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

, although he failed to make an appearance for the latter. 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 ...

with

Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'Th ...

and

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 ...

and prior to his professional career had played at non-league level for Newport County. From 2013 to 2015, he was the manager of

Northern Premier League Division One North The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English football league system. Geographically, the league c ...

club Lancaster City.

Playing career

After being released by

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers FC is a men's professional football club in Bristol. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is affiliated to Bristol Rovers W.F.C., whose team play in the FA Women's National Leag ...

, Peacock started his career in the lower leagues at Newport County, and when the club folded in 1989 he signed for

. In his first full season with the Bulls, he was voted player of the year, featuring regularly in the team that won the

Welsh Cup The FAW Welsh Cup (), currently known as the JD Welsh Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams in the Welsh football league system. It is considered the most prestigious of the cup competitions ...

in 1990. Peacock's performances with Hereford earned him a move to First Division club

in 1990 for £200,000. He was a member of the QPR team that beat

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 ...

4–1 at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

in front of a live television audience on New Year's Day 1992. After having made over 100 league appearances for QPR, Peacock was purchased by

Kevin Keegan Joseph Kevin Keegan (born 14 February 1951) is an English former footballer and manager. Nicknamed "King Kev" or "Mighty Mouse", Keegan was recognised for his dribbling ability, as well as his finishing and presence in the air, and is regard ...

on 24 March 1994, for £2.7 million, to strengthen their defence in their first season in the

. A sell-on clause meant that Hereford received a total fee of £440,000 for the player, which remains, as of February 2010, their record transfer fee received. He helped the Magpies to a third-place finish, which earned the club qualification for the UEFA Cup. Newcastle won their first six league games in the 1994–95 season, and there was talk of a first top-flight title since 1927, but they lost form and finished in sixth position, out of the European qualification zone. The following season, Peacock was part of the team that lost the Premier League title to Manchester United after having a 10-point lead at Christmas. He scored only twice for the Magpies, one of those coming in a 5–0 home defeat of Manchester United on 20 October 1996. This was Keegan's final season as club manager, and his replacement,

Kenny Dalglish Sir Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish (born 4 March 1951) is a Scottish former association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. He is regarded as one of the greatest players of all time as well as one of Celtic's, Liv ...

, gradually broke up his predecessor's team. Peacock made 176 appearances for Newcastle in all competitions, scoring 4 goals, and moved on to

in 1998, where his serious injury problems began. He scored one goal for Rovers, against

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

in April 1999, but soon lost his place in the team and served loan spells at

and

. While on loan at Wolves, Peacock collided with his own

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

, Michael Oakes, in a match against

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 ...

, suffering damaged vertebrae in his neck and compression to his spine. He played on in the match despite being knocked unconscious, and it was only on his return to Blackburn that it became clear how close he had come to

paralysis Paralysis (: paralyses; also known as plegia) is a loss of Motor skill, motor function in one or more Skeletal muscle, muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory d ...

. He retired from football in December 2000.

Managerial career

In April 2013, it was announced that Peacock had been appointed as manager of

league club Lancaster City

Honours

Individual *

Player of the Year: 1995–96

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Peacock, Darren 1968 births Living people Footballers from Bristol English men's footballers Men's association football defenders English Football League players Premier League players Newport County A.F.C. players Hereford United F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Lancaster City F.C. managers English football managers