Darren Michael Potter (born 21 December 1984) is a

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 ...

coach and former player who is a coach at club

Milton Keynes Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club, usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football leag ...

. 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 made 502 league and cup appearances in a 16-year career 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 ...

and

English 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 ...

. Born in England, he won five caps for the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

. Potter began his career at

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 ...

, making his senior debut in a

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

qualifier in August 2004 in the first of his three appearances in that season's competition, which Liverpool would eventually win. He played a total of 17 games for Liverpool. However, he featured just twice in the Premier League and spent 2006 on

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

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, ...

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 ...

. He joined Wolves on a £250,000

transfer Transfer may refer to: Arts and media * ''Transfer'' (2010 film), a German science-fiction movie directed by Damir Lukacevic and starring Zana Marjanović * ''Transfer'' (1966 film), a short film * ''Transfer'' (journal), in management studies * ...

in January 2007. A first-team regular in the 2006–07 season, he lost his place the following season and spent the second half of the 2008–09 season on loan at

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

before joining the club permanently for an undisclosed fee in July 2009. Wednesday were

relegated Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

out of the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

in 2010, and Potter left the club by mutual consent in June 2011. Potter signed with

in June 2011 and was named the club's Player of the Year and on the

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's Football in England, En ...

for the 2011–12 season.

Promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

out of League One was secured with a second-place finish at the end of his fourth season at the club. However, they would be relegated at the end of their maiden season in the Championship. He left the club at the end of the 2016–17 season and joined

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional association football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The team plays in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, after suffering relegation fr ...

in June 2017. He suffered an

Achilles In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus () was a hero of the Trojan War who was known as being the greatest of all the Greek warriors. The central character in Homer's ''Iliad'', he was the son of the Nereids, Nereid Thetis and Peleus, ...

injury six months into his stay at Rotherham, which kept him out of action until the last game of the 2018–19 campaign. He spent the 2019–20 season with

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ...

and announced his retirement whilst at

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester, southwest of Sale, Greater Manchester, Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2021 United Kingdom ce ...

in November 2020. He went on to coach at Port Vale,

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

and Milton Keynes Dons.

Club career

Liverpool

Born in

, Potter grew up in the Scotland Road area of the city. He was released by Everton, the club he supported as a boy, at the age of 15 and spent time in the

youth team In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or Sports league, league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team (a ...

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 ...

, before being signed to

in 2001. He turned professional at Liverpool in April 2002. He made his senior debut for the "Reds" under the stewardship of

Rafael Benítez Rafael Benítez Maudes (born 16 April 1960) is a Spanish professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player. He was most recently the manager of La Liga club RC Celta de Vigo, Celta Vigo. Beníte ...

on 10 August 2004, coming on as a late substitute for

Steve Finnan Stephen John Finnan (born 24 April 1976) is an Irish former international footballer who played as a right-back. He is the only player to have played in the World Cup, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup, Intertoto Cup, all four levels of the Engli ...

in a

qualifier against Austrian side

Grazer AK Grazer Athletiksport Klub (; abbreviated as GAK), better known simply as Grazer AK, is an Austrian sports club based in the city of Graz in the federal state of Styria. The football section was once among Austria's most popular clubs, enjoying s ...

, playing the last five minutes. He started in the return fixture at

Anfield Anfield is a Association football, football stadium in the area of Anfield (suburb), Anfield, Liverpool, England, which has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since its formation in 1892. The stadium has a seating capacity of 61,276, making it the ...

14 days later, in what ended as a 1–0 defeat though Liverpool advanced with a 2–1 aggregate victory. He made his

debut on 1 February, in a 2–1 win at

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 ...

. He also featured in the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League, coming on as a substitute in the round of 16 home tie against

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen, officially known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH () and commonly known as Bayer Leverkusen or simply Leverkusen, is a German professional football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It competes in the B ...

. Liverpool went on to beat

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

in the final, though only the matchday squad received winner's medals. In total, he made 10 appearances in the 2004–05 season. The following season, he was involved in pre-season friendlies and the Champions League qualifying rounds but did not feature in the Premier League. He made a brief cameo in the group stages of the Champions League, playing in the final moments of a 0–0 draw with

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. It plays home ...

. On 26 January, he joined

side

for the remainder of the 2005–06 season. He provided an assist for

Kenwyne Jones Kenwyne Joel Jones CM (born 5 October 1984) is a Trinidadian football manager and retired professional player who played as a forward. He managed the Trinidad and Tobago women's national team. He began his football career with Joe Public F. ...

on his "Saints" debut, a 1–0 victory at

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

in the

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 ...

. He made 12 appearances for

George Burley George Elder Burley (born 3 June 1956) is a Scottish former football player and manager. He had a professional career spanning 21 years as a player, making 628 league appearances and earning 11 Scotland caps. His most successful spell came whi ...

's side, nine starts and three times appearing from the bench.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

On 17 August 2006, Potter returned to the Championship on loan at

for the 2006–07 season. He scored his first career goal on 16 January, opening the scoring in a 2–0 victory at

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...

in the FA Cup. The loan move was made permanent for a £250,000 fee just two days later, with Potter signing a three-and-a-half-year

contract A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typically involves consent to transfer of goods, services, money, or promise to transfer any of thos ...

. He played 44 games for Wolves during the campaign, helping the team to qualify for the

play-offs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

, though they were eliminated at the semi-final stages by

Black Country derby The Black Country derby is the name given to any local derby between England, English association football, football teams West Bromwich Albion F.C., West Bromwich Albion, Walsall F.C, Walsall and Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C., Wolverhampton Wan ...

rivals

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

. His second season with Wolves was less successful, though, and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Mick McCarthy Michael Joseph McCarthy (born 7 February 1959) is a professional Manager (association football), football manager, pundit and former Association football, footballer. He was most recently the head coach of Blackpool F.C., Blackpool. McCarthy b ...

offered him the option of going on the

list during the January

transfer window In association football, a transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club, club can add players to their squad who were previously under contract with another club. Such a Transfer (association football), transfer is comp ...

to seek more playing time at a new club. Potter rejected the offer and remained at Molineux for the rest of the 2007–08 season. However, the club transfer-listed him at its conclusion. After finding no takers for him during the summer transfer window, he was taken off the transfer list and told to fight for his place.

Sheffield Wednesday

He failed to appear for his parent club during the first half of the 2008–09 season. He joined

on loan in January, remaining there until the end of the season. Potter scored for

Brian Laws Brian Laws (born 14 October 1961) is an English former professional footballer and manager. Playing as a defender, Laws made over 100 appearances for each of Burnley, Middlesbrough, and Nottingham Forest. In 1994, Laws became player-manager of ...

's "Owls" 16 minutes into his debut with a drive into the bottom corner in a 4–1 win over Charlton at Hillsborough on 17 January. His loan was made into a permanent deal on 10 July for an undisclosed fee. Potter scored his first goal of the 2009–10 season on 22 August, in a 4–0 win over newly- promoted

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was formed in ...

. His next goal was a left-footed curler in the bottom corner against

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

at Hillsborough on 9 February. Potter added to his tally for the season with a volley against Wednesday's fierce rivals

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

in the

Steel City derby The Steel City derby, or the Sheffield derby is a local derby between Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday, the two professional football league teams in the city of Sheffield, England. the teams have met 146 times in competitive games, ...

on 19 April. Wednesday were

at the end of the season after new manager Alan Irvine failed to inspire an upturn in form. The club struggled to adapt to life in League One and brought in

Gary Megson Gary John Megson (born 2 May 1959) is an English former football player and manager. He has previously managed Norwich City, Blackpool, Stockport County, Stoke City, West Bromwich Albion, Nottingham Forest, Leicester City, Bolton Wanderers and ...

as manager in February 2011. They ended the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

season in 15th-place, with Potter scoring four goals from 40 games. He also received the first

red card A red card is a type of penalty card that is shown in many sports after a rules infraction. Red card may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Red Card'' (album), 1976 release by Streetwalkers * Red card, suit (cards) of hearts or di ...

of his career for a foul on Craig Mackail-Smith in a 5–3 defeat at

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Peterborough United formed in ...

on 1 February.

Milton Keynes Dons

On 24 June 2011, Potter signed a one-year contract for League One club

after leaving Sheffield Wednesday by mutual consent. He was sent off on his fourth appearance for the Dons, having received two yellow cards during a 1–0 win at Yeovil Town on 16 August. He signed a new two-year contract in April 2012. He played 49 games during the 2011–12 season, scoring three goals, Dons qualified for the play-offs with a fifth-place finish. However, they were beaten 3–2 on aggregate by

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 the play-off semi-finals. Potter was named on the

and as Milton Keynes Dons Player of the Year and Player's Player of the Year. The 2012–13 season would see a career-high for appearances and goals, as he scored five goals from 55 games, though the club finished two places outside the play-off places. He was limited to 37 appearances at Stadium mk during the 2013–14 campaign. On 21 February 2014, Potter signed a new two-year contract extension. The club secured promotion at the end of the 2014–15 season under the stewardship of

Karl Robinson Karl Joseph Robinson (born 13 September 1980) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player. He is currently head coach of club Salford City F.C., Salford City. Robinson be ...

, finishing second to champions

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

. In October 2015, Potter signed a new contract to keep him at the club until 2017, with the option of another 12 months. Dons lasted just one season in the Championship, being relegated after finishing 23rd in the 2015–16 season. Potter battle back from a knee injury to make 38 appearances that season, scoring once in a 5–1 home defeat to Chelsea in the FA Cup. On 24 April 2017, after six seasons, 266 appearances and 12 goals, Milton Keynes Dons announced that Potter would be leaving the club at the end of the 2016–17 season.

Rotherham United

On 14 June 2017, Potter signed a two-year contract with

. He was rated as one of manager Paul Warne's best performers during the first half of the 2017–18 season. However, in December 2017 he suffered an

injury which required two operations, and which kept him out of action until the final match of the 2018–19 season. He left the

New York Stadium The New York Stadium, currently known as the AESSEAL New York Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a association football, football stadium in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. Opened in July 2012, it is the home ground of Rotherham United F. ...

when his contract expired in June 2019.

Tranmere Rovers

On 28 June 2019, Potter signed a one-year contract with

Micky Mellon Michael Joseph Mellon (born 18 March 1972) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player who is the manager of club Oldham Athletic. As a player, he was a midfielder for clubs including Bristol City, West Bromwich Albion, Blackp ...

. He made 15 appearances in the first half of the 2019–20 season before Tranmere were relegated into League Two after the season was ended early due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in England The COVID-19 pandemic was first confirmed to have spread to England with two cases among Chinese nationals staying in a hotel in York on 31 January 2020. The two main public bodies responsible for health in England were NHS England and Public ...

Altrincham

Potter signed a short-term deal with

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

club

on 22 October 2020. He played for the "Reds" in an FA Cup qualifying defeat at AFC Fylde three days later. He left the club in less than a week and later announced his retirement on 17 November to become a

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

at Port Vale.

International career

Potter was capped multiple times for Republic of Ireland youth teams – appearing at the

2003 FIFA World Youth Championship The 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship was the 14th FIFA World Youth Championship. It took place in United Arab Emirates between 27 November and 19 December 2003. Brazil claimed their fourth title, becoming the first country to simultaneously ho ...

– and later made his debut for Ireland's senior team in a friendly against

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

Giants Stadium Giants Stadium (sometimes referred to as Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands) was a stadium located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in the Meadowlands Sports Complex. The venue was open from 1976 to 2010, and primarily hosted sporting events and ...

, New York on 23 May 2007. He was given his debut by

Steve Staunton Stephen Staunton (born 19 January 1969) is an Irish football manager, scout and former professional footballer. He played as a defender with two separate spells each with Premier League sides Aston Villa and Liverpool. He also played in the F ...

and would win a total of five caps, the last one coming under the caretaker stewardship of

Don Givens Daniel Joseph "Don" Givens (born 9 August 1949) is an Irish former footballer and coach. A forward, Givens played club football for Manchester United, Luton Town, Queens Park Rangers, Birmingham City, AFC Bournemouth, Sheffield United and Neu ...

in a friendly defeat to

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Croke Park Croke Park (, ) is a Gaelic games stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, it is referred to as Croker by GAA fans and locals. It serves as both the principal national stadium of Ireland and headquarters of the Gaelic At ...

in February 2008.

Style of play

Potter was a

with good

tackling Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking up ...

, leadership and ball retention skills.

Coaching career

Potter left the Port Vale coaching staff to join

Potteries derby In Football in England, English football, the Potteries derby is the List of sports rivalries, local derby between the two major clubs in the city of Stoke-on-Trent – Port Vale F.C., Port Vale and Stoke City F.C., Stoke City, first contested ...

rivals

as Lead Youth Development Phase Coach at the U15-U16 age bracket. In May 2025, left Stoke to become a first team coach with former club

, reuniting with his former Rotherham United coach Paul Warne.

Career statistics

Club statistics

International statistics

Honours

Liverpool *

: 2004–05 Milton Keynes Dons * League One second-place promotion: 2014–15 Individual *

: 2011–12 League One *

Player of the Year: 2011–12 *Milton Keynes Dons Player's Player of the Year: 2011–12

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Potter, Darren 1984 births Living people Footballers from Liverpool English men's footballers English people of Irish descent Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers Republic of Ireland men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders Everton F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Liverpool F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Milton Keynes Dons F.C. players Rotherham United F.C. players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Altrincham F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players Association football coaches Port Vale F.C. non-playing staff Stoke City F.C. non-playing staff Milton Keynes Dons F.C. non-playing staff 21st-century English sportsmen 21st-century Irish sportsmen