Darryl James Flahavan la-hay-van(born 28 November 1978) is an English football coach and former

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 ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring 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 intercepting ...

. He is currently the goalkeeper coach at EFL League One club

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 193 ...

. He has spent most of his career 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, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

, winning the PFA

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

player of the year and was named in the

Team of the Year in 2005–06; he was also named

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

supporters' player of the year in 2002–03 and Players' Player of the year in 2003–04 and again in 2005–06.

Club career

Southampton

Flahavan began his career at

Southampton Southampton () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire, S ...

, after a number of times as an unused substitute in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

, Flahavan couldn't break into the first team at his hometown club, with him competing with goalkeepers such as Paul Jones,

Dave Beasant David John Beasant (; born 20 March 1959) is an English football coach and former football goalkeeper. As a player, he was a goalkeeper, who notably played top-flight football for Wimbledon, Newcastle United, Chelsea, Southampton and Nottingh ...

and

Maik Taylor Maik Stefan Taylor (born 4 September 1971) is a former Northern Ireland international football goalkeeper and, since July 2022, goalkeeping coach at Birmingham City. At club level, Taylor played non-League football for Petersfield Town, Basin ...

. He left Saints on a free transfer in 1998, and went on to make his name with

Conference A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main ...

side

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

Southend United

He was signed by Southend in October 2000. Flahavan played for Southend during two spells and in total made 356 appearances for the club helping them from league two into the championship in back to back seasons. Flahavan was seen as one of the main reasons behind the club's rise through the divisions. Flahavan put in a man of the match display against

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

in the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

on 7 November 2006, making a string of saves from

Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains the Portugal national team. He is currently a free agent. Widely regarded as one of the greatest p ...

and

Wayne Rooney Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985) is an English professional football manager and former player, who is the manager of Major League Soccer club D.C. United in the United States. He spent much of his playing career as a forward while ...

. Southend won the game 1–0 with a

Freddy Eastwood Freddy Eastwood (born 29 October 1983) is a former professional footballer. He started his career with West Ham United and also played for Southend United, Grays Athletic, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Coventry City. He played eleven times in ...

free kick. Southend were eventually knocked out the competition in the quarter finals to Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane 1–0 where again Flahavan produced another man of the match display.

Crystal Palace

Flahavan signed for

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 system ...

side

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 ...

in early July 2008 on a

Bosman ruling ''Union Royale Belge des Sociétés de Football Association ASBL v Jean-Marc Bosman'' (1995) C-415/93 (known as the Bosman ruling) is a 1995 European Court of Justice decision concerning freedom of movement for workers, freedom of associatio ...

free transfer, signing a three-year contract to compete for the first team shirt with

Julián Speroni Julián Maria Speroni (; born 18 May 1979) is an Argentine former professional footballer. Having started his career at Platense, he played three seasons in the Scottish Premier League with Dundee before joining Crystal Palace for £750,000 i ...

. He rejected Southend's offer of a one-year deal. Flahavan made his debut in Palace's 2–1

win over

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 ...

in August 2008. Flahavan also played in the next round against

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

, but Palace lost the game 4–0. Flahavan's only league appearance of that season came against

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

and despite saving a penalty, Palace lost the game 2–1. The following season saw Flahavan remain at the club despite speculation linking him with a move away, and he made a first home league appearance for the Eagles in the 0–2 home defeat to

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional Association football, football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football league system, English football. The club was ...

, with Speroni ruled out through injury. This proved to be his last appearance for the Eagles.

Loan to Leeds United

On 26 March 2009, he joined

on loan until the end of the 2008–09 season, although due to an early injury he did not feature for Leeds United, who also had goalkeepers

Casper Ankergren Casper Ankergren (; born 9 November 1979) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is now the Head of Goalkeeping at Danish Superliga side Brøndby IF. He played three matches for the Denmark national under-21 ...

, David Lucas and Alan Martin already at the club.

Loan to Oldham Athletic

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic be ...

signed Flahavan on a month emergency loan in November 2009. Flahavan made his Oldham debut in the FA Cup loss against his former club Leeds United. His loan was later extended until the end of the season, he picked up the Latics' player of the month in April 2010 and went on to play 20 games for the club.

Portsmouth

On 8 August 2010, Flahavan started training with

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is admi ...

ahead of a possible move to the club his older brother

Aaron According to Abrahamic religions, Aaron ''′aharon'', ar, هارون, Hārūn, Greek ( Septuagint): Ἀαρών; often called Aaron the priest ()., group="note" ( or ; ''’Ahărōn'') was a prophet, a high priest, and the elder brother ...

played for. On 27 August, Portsmouth signed Flahavan on a one-month deal. He was given the number 37 jersey. Flahavan signed a new one-month deal at

Fratton Park Fratton Park is a football ground in Portsmouth, England, which is the home of Portsmouth F.C. Fratton Park remains as the only home football ground in Portsmouth FC's entire history. The early Fratton Park was designed by local architect Ar ...

on 23 September and then did so again on 26 October. He later extended his contract until the end of the season. Flahavan did not play a single match in the 2010–11 season, as

Jamie Ashdown Jamie Lawrence Ashdown (born 30 November 1980) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He spent a large part of his career at Portsmouth, for whom he made the majority of his professional appearances. He came ou ...

played the full 90 minutes in all 50 of Portsmouth's matches. He left upon the expiration of his contract in June.

AFC Bournemouth

On 28 June 2011, Flahavan signed a one-year deal with AFC Bournemouth with a further one-year extension in the club's favour. Flahavan looked forward to working with

Lee Bradbury Lee Michael Bradbury (born 3 July 1975) is an English football manager and former footballer who is currently manager of National League club Eastleigh. As a player, he was a striker who made more than 500 appearances in the Football League wi ...

and goalkeeping coach Neil Moss, and was expected to provide competition for

Shwan Jalal Shwan Jalal (born 14 August 1983) is a professional football coach and former goalkeeper. He is currently goalkeeping coach at Newcastle United. He was capped five times for the England C team, and was later called up for the Iraq national team ...

. He signed a new one-year contract in January 2012. Flahavan played in all but two of Bournemouth's 46 league games in the 2011–12 season. The following season Flahavan picked up a shoulder injury in pre-season which ruled him out of the 2012–13 season. In May 2013, Flahavan signed a new one-year deal under manager Eddie Howe. In May 2015, Flahavan left Bournemouth in order to pursue regular first-team football.

Crawley Town

After his release, Flahavan signed for

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The club was founded as Crawley Football Club in 1896, changed its name to Crawley Town Football Club in 1958. The team com ...

on a short-term deal. He kept a clean sheet in a 1–0 victory over

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. ...

. He left Crawley in January 2016.

Coaching career

On 13 June 2016, Flahavan retired from playing when he was appointed the goalkeeper coach of

as part of the backroom staff to new head coach

Garry Monk Garry Alan Monk (born 6 March 1979) is an English football manager and former professional player who played as a centre back, and was most recently the manager of Championship club Sheffield Wednesday. His managerial career includes spells at ...

. Flahavan had a loan spell at Leeds during his playing days and was a former teammate of Monk during his Southampton days. On 21 June 2017, Flahavan followed Monk to

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

after Monk resigned as Leeds manager Flahavan was appointed goalkeeping coach of EFL Championship club

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

when Monk took over as manager on 4 March 2018. On 12 August 2020, he joined

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...

as their goalkeeper coach. He left the club on 9 November 2020, when

left the club. On 25 June 2021, he joined

as the goalkeeping coach.

Personal life

Flahavan was born in

. Flahavan's older brother

was also a professional football goalkeeper. He played for

before dying in a car crash in 2001. Darryl has a son named Aaron in memory of his brother.

Honours

Individual *

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 English football; the Premi ...

: 2005–06 Football League One

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Flahavan, Darryl 1978 births Living people Footballers from Southampton English footballers Association football goalkeepers Southampton F.C. players Woking F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Leeds United F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players AFC Bournemouth players Crawley Town F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Leeds United F.C. non-playing staff Middlesbrough F.C. non-playing staff Birmingham City F.C. non-playing staff Sheffield Wednesday F.C. non-playing staff Wigan Athletic F.C. non-playing staff Association football goalkeeping coaches