Daryl Thomas Fordyce (born 2 January 1987) is a Northern Irish retired 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 ...

who played as 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 is an assistant coach at

Valour FC Valour FC is a Canadian professional soccer club in Winnipeg, Manitoba, which competes in the Canadian Premier League and plays their home matches at Princess Auto Stadium. The team is coached by Phillip Dos Santos and community owned throu ...

Club career

Early career

Fordyce played for St Andrews and Lisburn Youth in Northern Ireland, winning major trophies with both teams when he was younger. He later joined

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 ...

. Working his way up through the club's youth ranks, Fordyce spent the second half of the 2005–06 season on loan at

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth ( ) is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. ...

before going back to Portsmouth.

Glentoran

In July 2007, he 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 Northern Ireland. At the beginning of the Irish League 2010/11 season he scored five goals against

Lisburn Distillery Lisburn Distillery Football Club is a Northern Irish intermediate football club who are based in Ballyskeagh, Lisburn. A founder member of the Irish League, they currently play in the NIFL Premier Intermediate League, the third tier of the Nor ...

in the first game of the season in a 6–1 win. Fordyce agreed a deal with Linfield just after the end of 2010/11 season, although he was in contract re-negotiations with Glentoran.

Linfield

In 2012, Fordyce won the league title with Linfield after defeating Portadown 2–1 on 7 April. The team also won the Irish Cup for a record 42nd time, defeating Crusaders 4–1 in the final. Though Fordyce did not score in the final, he did score in Linfield's 5–1 defeat over

Carrick Rangers Carrick Rangers Football Club is a semi-professional Northern Irish football club playing in NIFL Premiership. The club, founded in 1939, hails from Carrickfergus, County Antrim and plays its home matches at Taylors Avenue which is known as th ...

FC Edmonton

On 18 January 2013, it was announced that Fordyce, along with his teammate Albert Watson, would not return to Linfield in the following season, instead seeking new playing opportunities in Canada. On 25 February 2013, it was reported that both would join FC Edmonton. After four seasons in Edmonton, Fordyce left the club as its all-time leading scorer, a title which he still holds to this day.

FC Cincinnati

The

United Soccer League The United Soccer League (USL) is an organizer of various professional and amateur soccer leagues in the United States league system. It currently organizes its Championship, League One, and League Two for men, its Super League and W Leag ...

club

FC Cincinnati Football Club Cincinnati is an American professional soccer club based in Cincinnati. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team was first announced on August 12, 2015 as a United Soccer Leag ...

announced that it had signed Fordyce on 16 January 2017. After little playing time with FC Cincinnati, Fordyce was released by the club in June 2017.

Return to Edmonton

Shortly after, Fordyce re-signed with FC Edmonton. After the 2017 season, with the future of FC Edmonton and the NASL in doubt, Fordyce was released from FC Edmonton.

Sligo Rovers

On 8 February 2019, Fordyce signed a one-year contract with the

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 ...

side

Sligo Rovers Sligo Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional association football, football club playing in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland. The club is based in Sligo in the west of Ireland. The club was founded in 1928 and have been in ...

. That season, he made 29 league appearances, scoring two goals, while making two appearances in the

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Sports Direct FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as D ...

and one in the

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 ...

Valour FC

On 10 January 2020, Fordyce signed with the

Canadian Premier League The Canadian Premier League (CPL or CanPL; ) is a professional Association football, soccer league in Canada and the highest level of the Canadian soccer league system. The league comprises eight teams, from five of provinces and territories of ...

side

. He made his debut for Valour in their season opener on August 16 against

Cavalry FC Cavalry Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in the Calgary metropolitan region of Alberta. The club competes at the top of the Canadian soccer league system in the Canadian Premier League, and plays their home matches ...

. He scored his first goal for Valour against his former club

FC Edmonton FC Edmonton was a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club was founded in 2010 and competed in the North American Soccer League (2011–2017), North American Soccer League (NASL) from 2011 t ...

on August 29, helping his team to a 2–1 victory. Fordyce retired from professional football in January 2023.

Managerial career

One month after retiring on February 15, 2023, Fordyce was announced as assistant coach and coordinator of youth development.

International career

Fordyce has represented Northern Ireland at Under-19 level, scoring both goals in the 2–1 European U19 Championship victory over Moldova in October 2005. He also scored four goals for Northern Ireland U-19 against Serbia & Montenegro. He has made five appearances for the

Northern Ireland national under-21 football team The Northern Ireland national under-21 football team also known as the Northern Ireland under-21s or Northern Ireland U21s, is the national under-21 football team of Northern Ireland and is controlled by the Irish Football Association. The team co ...

, scoring against Germany in November 2006.

Career statistics

References

External links

BBC profile
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Fordyce, Daryl 1987 births Living people Men's association football forwards Association footballers from Belfast Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland Expatriate men's association footballers from Northern Ireland Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Expatriate sportspeople from Northern Ireland in Canada Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Expatriate sportspeople from Northern Ireland in the United States Expatriate men's association footballers in the Republic of Ireland Portsmouth F.C. players AFC Bournemouth players Glentoran F.C. players Linfield F.C. players FC Edmonton players FC Cincinnati players Sligo Rovers F.C. players Valour FC players English Football League players North American Soccer League (2011–2017) players USL Championship players League of Ireland players Canadian Premier League players Northern Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Valour FC non-playing staff 21st-century sportsmen from Northern Ireland Northern Ireland men's youth international footballers Northern Ireland men's under-23 international footballers