Darel Russell

Darel Francis Roy G. Russell (born 22 October 1980) is an English former footballer who played as a midfielder.

Darel Russell
Personal information
Full name Darel Francis Roy G. Russell[1]
Date of birth (1980-10-22) 22 October 1980
Place of birth Mile End, England
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Playing position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
Norwich City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1997–2003 Norwich City 132 (6)
2003–2007 Stoke City 171 (16)
2007–2010 Norwich City 112 (10)
2010–2012 Preston North End 27 (0)
2011–2012 → Charlton Athletic (loan) 11 (2)
2012–2013 Portsmouth 17 (0)
2013 Toronto FC 18 (3)
2014 Tampa Bay Rowdies 25 (3)
Total 513 (40)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Russell began his career with Norwich City in 1997 and played 147 times for the Canaries before joining Stoke City in 2003. He was a regular starter under Tony Pulis at Stoke, spending four seasons in the Potteries playing over 180 times. Russell returned to Norwich in July 2007 where he helped them win the League One title in 2009–10. He went on to play for Preston North End, Charlton Athletic, Portsmouth and in North America with Toronto FC and Tampa Bay Rowdies.

Career

Norwich City

Born in Mile End, Russell began his career as a youth player at Norwich City making his debut on the last day of the 1997–98 season in a 1–0 victory against Reading.[2] He made 13 appearances in 1998–99 before establishing himself in the first team in 1999–2000.[2] In April 2000, Norwich manager Bruce Rioch was replaced by Bryan Hamilton whose old school style of management made it a tough environment for Russell to develop.[3] Hamilton was sacked in December 2000 with the side in relegation trouble, he was replaced by Nigel Worthington who guided them to a safe position of 15th with Russell making 47 appearances in 2000–01.[4] At the end of the season Russell was linked with a move to East Anglia rivals Ipswich Town.[5] He made 26 appearances in 2001–02 as Norwich reached the 2002 Football League First Division play-off Final where they lost on penalties to Birmingham City.[6] Russell missed two months of the 2002–03 campaign after breaking a bone in his foot.[7] In June 2003 Russell rejected a new contract offer from Norwich.[8]

Stoke City

Russell joined Stoke in 2003 for a fee of £125,000 in August 2003.[9] He made his Stoke debut on 9 August 2003 in a 3–0 win away at Derby County.[10] Russell scored twice in a 3–1 win against Sunderland on 16 September 2003.[11] Russell was an ever-present under Tony Pulis in 2003–04 playing 50 times as the team finished in 11th position.[12] He scored on the opening day of the 2004–05 season in a 2–1 win over promotion favorites Wolverhampton Wanderers.[13] Russell missed only one match in 2004–05 as Stoke were unable to mount a promotion challenge finishing in 12th.[14] He made 39 appearances in 2005–06 as Stoke finished in 13th place under Dutch manager Johan Boskamp.[15] Pulis returned to the club in 2006–07 and several new signings enabled them to push for a play-off spot. Russell won the Championship player of the month award for November 2006.[16] Russell scored a career best of seven goals in 2006–07 as Stoke narrowly missed out on a play-off place by two points.[17]

Return to Norwich

On 30 July 2007, Russell rejoined the Canaries for an undisclosed fee (reported to be around the £410,000 marked down from £600,000 due to a 30% sell-on clause the canaries had in the deal taking Russell to Stoke in 2003), on a three-year contract.[18]

Norwich were relegated to League One after a poor season in the Championship in the 2008–09 season. In the summer of 2009 Norwich rejected a bid of £500,000 from Premier League newcomers Burnley. Norwich's asking price was believed to be around £750,000. After staying at Norwich Russell played a major part in earning them promotion to the Championship at the first time of asking after winning League One, putting in some impressive performances at the heart of central midfield under manager Paul Lambert, with Russell occupying a more defensive central midfield position in a diamond formation.

On 1 July 2010, it was confirmed that Russell had rejected the offer from Norwich City of a new contract, and he was released.

Preston North End

Russell signed for Preston North End on a three-year deal on 4 August 2010.[19] He scored his first and what turned out to be only goal for Preston in the League Cup against future club Charlton Athletic on 13 September 2011.[20] He was transfer listed by the club in May 2012.[21]

Charlton Athletic loan

On 24 November 2011 Russell signed on loan for League One rivals Charlton Athletic until January 2012.[22] On 7 January 2012 this loan was extended until the end of the season.[23] Where he helped Charlton to become League 1 Champions, scoring 2 goals in the process.

Portsmouth

On summer transfer deadline day 2012, Russell joined Portsmouth on an initial one-month deal.[24] Russell left Portsmouth on 28 January 2013, a day before his contract with the club was due to expire.[25]

Toronto FC

On 14 February, he joined Toronto FC on a trial basis.[26] On 1 March, he signed a contract with the Canadian club.[27] He made his debut for the club on 9 March in a 2–1 home victory over Sporting Kansas City, he came on as a second half sub for John Bostock.[28] Russell scored his first goal for the club on 6 April, the goal came in the 90th minute to earn Toronto a 2–2 home draw against FC Dallas.[29] He was not retained following the 2013 season.[30]

Personal life

Russel was born in England and is of Saint Lucian descent.[31] His sister Shar Alexander (real name Sharlene Russell), is a singer in the band 'Miss Frank' who competed in the sixth series of X Factor.[32]

Career statistics
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Norwich City 1997–98[33] First Division 100000—10
1998–99[34] First Division 1310000—131
1999–2000[35] First Division 3341020—364
2000–01[4] First Division 4111052—473
2001–02[36] First Division 230201000260
2002–03[37] First Division 2103000—240
Total 13267082001478
Stoke City 2003–04[12] First Division 4642020—504
2004–05[14] Championship 4521010—472
2005–06[15] Championship 3731010—393
2006–07[38] Championship 4372010—467
Total 1711660500018216
Norwich City 2007–08[39] Championship 3942031—445
2008–09[40] Championship 3842010—414
2009–10[41] League One 35220002[lower-alpha 1]0392
Total 1121060412012411
Preston North End 2010–11[42] Championship 2501020—280
2011–12[43] League One 2000210041
Total 270104100321
Charlton Athletic (loan) 2011–12[43] League One 112000000112
Portsmouth 2012–13[44] League One 17000001[lower-alpha 1]0180
Toronto FC 2013[45] Major League Soccer 183000000183
Tampa Bay Rowdies 2014[46] NASL 253100000263
Career total 513402102143055843
  1. Appearances in Football League Trophy

Honours
Norwich City
Charlton Athletic

References
  1. "List of Players under Written Contract Registered Between 01/08/2010 and 31/08/2010" (PDF). The Football Association. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
  2. "Darel Russell". Flown From the Nest. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  3. Southwell, Connor. "Two spells, one Rusty: Darel Russell opens up on his Norwich City career". Pink Un. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  4. "Games played by Darel Russell in 2000/2001". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
  5. "'It would have been blasphemous' - former Norwich midfielder Russell on his Ipswich move that never happened". EADT. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  6. "Birmingham reach Premiership". BBC Sport. 12 May 2002. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  7. "Russell adds to Norwich woe". BBC Sport. 20 September 2002. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  8. "Russell snubs Norwich". BBC Sport. 17 June 2003. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  9. "Stoke sign midfield duo". BBC Sport. 8 August 2003. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  10. "Derby 0–3 Stoke". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  11. "Stoke 3–1 Sunderland". BBC Sport. 16 September 2003. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  12. "Games played by Darel Russell in 2003/2004". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
  13. "Stoke 2–1 Wolves". BBC Sport. 8 August 2004. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  14. "Games played by Darel Russell in 2004/2005". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
  15. "Games played by Darel Russell in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
  16. "Russell claims Championship award". BBC News. 10 December 2006.
  17. "Stoke 1–1 QPR". BBC Sport. 6 May 2007. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  18. "Russell makes return to Norwich". BBC Sport. 30 July 2007. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  19. "Preston sign former Norwich midfielder Darel Russell". BBC Sport. 4 August 2010. Retrieved 26 August 2010.
  20. "Charlton 0 – 2 Preston". BBC. 13 September 2011. Retrieved 5 September 2012.
  21. "Graham Westley wields the axe at Preston North End". BBC Sport. 10 May 2012. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
  22. "Russell recruited on loan". Charlton Athletic. 24 November 2011. Archived from the original on 29 November 2011. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  23. "Russell remains an Addick". Charlton Athletic. 7 January 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  24. "Portsmouth sign Johnny Ertl, Darel Russell and Josh Thompson". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  25. "Portsmouth: Darel Russell leaves club before contracts ends". BBC Sport. 28 January 2013. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  26. Darel Russell joins Toronto FC on Trial; Waking the Red, 14 February 2013
  27. Darel Russell Joins Toronto; Toronto FC, 1 March 2013
  28. Bottjer, Steve (9 March 2013). "Reds Beat SKC at Rogers Centre". Toronto FC. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
  29. Toronto FC rallies to tie FC Dallas
  30. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 9 December 2013. Retrieved 2013-12-09.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  31. https://www.stlucianewsonline.com/exploring-saint-lucias-football-diaspora-sports-commentary/
  32. "X Factor's Miss Frank play ball". BBC News. 23 October 2009. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  33. "Games played by Darel Russell in 1997/1998". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
  34. "Games played by Darel Russell in 1998/1999". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
  35. "Games played by Darel Russell in 1999/2000". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
  36. "Games played by Darel Russell in 2001/2002". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
  37. "Games played by Darel Russell in 2002/2003". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
  38. "Games played by Darel Russell in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
  39. "Games played by Darel Russell in 2007/2008". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
  40. "Games played by Darel Russell in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
  41. "Games played by Darel Russell in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
  42. "Games played by Darel Russell in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
  43. "Games played by Darel Russell in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
  44. "Games played by Darel Russell in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
  45. "Games played by Darel Russell in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
  46. "Games played by Darel Russell in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.