Duane Darby

Duane Darby (born 17 October 1973) is a professional footballer who has made over 400 senior appearances in English football, and scored over 100 goals. He played a significant number of games for Torquay United and Hull City, and also helped both Rushden & Diamonds and Shrewsbury Town gain promotion from the Conference to the Football League.

Early career

Prior to signing for a professional club, Darby played as a youth for Halas Hawks Junior F.C, a junior football club based at Halesowen in the West Midlands. His manager at that time, Graham Barrett, was instrumental in obtaining his position at Torquay. Darby began his career as an apprentice with Torquay United, making his league debut while still a trainee, scoring in a 2–1 defeat at home to Reading having come on as a substitute, and he went on to make a further 13 league appearances that season. He turned professional on 3 July 1992 and went on to score 26 times in 108 league games for the Gulls. On 19 July 1995 he moved to Doncaster Rovers, but stayed less than a year, moving to Hull City on 27 March 1996 for a sum of £25,000. He was a great success with the Tigers, scoring regularly and broke the Hull record for most goals in a competitive game when he scored 6 times against Whitby Town in an FA Cup 1st Round Replay in November 1996.