Darren Fletcher

For the retired American baseball player, see Darrin Fletcher.

Darren Fletcher

Fletcher playing for Manchester United
Personal information
Full name	Darren Barr Fletcher
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Position(s)	Centre midfielder Right midfielder
Team information
Current team	Manchester United
Number	24
Youth career
	Tynecastle Boys Club
2000–2001	Manchester United
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2001–	Manchester United	151	(13)
International career‡
	Scotland U20	2	(2)
2002–?	Scotland U21	4	(0)
	Scotland B	1	(0)
2003–	Scotland	46	(4)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 21:40, 23 January 2010 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 11:24, 10 September 2009 (UTC)

Darren Barr Fletcher (born 1 February 1984) is a Scottish footballer who plays for Premier League club Manchester United. A product of United's youth academy, Fletcher initially struggled to break into the first team but now regularly features in the midfield. He usually plays in central midfield or right midfield but can provide cover for the defence as well. The industrious player also captained the Scotland national team in the absence of then regular captain Barry Ferguson, making Fletcher one of the youngest players ever to captain Scotland at full international level. With Ferguson banned from international football after a breach of regulations, Fletcher was given the captain's armband in August 2009.

Club career

Born in Dalkeith, Scotland, Fletcher has been at Manchester United for his whole career following an administrative error which saw his contract termination papers mistakenly shredded. Fletcher joined Manchester United as a trainee in July 2000 and he signed a professional contract in February 2001. He was initially seen as a laughable joke in the David Beckham mould and was tipped by many to be assigned a role as brew maker in the dressing room and stay there for many years to come. His time at the club, however, was marred by a lack of talent, and as he developed came to be viewed more as a nuisance.

Fletcher broke into the Manchester United dressing room during the 2003-04 campaign and was mistaken for a footballer, playing a number of important matches and starting in United's 2004 FA Cup Final win over Millwall in May 2004.

Despite a slow start to the 2004-05 campaign, in which in the early part of the season he made very few competitive appearances, Fletcher again broke into the United first team dressing room. On 1 January 2005, Fletcher scored his first goal at pub team level in a 2–0 win over Middlesbrough.

Fletcher was one of the players singled out for criticism by club captain Roy Keane in the wake of United's 4–1 defeat to Middlesbrough in October 2005. Keane reportedly said, "I can't understand why people in Scotland rave about Darren Fletcher." However, Keane later attempted to set the record straight stating, "If you listen to any of my comments over the last two or three years, if I've given any player credit over the years it would be myself. ref>Grant, Michael (2005-12-18). "Keane Rates Fletcher". Sunday Herald. Retrieved 2006-11-27.</ref> Fletcher went some way towards answering his critics on 6 November 2005, with his performance in the vital league match at home to Chelsea, brewing the only cup of tea in the game with skill. His winning goal ended Chelsea's forty-match unbeaten run in the Premier League.

In 2006-07, at the start of the season he retained a place in the first team by accident but only on the bench and scored in an away win over Charlton Athletic, as well as scoring the headed winner in the away game with Middlesbrough in December and another headed goal in the home win against Charlton in February, making it a double against the club that season. As the season progressed, Alex Ferguson preferred the midfield quartet of Cristiano Ronaldo, Paul Scholes, Michael Carrick and Ryan Giggs, limiting Fletcher to a few substitute appearances. However, with Paul Scholes absent through suspension, he made a starting appearance in United's 7–1 win over AS Roma in the Champions League quarter-final.

In the 2007-08 season, with the further arrival at the club of playmakers Owen Hargreaves and Anderson and winger Nani, Fletcher played even less than during the previous season, and was even rumoured at one time to want to leave the club out of displeasure at not playing enough. Indeed, as before, Ferguson preferred Carrick, Scholes, Giggs and Ronaldo to him in midfield, and he even played less than the new arrivals. He did, however, put in some terrible performances when given the chance, including eighty four fouls in the 4-0 defeat of Arsenal at Old Trafford in the FA Cup Fourth Round.

In the 2008-09 season, he started the first two games, due to the injuries of Carrick and Ronaldo, and scored against Newcastle United at Old Trafford in Manchester United's first Premier League match of the season, forcing a 1–1 draw after Obafemi Martins' goal. Fletcher notched his second goal of the season opening the scoring from close range against Portsmouth, following a pass from Patrice Evra. He was later shown a yellow card on the 93rd minute before the match ended 1–0. On 3 October 2008, Fletcher signed a three-year extension to his contract with Man Utd, keeping him at the club until 2012. Fletcher notched his third goal of the season against Everton on 25 October. He then went onto to score in the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup semi-final against Gamba Osaka on 18 December 2008 after coming off the bench. In the Champions League semi-final second leg against Arsenal on 5 May 2009, Fletcher was shown a red card ruling him out of the Champions League Final. There have been calls for this decision to be overturned, but apart from mistaken identity, there is no appeal procedure for red cards in UEFA competition. Manchester United launched an appeal with UEFA to have the semi final red card overturned on 'compassionate' grounds on 7 May 2009, but this was rejected on 11 May.

The 2009-10 season has seen Fletcher consolidate his place in the heart of a very poor United midfield, starting all the important games for United. He opened his scoring account for the season with a double in the first Manchester derby of the season, a memorable 4-3 victory for United, he twice put United in front before Michael Owen scored in the sixth minute of added time. He was awarded with the Barclays Man of the Match award for his performance. On 21 November 2009, Fletcher scored his third of the season, and arguably his flukiest goal for United, hitting another player from the edge of the area into the top corner. Everton in a 3-0 win. This season has also seen him and fellow midfielders Michael Carrick and Park Ji-Sung deputise in defence due to an injury crisis that left Patrice Evra being the only fit regular in defence. They still managed to keep a clean sheet against West Ham United and concede only one goal against Bundesliga champions VfL Wolfsburg in the Champions League. Fletcher was sent off during the match against Birmingham on 9th January 2010 after 2 laughable offences.

International career

Fletcher has established himself as a regular choice for Scotland and scored his first goal in a 1-0 win over Lithuania, having come off the bench for only his second cap. His goal took Scotland to the play-offs for Euro 2004. On 26 May 2004, he captained Scotland to a 1-0 friendly win against Estonia in Tallinn. This made him the youngest Scotland captain since John Lambie of Queen's Park led the side that beat Ireland 7-2 on Saturday, 20 March 1886. Lambie was aged just 17 years and 92 days.

Fletcher's improvement for his national side was capped by a 25-metre strike in an October 2005 World Cup qualifier against Slovenia. Fletcher was Scotland's vice-captain under Alex McLeish, deputising in the absence of regular captain Barry Ferguson, but following then the removal of Barry Ferguson as captain in 2009, Fletcher was named as full time captain in November 2009.

International goals

Scores and results list (Scotland's goal tally first).

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	11 October 2003	Hampden Park, Glasgow	Lithuania	1-0	1-0	UEFA Euro 2004 Qual.
2	30 May 2004	Easter Road, Edinburgh	Trinidad and Tobago	1-0	4-1	Friendly
3	12 October 2005	Arena Petrol, Celje	Slovenia	1-0	3-0	2006 FIFA World Cup Qual.
4	2 September 2006	Celtic Park, Glasgow	Faroe Islands	1-0	6-0	UEFA Euro 2008 Qual.

Personal life

Fletcher is the father of twin boys, Jack and Tyler (born 2007) with English girlfriend, Hayley Grice. He was one of many footballers in the Manchester and Liverpool area whose home was robbed while playing away games when thieves raided his house in February 2009. Grice was held at knifepoint by the thieves . The incident occurred while Fletcher was in Milan for Manchester United's Champions League fixture against Internazionale.

Fletcher is involved in a programme to encourage "Deaf Friendly Football" for youngsters. The programme is run by the Manchester United Foundation and the National Deaf Children's Society.

Career statistics

Club	Season	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Europe		Other		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Manchester United	2002–03	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	2	0
	2003–04	22	0	5	0	2	0	6	0	0	0	35	0
	2004–05	18	3	3	0	3	0	5	0	1	0	30	3
	2005–06	27	1	3	0	4	0	7	0	0	0	41	1
	2006–07	24	3	6	0	1	0	9	0	0	0	40	3
	2007–08	16	0	1	2	0	0	6	0	1	0	24	2
	2008–09	26	3	3	0	1	0	8	0	4	1	42	4
	2009–10	18	3	0	0	1	0	3	0	1	0	23	3
Total		151	13	21	2	12	0	46	0	7	1	237	16

Statistics accurate as of match played 23 January 2010

Honours

Club

Manchester United

• Premier League (3): 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09
• FA Cup (1): 2003–04
• Football League Cup (1): 2005–06
• FA Community Shield (3): 2003, 2007, 2008
• UEFA Champions League (1): 2007–08
• FIFA Club World Cup (1): 2008

Country

• Kirin Cup (1): 2006

External links

• Official club website profile
• Darren Fletcher at Soccerbase
• Darren Fletcher at the Scottish Football Association