Jermaine Darlington

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Jermaine Darlington
Personal information
Full name Jermaine Christopher Darlington
Date of birth April 11, 1974 (1974-04-11) (age 34)
Place of birth    Hackney, London, England
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Playing position Defender, Midfielder
Club information
Current club Unattached
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1992-1993
1993-1994
1996-1997
1998-1999
1999-2001
2001-2004
2004
2004-2006
2006-2007
Charlton Athletic
Dover Athletic
Hendon
Aylesbury United
Queens Park Rangers
Wimbledon
Watford
Cardiff City
AFC Wimbledon
002 (0)
00? (?)
00? (?)
040 (2)
079 (2)
113 (3)
035 (0)
009 (0)
031 (1)   

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 08-05-2006.
* Appearances (Goals)

Jermaine Darlington (born 11 April 1974 in Hackney, London) is a former English football player who played as a left-sided midfielder or full-back.

Darlington began his career as a trainee at Charlton Athletic, where he played two first-team games near the end of the 1991-92 season. He was released a year later and dropped out of the professional game, continuing his career on a semi-professional basis. He got a second chance at league football in 1999, when he was signed by Queens Park Rangers from non-league club Aylesbury United[1] for £25,000.

Darlington went on to make over 80 professional appearances for the R's before then First Division side Wimbledon bought him for £200,000 in 2001. He made over 100 appearances for The Dons, before being released at the end of the 2003-04 season.

Brief stints at Watford[2] and Cardiff City[3] followed in 2004-05 and 2005-06 however with a knee injury restricting his first-team chances Darlington left Cardiff in the summer of 2006, effectively retiring from professional football.

Following a trial with AFC Wimbledon, Darlington agreed terms with the Dons in time for the game against Tonbridge Angels on 18 November, 2006,[4] making him the first ex-Wimbledon FC player to play competitively for AFC Wimbledon[5].

This move would prove costly for the Dons however as, due to an administrative error by the club in signing him, Darlington was initially ineligible to play for the club[6]. The penalties the club received for this mistake were severe. The Dons were expelled from two cup competitions, the Surrey Senior Cup and the FA Trophy, for which the club was ordered to repay £12,000 in prize money, and also received a hefty penalty in the Isthmian League with 18 league points being docked[7] in addition to a £400 fine & costs. This 18 point penalty was later reduced to just 3 points, after an appeal to The FA[8]. Darlington was released at the end of the season by new Dons boss Terry Brown.[9]

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Jermaine Darlington - Queens Park Rangers FC - Football-Heroes.net
  2. ^ Gone but not forgotten: Jermaine Darlington
  3. ^ Jermaine Darlington Cardiff City FC player profile from football.co.uk
  4. ^ AFC Wimbledon Official Site: Jermaine agrees terms
  5. ^ NB: While Darlington was the first ex-Wimbledon FC player to play competitively for AFC Wimbledon he was actually the second ex-Wimbledon FC player to join the club. The first was Roger Joseph who was at the club briefly at the start of the 2005-06 season but left after playing a just handful of pre-season friendly fixtures.
  6. ^ NB: When Darlington signed for AFC Wimbledon his previous club was Cardiff City. Cardiff play in the English League structure, which is administered by The FA of England. However, as with other Welsh clubs competing in the English leagues, the players of Cardiff City are actually registerred to the FA of Wales. As a result of this, when Darlington signed for AFC Wimbledon, his registration was not held by the FA but by the FAW and as such he was regarded as an 'international' signing and the club was therefore required to seek 'international clearance' for his registration to be transferred from one FA to the other. AFC Wimbledon were not aware of this and as a result Darlington was considerred to be ineligible for competitive fixtures.
  7. ^ BBC: AFC Wimbledon deducted 18 points
  8. ^ FA cuts AFC Wimbledon punishment
  9. ^ AFC Wimbledon Official Site: Terry Moves Close To Finalising Squad