158: Darren Huckerby, Coventry City, Merlin’s Premier League 99 Official Sticker Collection

At the end of this month ‘A Sticker’s Worth 500 Words’ will be a year old. I think all four of us are pleasantly surprised that we’re still doing this but when you remember that the majority of that year has been spent in some form of lockdown, tier system or national emergency it’s slightly less surprising that we’re still finding the time and inspiration to write about some blokes who used to kick a football about. Nevertheless it’s always helpful when someone chucks us a request so thanks to Dom Alexander for suggesting a look at “the finest striker in the whole of East Anglia”. Apologies to Marcus Stewart – you’re not getting a second post.

Being treated with affection by your own fans is one thing. The tribal nature of football means that even the most questionable of players is given half a chance by their home supporters before being subjected to a barrage of abuse about their former employers, physical stature or inability to pick up their man at a set piece. Such niceties are rarely reserved for visiting players. Even returning heroes, yes even those who refuse to celebrate their inevitable goal, don’t enjoy many pleasantries past the token round of applause when their name is called out over the PA. So when Darren Huckerby trudged up the sidelines at Selhurst Park on a chilly New Year’s Day in 2008 in his Norwich City training kit it’s hardly a surprise that he wasn’t given the warmest reception.

In his defence Huckerby had never really done anything to particularly offend the Crystal Palace faithful. We did tend to play Norwich with alarming regularity in the 1990s and 2000s but that was hardly Darren’s fault. He’d even had the decency to go on loan to Millwall in a season when they finished below the Eagles. Nevertheless as he got closer to the Holmesdale a few of us suggested that Huckerby might not be in the best physical shape and that his best days were behind him. He could have ignored it. He could have mouthed off. Instead he grabbed his belly, gave it a jiggle and gave us a little clap before jogging back down to the bench. We didn’t really have much choice but to applaud and in fairness it has stuck in the memory far more than either Darel Russell’s opener for the Canaries or Clinton Morrison’s equaliser for Palace.

It feels like Darren Huckerby burst on to the scene when he formed a profitable partnership with Dion Dublin at Coventry City in the 1996/97 season but it really wasn’t that straightforward. Huckerby started out at Lincoln City scoring three goals across twelve appearances in Division Three in the 1993/4 and 1994/5 campaigns. A further two goals in sixteen games at Sincil Bank was enough to convince Kevin Keegan to add him to his array of attacking talent at Newcastle United in the autumn of 1995. Despite his obvious potential the presence of the likes of Les Ferdinand, Peter Beardsley, Keith Gillespie and David Ginola limited Huckerby to just one appearance on Tyneside. Furthermore, Keegan’s decision to scrap the reserve team to preserve the hallowed St James’s Park turf meant that the young forward wasn’t even able to get valuable match practice and after six months, and the aforementioned spell at the New Den, Huckerby was on his way to Highfield Road.

A more than respectable 34 goals in 109 games later and Huckerby was on his way to Leeds United to help fill a Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink shaped hole in their attack. He made 37 appearances in all competitions as Leeds finished third in the Premier League and reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup. Again, opportunities became limited as a young Alan Smith came to the fore and Mark Viduka’s goals powered Leeds to the semi-finals of the Champions League and so Huckerby crossed the Pennines to join struggling Manchester City. His solitary goal in 13 Premier League appearances wasn’t enough to keep the Cityzens up but his twenty goals in Division One helped power them back to the top flight with an impressive 99 points. It’s fair to say that they’ve done quite well since their return.

Huckerby featured in sixteen games for City before dropping back down to Division One for a short spell with Nottingham Forest where he found the net five times in nine games. Clearly impressed, Norwich City swooped for Huckerby’s services and his fourteen goals in the 2003/04 campaign were once again key to helping his side gain promotion to the top flight. He missed only one game as the Canaries struggled to cope in the Premier League and were relegated on the final day despite an impressive string of performances in the run up. Despite being shifted to the left wing Huckerby still managed to contribute seven goals and was voted as the club’s Player of the Year, an award he would pick up again in the 2006/07 campaign.

Much to the disappointment of the Canaries’ faithful Huckerby was not offered a new contract at the end of the 2007/08 campaign. He combined with his former Coventry teammate Dion Dublin to score his last goal for the club against Sheffield Wednesday on the last day of the season before heading to the MLS with San Jose Earthquakes. At the age of 32 he was chosen as the league’s Newcomer of the Year as his six goals in fourteen games proved to be the only highlight in a disappointing year for the Californian side. His 2009 season was curtailed to allow Huckerby to receive hip surgery but sadly this failed to eliminate the injury which ultimately led to his retirement from professional football.

All in all Huckerby racked up over 450 appearances throughout a career which saw him find the net an impressive 114 times as well as picking up some notable personal accolades both in England and the US. Although injury ended his professional career all too soon he’s appeared in charity matches and the much loved Masters Football tournament where he picked up the Golden Boot for the 2011 edition with 14 goals for his old club Leeds. The world of football Twitter sees him interact with a number of former teammates and his old clubs are always keen to wheel out some of his greatest hits. It’s hard to say a bad word about Darren Huckerby so it seems best to leave it with the hope that his charges in the Norwich City Academy are suitably grateful to be coached by “the finest striker in the whole of East Anglia”.