Darren Fletcher Stats-Full Name: Darren Barr Fletcher
-Birthplace: Dalkeith, Scotland
-Date of Birth: 01/02/1984
-Height: 185cm (6ft 1ins)
-Weight: 79kg (174lbs)
-Position: Midfield
-Squad Number: 24
International FootballScotland (2003 -) 39 4
Darren Fletcher Manchester United Career
Manchester United's energetic midfielder Darren Fletcher was born in the Midlothian town of Dalkeith and signed for The Reds as a trainee on 3 July 2000, after rejecting the opportunity to join Newcastle United. Seven months later - at the age of 17 the player signed professional terms with the club.
Fletcher's maturity and level of play began to excite everybody behind the scenes at Old Trafford and he was seen as a long term or even short term replacement for David Beckham, should anything have happened to the England goldenboy. However the young Scot's early day at United were severely hampered by a career threatening foot injury and it would take him two more years before he was ready to make his first team debut, doing so in the UEFA Champions League group match against Swiss side Basel on 12 March 2003. Although the player clearly had talent he would go on to make only one more appearance during his rookie sason with Manchester United.
The following season as the player began to "fill out" after a sudden growth spurt Darren Fletcher began to establish himself as a first team squad regular, making 34 appearances for the club, including in the 3-0 F.A. Cup final win against Millwall.
His breakthrough at Mancheter United was rewarded by Scotland coach Berti Vogts who drafted Fletcher into the national set-up, giving the United midfielder his debut on 20 August 2003 in a goaless friendly against Norway.
When the season had concluded Darren Fletcher became the youngest Scotland captain since John Lambie in 1886, when he led his side out in a 1-0 win against Estonia in Talin on 26 May 2004 aged 20 years and 115 days.
Despite his international exploits the 2004-2005 season started pretty slow for Darren Fletcher who made only a handful of senior appearances for the club. However at the turn of the year (2005) the player scored his first goal for the club against Middlesborugh in a 2-0 victory and as a result was afforded more first team opportunites as Sir Alex Ferguson began to rotate is squad more often to cope with the rigours of firing on all four fronts (Premier League, Champions League, F.A. Cup and League Cup). The player would go on to finish the season with three goals in 30 games, netting his other two goals against Charlton and Southampton, the latter being relegated from the Premier League as a consequence.
Although the player was becoming a first team regular he had many critics amongst the Old Trafford faithful, but during a critical League game against title challengers Chelsea the player put in a man-of-the-match display as he netted the only goal of the contest with a delightful looping header. The important goal made some of the critics eat their words, but he would have to go further to convince his harshest detractors that he deserved to wear the famous red shirt. Despite the victory Manchester United lost out on the League title to their London rivals, however Fletcher and his team mates did console themselves with a 4-0 League Cup final victory over Wigan at Cardiff's impressive Millenium Stadium.
In 2006-2007 after the purchase of Michael Carrick from spurs; the return of Paul Scholes from a career threatening eye injury; and the emergence of Cristiano Ronaldo as a worldclass right winger the player found it increasingly difficult to break into the first team, however he did manage to make 24 league appearances as Manchester United wrestled back their Premier League crown from the grip of rivals Chelsea.
After Manchester United were compehensively beaten by AC Milan in the UEFA Champions League semi-final, manager Sir Alex Ferguson bolstered his squad with the signings of midfielders Owen Hargreaves from Bayern Munich and Anderson and Nani from Portuguese football. These purchases meant that Darren Fletcher would have to work even harder to make the breakthrough. It is testament to the player's metal that he stayed on to fight for his place a lesser man would've given up and moved on to pastures new.
As the player battled to keep in the manager's minds eyes he could only muster 23 appearances during the whole of the 2007-2008 season, but did put in another critical man-of-the-match performance by scoring two goals in United's F.A. Cup fifth round thumping of Arsenal. Although he didn't play many games during the campaign he did pick up Premier League and Champions League winning medals.
Darren Fletcher started the 2008-2009 season in sparkling form netting United's equaliser against Newcastle United in the first game of the season, followed by the winner against Portsmouth at Fratton Park a week later. A number of impressive performances for the club during the initial stages of the campaign seemed to have won over even his harshest of critics.
Darren Fletcher Honours
Manchester United
-FA Premier League: 2007, 2008,2009
-UEFA Champions League: 2008
-FA Cup: 2004
-League Cup: 2006
-FIFA Club World Cup: 2008
-Carling Cup : 2010
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