Yesterday came the news of Darren Beckford’s death at the age of 59. I wanted to pay a full and proper tribute to him but have only really had the chance today. Darren (seen in 1985 in the main photo taken by John Peters with his parents Val and Dudley and his brother Jason) was a supremely talented forward who attended Burnage High School before joining Manchester City as an apprentice on 16 April 1984. Less than four months later he was deservedly given a professional contract (1 August 1984) and on 20 October that year he made his first team debut, coming on as substitute for Gordon Smith in a 2-1 defeat at Middlesbrough. A fortnight later he came on again (for Graham Baker) in a goalless game at Brighton and on 8 April 1985 he made his first start in a 2-1 defeat at home to Leeds at Maine Road (John Peters photo below).
When I interviewed Darren’s brother Jason a few years back we talked about the Beckfords early sporting interests: ‘Darren and I were mad about any sport as kids – football, cricket, basketball… anything that had a ball really. Back then we just played and played and because Darren’s a couple of years older than me I always seemed to play with him and his mates, not my age group. We played in the street for hours and, I guess where we were different to some of the other lads is that we stayed out for ages after they’d all gone in.’
I asked Jason about the brothers’ footballing support: ‘You tend to get your first interest from your parents. If they take you to a club it becomes part of you, but my parents weren’t really football people. My dad loved his sport but he was more into cricket. Me and Darren loved football but we didn’t get chance to go and didn’t really have any allegiance until we signed schoolboy forms with City. It was just the way it was. We loved playing football but didn’t get the chance to watch it.’
Darren excelled at sport and he represented his city playing football for Manchester Boys (14 year old Darren can be seen in the Manchester Boys lineup on the image below: back row, 3rd from left) and also represented the North West at basketball. In fact he had to make a tough decision as to which sport he focused on and, fortunately for us, he chose football. He made eight England under-15 appearances at soccer and excelled as a youth player with the Blues too.
There was a period where his goalscoring for the youth team gained a few headlines, and made many City fans notice his talent. He netted three hat-tricks in four FA Youth Cup ties during 1984-85 and twice that season he netted four goals in an A team match. Inevitably, he was leading scorer for both the Reserves and City’s A team that season. The following season he scored 24 goals for A team. For all of us who attended first team, reserve or youth games back then the name Darren Beckford was regularly being spoken. I remember desperately wanting him to have a sustained run in the first team but the difficulties of this era meant those chances came few and far between. Darren never got the run of games that some of us felt he deserved to allow him to adjust to the demands of the League. Worth remembering that these were difficult days for City with the team he debuted in being desperate for promotion from the second tier, then 1985-1987 fighting for survival in the top tier. Not necessarily the best place for an attack-minded player to get his grounding.
During the 1984-85 season Tottenham had contacted City about buying Darren and his teammate Paul Moulden. Put across as a ‘name your price’ offer, City rejected the bid. We were all relieved. We saw these guys, Paul Simpson, and the others we knew were developing in the youth team as ‘our’ team. I was a similar age to them all and I was a teenager standing on the Kippax supporting the team. Whenever a player from the youth team made their debut they tended to be either my age or slightly older/younger and, because of that, I always felt they were like me (except they could play football!). Darren was, to use a modern expression, ‘one of our own’, as was Paul Moulden, Paul Simpson and those that followed like David White, Paul Lake and Ian Brightwell. It always felt, to me at least, that our future needed these young players and if City ever sold them it would be a foolish act. These guys were tipped for greatness and Darren was already within the England system, going to Lilleshall and in the youth squad.
In February 1985 Darren made the headlines when he withdrew from the England Youth squad. Religious reasons were cited at the time. It seemed to shock many but others respected his decision.
In 1986-87 Darren was again top scorer in the reserve team with 11 goals. His last first team game for City came on 24 January 1987, a goalless draw at Wimbledon which also Paul Lake’s first team debut.
A spell on loan at Bury came in October 1985, where he gained some valuable experience and on 26 March 1987 he went on loan at Port Vale. The loan went well and on 25 June 1987 they made the move permanent, bringing to an end his Manchester City career. Darren’s most successful spell of his career came at Port Vale where he was signed permanently for a modest £15,000—a fee raised in part by fans doing bucket collections! He established himself as an electric and dominant striker, helping the club secure promotion to the Second Division via the play-offs in 1989 and finished as Port Vale’s top scorer for four consecutive seasons. In total, he scored 81 goals in 214 appearances for the club. This included a memorable goal in the FA Cup against City. I was there at Vale Park that day (this was the year we were convinced City’s name was on the cup. How wrong we were!). You can see his equaliser on this video (after about two minutes) but there’s also a great defensive moment from him earlier, plus the highlights are well worth watching to get a feel for how we all felt that day, plus to see Darren’s goal (top of the net and a good celebration).
A move to Norwich City followed (£925,000 – Vale’s record sale at the time) but he suffered with injuries while there. The main highlight of his time at Carrow Road was a crucial hat-trick against Everton that preserved Norwich’s top-flight status during the 1991–92 season.
On 24 March 1993 Darren was sold to Premier League side Oldham Athletic for £300,000, where he scored some vital top-flight goals for the Latics. He recorded 17 goals in 52 appearances before a severe hamstring injury halted his momentum and led to his release in 1996.
After leaving Oldham, he moved north to Scottish club Heart of Midlothian, where he helped them reach the 1996 Scottish League Cup final, scoring twice during his stay. A succession of brief, short-term spells at a variety of clubs including Fulham, Rushden & Diamonds, Preston North End, Walsall and Total Network Solutions followed before he retired in 1998.
The news of Darren’s death yesterday was an absolute shock and my thoughts remain with his family, friends and of course Jason. I think it’s worth ending this piece with the words from Once A Blue, the Manchester City Former Players Association. They commented on his death: ‘We are truly devastated at the news that one of our own, Darren Beckford, has sadly passed away at the age of 59. Raised in Ancoats and Longsight, Darren was a product of Manchester City’s youth system and made his senior debut against Middlesbrough in October 1984.
‘An athletic striker with a keen eye for goal, he played 12 times for the Blues before continuing his career at Port Vale, Norwich City and Oldham Athletic, among others. He made a total of 324 appearances as a professional footballer, accruing a tally of 100 goals. Darren’s younger brother Jason followed in his footsteps, playing for City between 1987 and 1991. The pair attended the Etihad together earlier this season to watch City v Norwich and both enjoyed this year’s Once A Blue Man City summertime catch-up in Manchester city centre (See image from Once A Blue below).
‘Jason would like to express his gratitude to the staff at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust for all their care and compassion, and would also like to thank Maggie’s Centres Manchester for providing invaluable advice and support to the Beckford family. On behalf of everyone at Once A Blue, may we offer our heartfelt condolences to Darren’s friends, family and team-mates as they come to terms with this huge loss. Rest in peace, Daz. You will never be forgotten Once a Blue, Always a Blue’
