With a year house-sharing with Preston North End manager Alex Neil and a spell playing in Ireland thrown in, Darren Young’s globe-trotting path from New Zealand to the first team manager’s job at Dodworth Miners Welfare has been unusual to say the least.
Former Barnsley full-back Young, appointed in March, is preparing for his first season at the helm of Barnsley-based Dodworth. He’s plotting to bring down last season’s Sheffield & Hallamshire County Senior League Premier Division would-be runaway champions Swinton Athletic – with the help of several NCEL players who have walked away from Step 6 because of the excessive midweek travelling demands facing those clubs this season.
His current footballing exploits are a long way from representing New Zealand at under 20 level and his time with Barnsley alongside characters like a young Jon Parkin at the turn of the millennium.
“It (the football journey) has been unconventional and it has kind of come full circle,” Dodworth chief Young tells Non League Yorkshire.
“When you live in New Zealand, not many people know where Barnsley is and I didn’t know too much about it when I signed.
“But it is one of those places where everyone is a good person and Yorkshire’s a really good place to live. We’re quite settled here and my wife (Claire) is from Ardsley and we’ve settled in Dodworth.”
Born in Whitehaven in Cumbria, Young emigrated with his family around the age of 11 to Auckland New Zealand where he played football for New Zealand Schoolboys.
His potential was spotted and he came back to UK at the age of 18 as part of the Kiwi invasion at Barnsley in the late 1990s. Via the contacts of coach Colin Walker, the ex-New Zealand and Red striker who went onto manage York City, a surge of talented young players arrived at separate intervals from the other side of the globe – Young, Jeremy Christie, Allan Pearce, Leo Bertos, Rory Fallon and Dave Mulligan among them.
Young signed a two-year professional deal and spent his initial months in Barnsley at the Ardsley House Hotel – ironically the location for his wedding to Claire.
A house share with Neil followed and Young admits the standard in training from New Zealand was eye-opening.
“We had really good youth players and you had people like Jonny (Parkin) in it, Rory, Ricky Ravenhill, Michael Welch, Craig Goodyear, who went on to be a decent Non League player, Carl Barraclough,” he says.
“But I think the big thing was coming from New Zealand into a professional environment and you’re like a rabbit in the headlights for a few months because you realise what it takes to be a professional footballer.
“I probably didn’t get to where I should have done. You can say injuries, but you look at Jon Parkin and an outsider looking in would say ‘lazy and likes a pint’, all that kind of stuff.
“You don’t have a career like his by not been dedicated. The big thing for me when I came from New Zealand to Barnsley was how good you have to be every day to make an impact.
“I was lucky to eek out nearly ten years out of it, but I did nothing compared to what some of the guys did. I was happy I was a professional footballer, but the guys who have played 500 games like Jon Parkin, you have to be special.
“In New Zealand, you don’t have to be that good to be a pro because you’re in a goldfish bowl. You can be the best player in New Zealand and think you’re god’s gift, but when you’re put in a environment when everyone is the best player in their town or school, you realise pretty quickly that you have to be on the ball.”
Barnsley were still riding the crest of the wave from the fabled 1997/98 Premier League season when Young stepped foot back in Britain. Whilst legendary manager Danny Wilson had moved to Sheffield Wednesday, ex-Sheffield United boss Dave Bassett had taken over and he went within a whisker of taking them back up in 2000 when they lost 4-2 to Ipswich Town in the Championship play-off final at Wembley.
“No I didn’t see the final and I’ll tell you what happened,” he says.
“I had my flight booked to go back to New Zealand, not expecting us to make the play-off final so I was on flight back when it was been played. The internet wasn’t as good back then and I think I found out the result via teletext.”
A major highlight was playing for New Zealand at the 2001 U-20 World Cup qualifiers – but he actually looks back at it in a different way.
“Captaining the New Zealand schoolboys is a highlight, but one of the biggest regrets is not kicking on with New Zealand,” he says.
“Nearly ten years I played for the under 20s, the senior team went to the World Cup. The national team wasn’t as strong when we were there (in 2001).
“Those who played their football in New Zealand had a better chance of players than someone who was playing overseas because finances didn’t suit. Looking back, whilst the under 20s was really good, the big regret is we didn’t play in the under 20s World Cup because we got beat by Australia in extra-time in the qualifiers.
“It was a really good time and we had a really good team, but it is a case of what might have been with that team because it was really strong.”
Unfortunately that’s also where Young’s time at Oakwell began to draw to a close – without a first team appearance to his name. Bassett was axed in December 2000 and no first team opportunities were forthcoming under his successor Nigel Spackman.
“Bassett got sacked and Spackman came in there was a massive cull when he came in and I was one of them who had to leave,” he says.
“That’s kind of how it ended. It ended before it started. There’s no real regrets. I had to get in front of Darren Barnard so I had no chance.
“When I was there the team was so strong. It is timing really. All the lads who had another year on their contract (after I left) ended up playing first team matches.
“So you’re Dave Mulligan’s and others, they had another year and got their chance as the club got rid of your Bruce Dyer’s, Darren Barnard’s and Craig Hignett’s, Neil Shipperley’s to get rid of the big wages and it meant they had to play youth.”
Young returned to New Zealand, representing Football Kingz in what is now effectively the Australian A-League. That’s when his career gradually went downhill because of injuries. A cruciate injury triggered a 16-month lay-off and with his footballing future uncertain (around 2005), there was a shock phone call from a voice from the past.
“I had been struggling with my knee for a while and Dave Bassett had a contact in Ireland who was looking out for players,” he says.
“Dave Bassett rang me out of the blue, I hadn’t spoken to him for three or four years. He basically said ‘I’ve got a friend of mine in Ireland who is starting pre-season and it will be perfect for you as I know you’ve been struggling’.
“He helped out a lot of his old players and looking back you realise that he keeps an eye on lads he signed. He tried to help me out when I left Barnsley. I could have gone to Rochdale, but I just wanted to get back to New Zealand so I ended up signing for somewhere I knew.”
So the bags were packed for Ireland where he played for Limerick, Waterford Town and Athlone Town and although injuries continued to play havoc, memories were made.
“Althone Town was the big highlight because they had a big money injection because they sold their old ground and built a new stadium,” he says.
“They then invested heavily in the team to get them promoted into the Premier. We had a really good team that year, with lads from higher up and some from overseas.
“That was really good time because there was a buzz in the Town and we were getting really good crowds at the start.
“Playing in Ireland was a really good time, I loved it and I’ve still got a house over there. We go back quite a bit and we have a lot of friends there. My daughter was born there too.”
Retirement from playing came in 2011 at Althone and the amount of time he spent on the treatment table over his 12-year career does rankle.
“The biggest regret I’ve got is all the injuries I picked up and I never played as much as I should have done,” he says.
“Every-time I got fit, I got injured again so I never had a run if you look at my appearances record. There’s probably spells of 40 or 50 games when they should have 100s, 250s, but I kept on breaking down with my knees.
“Towards the backend of it, I was getting injections just to play and I wasn’t even training half of the time. You soon get found out and I wasn’t enjoying it and I wasn’t getting the kind of the money I should have been getting because people were taking a chance on me.”
The end of his playing career also signalled a return to his adopted town – Barnsley.
“I met my wife when I first came to Barnsley and the plan was always to come back to Barnsley because she had travelled around with me for the best part of ten years,” he said.
“She’d travelled to New Zealand with me, then she lived in Ireland with me. When we had our daughter and I finished playing, it was the right time to come back.
“My daughter was born January 2012 and I think we were back in Barnsley by June 2012. We’ve back ever since. We go back to New Zealand as much as we can.
“We go back every two years and we were quite lucky as we went over in January. My mum and dad come over every years as well so we go over one year and they come over the next.”
Upon returning to South Yorkshire, football was the last thing on his mind. Coaching or manager in men’s football was never given a thought and it was not until around 2016 when the bug was back.
“When I went back to Athlone in 2011, I played the odd game when they were short, but I was nowhere near and I couldn’t get fit,” he says.
“I got into coaching and the guy who signed me at Waterford was the manager of Athlone at the time and he asked to me to go over. I took the under 19s and I was kind of first team coach so that gave me a bit of a taste of it.
“I then had a year’s break from it and I fell out of love with football a wee bit and I just wanted to spend time not watching football.
“That was it really and I never really had any desire to go into coaching or managing, but then one leads to another and you get back involved.
“I never planned to be a manager. I knew I wanted to do something in football, but I thought because my son is four I thought I’d probably get involved with his junior team when he’s old enough.
“There was never a major desire to be a manager, but circumstances change.
“I was at Dodworth when it started (in 2016) because my mate of 20 years Craig Allen (who is Young’s assistant manager) rang me because he was getting involved with them. He asked me to help out by putting a few sessions on for them to get them going and I ended up doing the first year with them.
“It was more a back-seat role, helping out when needed. I was at Wombwell Town last year with Karl Rose and James Dudgeon who were at Barnsley with me.
“The Dodworth job then came up earlier this year so I went back there.”
For as long as the new County Senior League does not start, Young remains Dodworth’s most successful manager ever. He replaced Darren Millington – who is now concentrating on his role helping to run the club – in March and led his side to victory over Wombwell Main in his first game. Several days later the season was over.
Ironically the club’s first match after lockdown was against Wombwell – literally five months to the day since the previous encounter. Dodworth won that 3-2 and they’ve since beaten Silkstone and Wombwell Town.
Young has also taken advantage of the discontent over the expected excessive midweek travelling in the NCEL by luring deadly marksman Jack Owen, along with Worsbrough Bridge’s Connor Rollinson and his young, but handy-looking brother Calan. One more NCEL starlet is expected to join as well.
The Dodsworth chief expects the quartet to add huge strength to the club’s mission to challenge Swinton for the title.
“What we’re lucky with at Dodworth is we have a really loyal strong group of players,” he says.
“Looking at this year to last year, we probably had the spine of the team, but looking at what we needed to push on, we probably needed more quality and more depth.
“We’ve signed Jack Owen, Connor Rollinson, Calan Rollinson and they give us something different and they give us experience of the higher level and we’re going to need that.
“You look at Jack Owen, he’s been picking money up for the last few years and that’a a testament to what we’re trying to do. We’ve been onto him for two or three months and it has never been a conversation about money because we don’t have it.
“It has been about how we see him playing for Dodworth and how he will help in the dressing room and on-the-field. He could be the difference for us in the league.
“The league is strong and you have your Swinton’s, North Gawber’s, Wakefield’s who are really strong teams. Looking back at last year we were 15 points away in second from Swinton when the season stopped. That is a lot of points to make up.
“Swinton are the benchmark. They are the champions. Everything we are doing is to make sure we’re closer to Swinton, but they’ll be thinking they can be kick on.
“These (new) players will get us closer. How closer, only time will tell. We have that depth now and it is now about getting the right team on the pitch and playing in the way we want to do.”
Young admits Owen and the Rollinson brothers may not be only players to quit the NCEL.
“The County Senior League, a lot of teams are good enough to go up into the NCEL,” he says.
“You look at Swinton, Wakefield and ourselves, we have players who can play in the NCEL like Danny Barlow, Simon Rogers; they’re players who have played higher.
“The difference between the leagues is the travel. I wouldn’t be surprised if more players come down. I’d welcome it because better players in the league makes the league better.”
Over the past few years, Dodworth have been seen as one of the more ambitious teams in the County Senior League.
But if they have aspirations of gaining promotion to the NCEL, the lack of floodlights holds them back. Having floodlights is a goal, but according to Young creating a long-term future is the main target, not promotion.
“I live in Dodworth so I’ve pretty close to everything and when I get into something, I throw my head into it,” he says.
“The ambition would be first of all to secure longevity in Dodworth and make sure they’re a senior team for the next ten/15 years. Us winning a league and not having a team in two years’ time isn’t good for anyone.
“We want to provide a pathway for our kids to come through and play for Dodworth which would make us stronger as a club.
“We have a really strong youth set-up so we’re trying to get that link closer to have a pathway up to the first team and we’re talking to the Football Foundation to see if we can improve our facilities.
“We want an under 21s team to bridge that gap between the 16s and the first team, but that would require us having floodlights. Floodlights would be a game-changer and massive for us.
“We want to make sure we are sustainable going forward. We’re not one of these clubs who I imagine would pay players, but what I think we can do is look after what we’ve got and provide them with the best facilities we can get and provide them with an atmosphere which makes them want to play for us.
“A lot of teams I’ve played, the changing room has been massive. The changing room wins you points so if you have a good changing room you can do anything. Everybody wants to play for each other. You could have the best team in the world, but if your changing room is rubbish, you get nowhere the top of the league.”
If you have enjoyed this interview, please consider making a donation to the not-for-profit organisation NLY Community Sport which provides sport for children and adults with disabilities and learning difficulties. CLICK HERE to visit the JustGiving page.
There is a video at the bottom of the page showing our work.
NLY Community Sport, run by James Grayson and Connor Rollinson, has always had combatting social isolation at the top of our objectives when running our Disability Football teams so when the green light to return is given, our work will play an important role in reintroducing our players, who have disabilities and learning difficulties, back into society.
We have six teams, a mixture of Junior and Adult teams – Nostell MW DFC, Pontefract Pirates, Selby Disability Football Club and the South Yorkshire Superheroes (Barnsley) – across Yorkshire.
We have enjoyed great success over the past three years. Several of our players have represented Mencap GB in Geneva, including Billy Hobson from Selby and Greg Smith, whose story is quite inspiring.
Like most organisations, we have been affected financially by the Coronavirus and we have incurred losses which we cannot recover. We have not been hit as badly as other organisations, but we do need raise £2000 to put us back at the level we were at in mid-March and enable us to make a difference once again to our players’ lives in the future, without having financial worries. As each day goes by, a substantial number of our players become further isolated so we need to be ‘ready for action’ when restrictions are lifted.
Any amount raised above £2000 will be put towards new projects (when the world returns to normal) designed to further benefit people with disabilities and learning difficulties. You can learn more about the organisation HERE and on our Facebook page.
Watch the video below to see highlights from our three years as an organisation. The video was produced for our players at the end of March to remind them of good memories from the last three years.