He then played an integral role in England’s run to the semi-finals of Euro 96 under Terry Venables – starting all five matches and setting up one of England’s all-time great goals, Paul Gascoigne’s flick over Colin Hendrie and volley against Scotland.
Two tough years followed – he only featured in 31 of a possible 76 Premier League games as injuries struck – but, like Venables, he had another manager who believed in him and Glenn Hoddle named him in his squad for the 1998 World Cup.
Then, when England needed it most, Darren delivered, opening the scoring in a must-win final group match against Colombia, as he fired into the top corner. David Beckham quickly added a second and England were through but, unfortunately, the penalty jinx struck again as hopes were ended by Argentina in the Round of 16.
A League Cup winner in 1999, Darren went on to make 358 appearances for us between 1992-2004 and played for Birmingham City, Wolves and AFC Bournemouth before retiring in 2009. He won 30 caps, scoring seven goals.
Now based in California, Darren, speaking to us earlier this week, told us how America and co-hosts Mexico and Canada are embracing the tournament - which kicked-off last night with Mexico’s 2-0 win against South Africa - his hopes for England and continuing our series ‘what’s it like to…’
Q1 | You’re based in California, has the American public taken to co-hosting the tournament?
Darren: “Yes, they definitely have. Where we are, it's not a massive footballing area. We're not far from San Jose, which is, and then San Francisco's got the World Cup matches, LA has as well and everyone I speak, they’re all interested in the World Cup. From what I’ve seen, they’re really going for it. It’s everywhere on TV. Of course, a lot of the talking points here are ticket prices, hotels, transport, but it’s such a corporate world now. For instance, try to get to the Super Bowl, it's ridiculous. Try to go and watch the Golden State Warriors basketball, it's four or five hundred dollars. It is the nature of the beast, unfortunately.”
Q2 | You enjoyed such a fantastic Euro 96, but you had to come through a lot to make it to the World Cup in 1998…
Darren: “I'd had such a time of it, you know, from Euro 96 with the injuries, those two seasons were just so difficult for me. You know what though, it was all worth it, right? I thought I was going to miss out on the World Cup. It was my dream to play for England, to play at a World Cup. Every kid grows up pretending he's scoring a goal for England in the World Cup. We all dream of it playing in the back garden, smashing the ball against the garage door that ends up being broken and your mum and dad going mad! We all did that!”
Q3 | So, tell us, what’s it like to score for England at the World Cup?
Darren: “It's a moment that… nothing gets close to it. I have to be honest, in terms of, you know, footballing life, you have great seasons, you have great games, you score great goals, but nothing can quite... nothing can match the emotion of that moment for me.”
It was a great goal as well, rifled into the top corner!
Darren: “Yes, it's nice that it was a good goal! You know what? I just always go back to watching Alan Ball growing up at Portsmouth, how lucky I was to have that, and it's all about your first touch. That sets it up. Then your technique, which is something you practise on and to hit a volley and catch it as sweet as a nut is like, wow, beautiful!”
Q4 | Did scoring at the World Cup change anything for you?
Darren: “It's the biggest moment in my footballing life. You know, just that one moment, that one second when the ball hits the back of the net and you're a World Cup goalscorer for England. We needed to beat Colombia and to score the first goal and then David Beckham scores as well - everyone obviously wants to talk about that! Even now, almost 30 years on, I played at the World Cup, scored at the World Cup with David Beckham – that kind of makes people sit up and go, ‘wow, okay, yeah’.”
Q5 | Finally Darren, what about this time around – hopes for England?
Darren: “It's a tough one. I want to say England – and yes, we can do it, for sure. However, I really like the French. I just think that they've got such a good mentality now. They've had nightmares in the past, like every team has, but I think that's the squad that stands out to me - they're going to be the team to beat. Then, you always think when it's over here, North America, South America, it's the South American teams that will win it. So, for me, Brazil and Argentina, you've got to look at them as well, but I think the best team all round is probably France.”