The Transfer Record: Darren Eadie
Born in Wiltshire, Darren joined Norwich City as a 16-year-old. In the 1993/94 season, when he was 18, he broke into the first team, playing in the Canaries’ memorable UEFA Cup run, when they beat Vitesse Arnhem and Bayern Munich, before being defeated by Inter Milan.
He became an established first team player the following season when Norwich were relegated from the Premier League.
Darren also enjoyed playing for Martin O’Neill in 1995/96 before the Irishman was appointed manager of Leicester City in December 1995.
By this time, he was an England Under-21s international, winning seven caps, playing with the likes of Emile Heskey, Rio Ferdinand, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt.
He was Norwich's top goalscorer in 1996/97 and was voted Norwich City’s Player of the Year.
In the summer of 1997, Eadie was selected for Glenn Hoddle’s England squad for the Tournoi de France, but was injured and had to withdraw.
This was the start of the injury nightmare which was to bedevil Darren’s career in subsequent years.
He played in less than half of Norwich City’s games for the next two seasons due to injury, but he started the 1999/2000 season strongly.
However, Norwich were forced to sell him in December 1999 due to financial problems. Darren chose to move to Leicester.
After playing for O’Neill at Carrow Road, another factor was his father, born and bred in Leicester, and a season ticket holder at Filbert Street.
He was cup tied, though, so missed playing in City’s League Cup winning team of 2000. However, his time at Leicester was marred by a serious knee injury.
He made less than 50 appearances for the Club, missing two complete seasons, and he was forced to retire in the summer of 2003 at the age of 28.
This was a devastating blow which he found difficult to come to terms with.
Since retiring, Darren has, among other things, worked in the media with local radio and Sky Sports, established a charity website and coached Norwich City academy players.