Harry Darling

Harry Jack Darling (born 8 August 1999) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for League One club Milton Keynes Dons.

Harry Darling
Personal information
Full name Harry Jack Darling[1]
Date of birth (1999-08-08) 8 August 1999
Place of birth Cambridge, England
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[2]
Position(s) Centre-back
Club information
Current team
 Milton Keynes Dons
Number 6
Youth career
2011–2012 Cambridge United
0000–2015 Newmarket Town
2015–2016 Cambridge United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2021 Cambridge United 55 (2)
2017 → Bishop's Stortford (loan) 2 (0)
2017 → Hampton & Richmond (loan) 2 (0)
2017 → Royston Town (loan) 8 (0)
2018 → East Thurrock United (loan) 5 (0)
2021– Milton Keynes Dons 64 (7)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 1 May 2022 (UTC)

Club career

Cambridge United

Darling joined Cambridge United at the age of 12, but left a year later. After being spotted again playing for Newmarket Town's youth team, he rejoined the club in 2015. Darling joined the first team for pre-season ahead of the 2016–17 campaign. On 8 November 2016, he made his debut in a 2–0 EFL Trophy defeat to Scunthorpe United.[3]

He signed his first professional contract with the club in October 2016.[4] On 8 August 2017, Darling started in a 4–1 EFL Cup defeat at Bristol Rovers.[5] He made his full league debut for the club on 13 January 2018 in a 0–0 draw against Mansfield Town. On 17 August 2019, he scored his first professional goal, an 86th-minute winner against Colchester United.

Milton Keynes Dons

On 22 January 2021, Darling joined League One club Milton Keynes Dons for an undisclosed fee,[6] and made his debut four days later in a 0–1 home defeat to Charlton Athletic.[7] Despite only being with the club since the January transfer window, he was named MK Dons' Young Player of the Year for the 2020–21 season after just 21 appearances.[8]

On 31 August 2021, whilst captaining the side, Darling scored his first goal for the club, on his 100th start as a professional, in a 2–1 EFL Trophy group stage win away over Burton Albion.[9] He scored his first league goal on 27 November 2021, in a 4–0 away win over Morecambe.[10]

After an impressive first full season season at the club in which he scored 10 goals in all competitions from centre-back, Darling was named in the EFL League One Team of the Season for 2021–22 alongside teammate Scott Twine.[11]

Career statistics
As of 30 April 2022.
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Cambridge United 2016–17[12] League Two 0000001[lower-alpha 1]010
2017–18[13] League Two 3000101[lower-alpha 1]050
2018–19[14] League Two 12000104[lower-alpha 1]0170
2019–20[15] League Two 24210203[lower-alpha 1]0302
2020–21[16] League Two 16000004[lower-alpha 1]1201
Total 5521040131733
Bishops Stortford (loan) 2016–17[17] National League South 20———20
Hampton & Richmond (loan) 2017–18[17] National League North 20———20
Royston Town (loan) 2017–18[18] Southern Premier 80——2[lower-alpha 2]1101
East Thurrock United (loan) 2017–18[17] National League North 50———50
Milton Keynes Dons 2020–21[16] League One 230——00230
2021–22[19] League One 4172210314710
Total 6472210317010
Career total 1369325018316214
  1. Appearance(s) in EFL Trophy.
  2. Two appearances and a goal in FA Trophy, one appearance in Southern League Cup.

Honours

Cambridge United

Individual

References
  1. "Notification of shirt numbers" (PDF). English Football League. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 9 November 2019. Retrieved 9 November 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "Cambridge United vs. Scunthorpe United - Football Match Summary - November 8, 2016 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
  4. "HARRY DARLING SIGNS THREE YEAR PROFESSIONAL CONTRACT WITH U'S". Retrieved 14 August 2017.
  5. "Bristol Rovers 4-1 Cambridge United". BBC Sport. 8 August 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
  6. "Harry Darling: MK Dons sign Cambridge United defender". BBC. 22 January 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  7. "Milton Keynes Dons 0-1 Charlton Athletic". BBC. 26 January 2021. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  8. "Lewington named Player of the Year!". Milton Keynes Dons. 7 May 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  9. "Report: Burton Albion 1-2 MK Dons". Milton Keynes Dons. 31 August 2021. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
  10. "Report: Morecambe 0-4 MK Dons". www.mkdons.com. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  11. "Football Manager EFL Team of the Season line-ups announced". EFL.com. 24 April 2022. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  12. "Games played by Harry Darling in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  13. "Games played by Harry Darling in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  14. "Games played by Harry Darling in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  15. "Games played by Harry Darling in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  16. "Games played by Harry Darling in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  17. "H. Darling". Soccerway. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  18. "Appearances/Scorers". Royston Town. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  19. "Games played by Harry Darling in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
  20. "Scott Twine named MK Dons Player of the Year". Milton Keynes Dons. 1 May 2022. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
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