Discovered by Brentford chairman Ron Noades, playing for Hampton & Richmond in the Conference South, Darren Powell then spent seven seasons among London League clubs, before he had a choice, in the summer of 2005, as to which way to get out of town: to Reading or to Southampton? Both sides were in the Championship, the Royals having come up the season before while the Saints were newly-relegated from the top flight. Darren opted for the Saints, who were, whom he considered “more ambitious” under Harry Redknapp, whose presence “swayed” him. He slotted into a regular partnership at centre-back with Claus Lundekvam, but Redknapp was gone by Christmas and Darren would never have another sustained run in the side – a side marooned in the Championship as Reading steamed into the Premiership.

On his day, Darren was an agile, powerful rearguard presence, but his opportunities at St Mary’s were handicapped by a cruciate-ligament injury which, he regrets, “slowed me down”.

Released in 2008, he kept on the move and when his one-year contract at MK Dons expired in the summer of 2010, he became a free agent. Now out of the game, he kept himself fit. So when his first club, Hampton & Richmond, by now in the Ryman League, invited him to return in January 2012, he agreed to “get my old boots on.” Then, in April 2013, he became the joint player-manager until the end of the season. That arrangement worked well enough for it to be made permanent, but after some poor results at the start of the 2013-14 season he was dismissed.