Darel Russell

Darel Russell

Personal information
Full name	Darel Francis Roy G. Russell[1]
Date of birth	22 October 1980 (1980-10-22) (age 31)
Place of birth	Mile End, London, England
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Preston North End
Number	20
Youth career
	Norwich City
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1997–2003	Norwich City	132	(6)
2003–2007	Stoke City	171	(16)
2007–2010	Norwich City	112	(10)
2010–	Preston North End	27	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19:00, 9 August 2010 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals).

Darel Francis Roy G. Russell (born 22 October 1980) is an English footballer who plays for Preston North End. He plays as a central midfielder although during his career has been known for his versatility. Russell started his career at Norwich City before moving to Stoke City in 2003. He spent four years with The Potters before returning to Norwich. In July 2010 he joined Preston on a free transfer.

Career

Norwich City

Born in Mile End, England, Russell began his career as a youth player at Norwich City. After six years and over a hundred appearances in Norwich's midfield in 2003 Russell left to join Stoke City.

Stoke City

Russell joined Stoke in 2003 for £125,000, when he was 23. He played regularly under managers Tony Pulis and Johan Boskamp, missing only a handful of matches during a season. He began his Stoke career playing at right back, before being moved to a right winger and then central midfield. Russell won the Championship player of the month award for November 2006.^[2] He became a very versatile player for Stoke and made over 170 appearances before returning to Norwich.

Return to Norwich

On 30 July 2007, Russell rejoined the Canaries for an undisclosed fee (reported to be around the £410,000 marked down from £600,000 due to a 30% sell-on clause the canaries had in the deal taking Russell to Stoke in 2003), on a three-year contact.^[3] Norwich were relegated to League One after a poor season in the Championship in the 2008–09 season. In the summer of 2009 Norwich rejected a bid of £500,000 from Premier League newcomers Burnley.^{[citation needed]} Norwich's asking price was believed to be around £750,000.^{[citation needed]} After staying at Norwich Russell played a major part in earning them promotion to the Championship at the first time of asking after winning League One, putting in some impressive performances at the heart of central midfield under manager Paul Lambert, with Russell occupying a more defensive central midfield position in a diamond formation.^{[citation needed]}

On 1 July 2010, it was confirmed that Russell had rejected the offer from Norwich City of a new contract, and he was released.

Preston North End

Russell signed for Preston North End on a three year deal on 4 August 2010.^[4]

Personal life

His sister Shar Alexander (real name Sharlene Russell), is a singer in the band 'Miss Frank' who competed in the sixth series of X Factor.^[5]

Career statistics

Club	Season	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Norwich City	1997–98	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	1998–99	13	1	0	0	0	0	13	1
	1999–00	33	4	1	0	2	0	36	4
	2000–01	41	1	1	0	5	2	47	3
	2001–02	23	0	2	0	1	0	26	0
	2002–03	21	0	3	0	0	0	24	0
Stoke City	2003–04	46	4	2	0	2	0	50	4
	2004–05	45	2	1	0	1	0	47	2
	2005–06	37	3	1	0	1	0	39	3
	2006–07	43	7	2	0	1	0	46	7
Norwich City	2007–08	39	4	2	0	3	0	44	4
	2008–09	38	4	2	0	1	0	41	4
	2009–10	35	3	2	0	0	0	37	3
Preston North End	2010–11	18	0	1	0	2	0	21	0
Career total		433	33	20	0	20	2	473	35

Honours

Club

Norwich City

• League One champions: 2009–10

References

1. ^ "List of Players under Written Contract Registered Between 01/08/2010 and 31/08/2010" (PDF). The Football Association. http://www.thefa.com/TheFA/RulesandRegulations/~/media/Files/PDF/TheFA/PlayerRegistrations/August%202010.ashx/August%202010.pdf. Retrieved 2010-10-14. 
2. ^ "Russell claims Championship award". BBC News. 10 December 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/stoke_city/6166651.stm. 
3. ^ RUSSELL RE-JOINS CANARIES | Norwich City | News | First News | First News
4. ^ "Preston sign former Norwich midfielder Darel Russell". BBC Sport. 4 August 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/p/preston/8885580.stm. Retrieved 26 August 2010. 
5. ^ Miss Frank form at bootcamp

External links

• Darel Russell profile at the Norwich City website
• Darel Russell career stats at Soccerbase

Persondata
Name	Russell, Darel
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	22 October 1980
Place of birth	Mile End, London, England
Date of death
Place of death