Darren Purse, English footballer
Darren John Purse (born 14 February 1977) is an English former professional footballer who now coaches the Cardiff City U23s.
A centre back, he began his career at Leyton Orient, before winning a £100,000 move to Oxford United in July 1996. He continued to impress, and was bought by Birmingham City for £700,000 in February 1998. He played for the "Blues" in the Premier League and the 2001 Football League Cup Final, before switching to West Bromwich Albion for a £750,000 fee in June 2004. After a year with the "Baggies", he was transferred to Championship side Cardiff City for just under £1 million.
Appointed as club captain, he was an unused substitute in the 2008 FA Cup Final, where they were defeated by Portsmouth. He joined Sheffield Wednesday in July 2009, and was again appointed as captain. The "Owls" suffered relegation into League One, and he moved on to Millwall in January 2011. Loaned out to Yeovil Town, he switched to Plymouth Argyle for a 12-month spell in January 2012.
He left Plymouth for Port Vale in January 2013, and helped the club to secure promotion out of League Two in 2012–13. He left England in August 2013 to play for Finnish club IFK Mariehamn, before heading into English non-League football with Chesham United, Welling United, Staines Town, AFC Rushden & Diamonds, Hayes & Yeading United, Bishop's Stortford, and Enfield Town. Over the course of his 24-year playing career he made 796 league and cup appearances, scoring a total of 51 goals.