Darren Ferguson facts for kids
Ferguson managing Peterborough United in 2013
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Darren Ferguson | ||
| Date of birth | 9 February 1972 | ||
| Place of birth | Glasgow, Scotland | ||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
|
Current team
|
Peterborough United (manager) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Manchester United | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1990–1994 | Manchester United | 28 | (0) |
| 1994–1999 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 117 | (45) |
| 1999 | Sparta Rotterdam | 14 | (1) |
| 1999–2007 | Wrexham | 310 | (98) |
| 2007–2008 | Peterborough United | 28 | (1) |
| Total | 468 | (56) | |
| International career | |||
| 1992–1993 | Scotland U21 | 54 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2007–2009 | Peterborough United | ||
| 2010 | Preston North End | ||
| 2011–2015 | Peterborough United | ||
| 2015–2019 | Doncaster Rovers | ||
| 2019–2022 | Peterborough United | ||
| 2023– | Peterborough United | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Darren Ferguson (born 9 February 1972) is a Scottish football manager and former player. He is currently the manager of League One club Peterborough United. This is his fourth time managing the club. He has also managed Preston North End and Doncaster Rovers.
As a player, Darren played for Manchester United under his famous father, Sir Alex Ferguson. He helped Manchester United win the Premier League title and the FA Charity Shield in 1993. He then spent most of his playing career with Wolverhampton Wanderers and Wrexham in the lower football leagues in England.
Darren Ferguson started his managing career as a player-manager for League Two club Peterborough United in January 2007. He led the club to two promotions in a row. This helped them reach the second highest league in English football for the first time in 17 years. He later left Peterborough in November 2009.
He then managed Preston North End from January to December 2010. In January 2011, he returned to Peterborough. He led them to win the League One play-off final at Old Trafford. This meant another promotion to the Football League Championship. This was Peterborough's third promotion in four years! After two seasons in the Championship, Peterborough moved back down to League One in May 2013.
Contents
Playing Career
Darren Ferguson was born in Glasgow, Scotland. He is the son of the legendary former Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson. Darren has a twin brother named Jason and an older brother named Mark.
His father helped him join the youth teams at Manchester United. Darren made his first team debut in 1990. He played in Manchester United's first 15 games of the new Premier League season in 1992–93. This was when another player, Bryan Robson, was injured. Even though he didn't start many games after November, he played enough to earn a Premier League title winner's medal. At that time, you needed to play at least 10 matches to get one.
However, it was hard for him to get into the first team in 1993–94. He then moved to Wolverhampton Wanderers for £250,000. In his last season at Manchester United, he only played five times.
He played for Wolves for five years. During this time, they reached the Division One play-offs twice. They also finished in the top 10 four times. However, they never moved up to the Premier League. In 1999, he left Wolves to play for the Dutch team Sparta Rotterdam, but he only played 14 games there.
From 1999 to 2007, he played for Wrexham. He played 310 games and scored 51 goals. Ferguson was the captain when Wrexham won promotion to Division Two in 2002–03. He also led the club to win its first national trophy in English football, the Football League Trophy. He scored the second goal himself in a 2–0 win against Southend United in 2004–05.
Managerial Career
In 2001, when he was 29, Darren Ferguson was thought to be a possible manager for Wrexham. This was after the previous manager left. He helped the temporary manager at the time. Later, when manager Denis Smith was fired in January 2007, Ferguson was again considered for the job. He had played over 300 games for the club by then. However, another coach was chosen instead.
Peterborough United (First Time)
In January 2007, Darren Ferguson became the player-manager of League Two team Peterborough United. The previous manager had been fired after six straight losses. Ferguson led the club to finish 10th in his first season as manager. In his first full season, he guided Peterborough to second place in League Two, which meant they were promoted. He was named League Two Manager of the Month for March 2008.
In his second full season, 2008–09, he led Peterborough to second place again. This meant they were automatically promoted to the Championship. He also won the League One Manager of the Month award for March 2009. Ferguson left Peterborough in November 2009. Both sides agreed it was time for him to leave, as the club was at the bottom of the league table.
Preston North End
In January 2010, Ferguson became the manager of Preston North End. His first home game was an FA Cup match against Chelsea on 23 January 2010, which his team lost 2–0.
During his time as Preston manager, which lasted less than a year, Ferguson had an amazing comeback win in September 2010. His Preston team beat Leeds United 6–4 after being 4–1 down. After the match, Ferguson said he had "never been involved in such an amazing game."
After 49 games in charge, he was fired as manager on 29 December 2010. Preston North End was at the bottom of the Championship league. After he was fired, his father, Sir Alex Ferguson, immediately called back all three Manchester United players who were temporarily playing for Preston. Other teams also called back their players. This meant Preston lost five key players in one week, which made it very hard for the team to stay in that league.
Peterborough United (Second Time)
In January 2011, Darren Ferguson was re-appointed as manager at Peterborough. His first match back was a loss, but the next week, Peterborough beat Hartlepool United 4–0 at home.
The club finished fourth in League One. After beating Milton Keynes Dons 4–3 overall, they reached the play-off final at Old Trafford against Huddersfield Town. Peterborough defeated Huddersfield 3–0 to move back up to the Championship. This was just one year after they had moved down. By the end of that season, Peterborough had scored the most goals of any team in the country, with 106 goals in total.
Peterborough played two seasons in the Championship after winning promotion. Then, they moved back down to League One after losing to Crystal Palace 3–2 on the last day of the season. Peterborough was winning the match with seven minutes left, but they lost in the final minute. A draw would have been enough to keep them in the Championship. On 21 February 2015, Ferguson left Peterborough United again.
Doncaster Rovers
Ferguson became manager of League One club Doncaster Rovers on 16 October 2015. They moved down a league at the end of the 2015–16 season. However, they finished third in their only season in League Two. This meant the club won promotion back to League One in May 2017. Ferguson left his role as manager on 4 June 2018.
Peterborough United (Third Time)
Ferguson was appointed as manager of League One club Peterborough United on 26 January 2019 for the third time. In May 2021, Ferguson successfully guided Peterborough to promotion to the Championship. They had missed out on the play-offs the previous season because it was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic.
On 20 February 2022, Ferguson announced that he had resigned. This was the day after a last-minute 1–0 loss to a team also trying to avoid moving down a league.
Peterborough United (Fourth Time)
On 4 January 2023, Ferguson returned for his fourth time as manager to Peterborough United. He signed a contract until the end of the season. The club was in eighth place in League One at the time. They finished in sixth place, which earned them a spot in the play-offs. In the play-off semi-final, Peterborough lost on penalties to Sheffield Wednesday, even though they had won the first game 4–0. At the end of the 2022–23 season, Ferguson signed a new three-year contract.
In the 2023–24 season, Ferguson won his second EFL Trophy title. They defeated Wycombe Wanderers in the final at Wembley. In the league, Peterborough finished fourth but lost the League One play-off semi-final to Oxford United.
In the 2024–25 season, Peterborough did not get promoted. However, they became the first team to win the EFL Trophy two years in a row. They beat Birmingham City in the final.
Honours
As a player
Manchester United
- Premier League: 1992–93
- FA Charity Shield: 1993
Wrexham
- FAW Premier Cup: 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2003–04; runner-up: 2004–05, 2005–06
- Football League Trophy: 2004–05
As a manager
Peterborough United
- Football League Trophy / EFL Trophy: 2013–14, 2023–24, 2024–25
- Football League One / EFL League One second-place promotion: 2008–09, 2020–21
- Football League One play-offs: 2011
- Football League Two second-place promotion: 2007–08
Doncaster Rovers
- EFL League Two third-place promotion: 2016–17
Individual
- LMA Manager of the Year: 2009 League One
- Football League One / EFL League One Manager of the Month: March 2009, February 2011, April 2014, August 2014, October 2019, October 2020, February 2021
- Football League Two / EFL League Two Manager of the Month: March 2008, January 2017
- EFL Manager of the Season: 2016–17
