Way to go, Darren

FanZoner Ben Barrett pays tribute to a real-life legend

On Thursday Yeovil Town midfielder Darren Way retired from playing football in an emotional press conference. Darren has failed to recover sufficiently from a horrendous car accident in December of 2008.

Despite fighting hard, firstly to remain alive, then to be able to do the simple things most of take for granted – the ability to walk, run and kick a ball – he has finally decided a return to the playing field isn’t for him.

This blog is dedicated to him, one of Yeovil Town’s greatest servants, who will remain up with the Terry Skivertons and Alec Stocks as legends of the Somerset club.

Darren has had two spells at the club – a short spell in Swansea in the middle only preventing him from being a one-club man, a combined total of 274 appearances and 36 goals mean the diminutive midfielder will forever be remembered by the Glovers faithful.

When he arrived at the club from Norwich, where he failed to ever make the grade, he was a tiny central midfielder with Beckham-like floppy hair and a smile from ear to ear, his professional attitude and Yorkshire Terrier approach meant he was intermediately a hit at Huish Park.

Under Gary Johnson, Way along with Skiverton and a number of others ,went on to claim the Conference title, the FA Trophy as well as League Two – his honours don’t end there either; he has been capped alongside Michael Owen for England Under16’s and went on to play for the England National XI – the national side for amateur players.

Adoring

When Swansea came calling – then a side rapidly hurtling towards the Premier League – an estimated £150,000 was reluctantly accepted and Darren went off to Wales, where fans loved him as much as we did.

It was Russell Slade who brought him back to Yeovil, and back to his adoring fans, Slade described the signing as one of the most important in the club’s history – signs that Yeovil Town would once again be based around a spine of Skiverton and Way.

Way’s ability to leap above the taller midfielders, his non-stop running and his box-to-box attitude ensured his name found it’s way onto many replica shirts, but just under a decade of service was cut short in December 2008 in a matter of seconds.

He was moving house, along with the stadium manager; they were transferring his belongings from old to new, when the accident occurred – a devastating accident that left the stadium manager nursing injuries, but left Darren with broken arms, legs, and a dislocated hip. Nine operations were to follow, along with an almighty amount of physio.

But there was always belief. He made appearances in a wheelchair at Yeovil games, a half-time lap of honour in February 2009 was the first time fans got to see ‘Weasel’ since the crash.

If fans are honest, we never expected to see him in a Yeovil shirt again; however there was a feeling that if anyone could, Darren could.

Erupted

We were to get one last glimpse of him in action, the Terry Skiverton testimonial game, my highlight of the last decade. With seconds on the clock, Skiverton was brought off to a huge reception – that was until we saw who was coming on.

The stands erupted; some, like me, were crying,some stood in awe, others just clapped forever. Darren Way got a total of 30 seconds on the pitch, touched the ball once, but that must have been the best feeling ever for him.

Since that moment, he has taken a role as a backroom member of staff, coaching and scouting for Skiverton and the side – I for one hope he has a job for life at Yeovil.

For me, the term ‘legend’ gets thrown around too much in sport, but to be a continued success at one club for so long whilst going through something so terrible – and despite all that wanting to work for his friend and colleague Terry Skiverton – Darren has earned the title.

Darren Way: thank you – and good luck in your new role at Huish Park – I can hear the fans singing now “Three points for Darren Way.”

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