Darren Ambrose

Darren Paul Francis Ambrose (born 29 February 1984) is an English retired footballer who played as a midfielder.

Ambrose began his career with Ipswich Town when he joined the club's Academy at the age of eleven.

Born in Harlow, Ambrose joined the Academy at Ipswich Town at the age of eleven, where he progressed through the club's Centre of Excellence before joining the Academy full-time in the summer of 2000.

He broke into the reserve team during the 2000–01 season after helping the under-17 team to the league title.

He broke through to the first-team in April 2002 in a 2–0 Premiership defeat to Arsenal.

After establishing himself as a regular during the 2002–03 season, Ambrose was sold to Newcastle United for £1 million.

He made his first-team debut on 21 April 2002 when manager George Burley brought him on for the final five minutes of Ipswich's 2–0 defeat to Arsenal at Highbury, replacing Martijn Reuser.

Ipswich were relegated from the Premiership the same season, but this allowed Ambrose a place in the starting line-up for their opening First Division fixture of the 2002–03 season against Walsall on 10 August 2002.

He scored on what was his first start for the club with the opening goal after 37 minutes.

He scored again as Ipswich thrashed Leicester City 6–1 at Portman Road on 18 August, before scoring his third in five games in their 8–1 UEFA Cup win against Avenir Beggen on 29 August.

Ambrose has represented England at under-20 and under-21 level, scoring two goals in ten appearances between 2003 and 2006 for the under-21s, and scoring one goal in four games for the under-20s at the 2005 Toulon Tournament.

After making 37 appearances across the season and scoring eleven goals, Ambrose was sold to Newcastle United on 24 March 2003.

With Ipswich in financial difficulty after falling into administration, the club were forced to sell Ambrose outside of the transfer window for a fee in the region of £1 million.

Ambrose would later say that he "did not want to go" when he was sold to Newcastle, and that he was "sad to leave" Ipswich.

After signing for Newcastle United on 24 March 2003, Ambrose had to wait until the final game of the season to make his debut for the first-team.

Replacing Nolberto Solano in the 76th minute, Ambrose helped his side to a 2–2 draw against relegated West Bromwich Albion on 11 May 2003.

Ambrose made a scoring start to the 2003–04 season with the last goal in the Magpies 5–0 UEFA Cup first round win against NAC Breda on 24 September 2003.

He scored his first Premiership goal away to Leicester City on Boxing Day with a last gasp equaliser to earn a 1–1 draw for his side, five minutes after being introduced as a substitute.

He made his first start for the club after 18 first-team appearances on 31 January 2004 in Newcastle's 1–1 draw with Birmingham City at St Andrew's.

He was replaced by Craig Bellamy after 75 minutes of play.

He scored once more during the season when he sealed a late point away at Southampton on 12 May during a 3–3 draw.

Ambrose made 37 appearances in all competitions over the course of the season, scoring three times.

With Bobby Robson sacked by Newcastle at the end of August 2004, Ambrose found first-team opportunities limited during the early stages of the season.

Under new manager Graeme Souness, Ambrose made his first appearance of the season in Newcastle's 5–1 UEFA Cup win against Bnei Sakhnin in Israel on 30 September 2004, replacing Laurent Robert on 62 minutes.

He scored his fourth Newcastle goal on 31 October during a 2–1 defeat to Bolton Wanderers.

He made over 50 appearances for Newcastle before joining Charlton Athletic in 2005 for £1.5 million.

A four-year stay at The Valley saw Ambrose make over 120 appearances, while he also spent time away on loan at his former club Ipswich in the latter stages of his spell with the Addicks.

After making 10 appearances until 9 January 2005, Ambrose was out of action for three months, but made a return on 10 April in Newcastle's 1–0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane.

He then appeared in all of Newcastle's remaining Premiership games until the end of the season and scored two goals in the process; the opener against Manchester United in an eventual 2–1 defeat at Old Trafford on 24 April, and another opening goal in a 3–1 away win at Fulham on 4 May.

After finding first-team chances hard to come by, Ambrose joined Charlton Athletic for an undisclosed fee on 8 July 2005 after Charlton had "made an offer that matches our valuation of the player" according to Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd.

He signed a four-year contract with the London club, for an estimated fee of £1.5 million.

Ambrose made his Charlton debut on 13 August 2005 when they defeated Sunderland 3–1 at the Stadium of Light.

However, despite the win, Ambrose was sent off after 55 minutes for a lunge on Sunderland defender Stephen Wright.

He scored his first goal for the club in only his third game on 22 October with an equalising goal during a 2–1 win at Portsmouth.

He joined Crystal Palace on a free transfer ahead of the 2009–10 season, making 110 league appearances in three seasons.

He signed for Birmingham City for a £250,000 fee in 2012, spending two seasons with the Championship club, but failed to establish himself in the first-team.

He was loaned to Greek Superleague side Apollon Smyrni in January 2014, where he scored six goals in eleven outings.

Ambrose was released by Birmingham in the summer of 2014, before he rejoined Ipswich on a permanent basis following a trial.

He made just eight appearances for his boyhood club before being released the following summer.

Ambrose then signed a one-year contract with League One club Colchester United in August 2015.