Darren Fletcher is regarded as one of the best of the current crop of Manchester United youngsters. Living in Dalkeith, outside Edinburgh, he was discovered playing with Edinburgh side Hutchison Vale, aged 11 by Reds scout Andy Perry. The scout immediately made plans to take him to Old Trafford to meet boss Sir Alex. Darren impressed Fergie and was asked to come down to trials four times a year.
Despite having had been on the books of both Rangers and Celtic, it was an easy decision to move south as the United manager told him if he was good enough he would get a chance no matter what superstars were in the side. Fletcher joined Manchester United as a trainee in July 2000, turning professional in February of the following year.
He was so good a prospect that Roy Keane tried to use his Irish mother as a means to make him play for the Republic of Ireland. That is until Fergie stepped in to save the day for Scotland and Fletcher committed himself to the Tartan Army, much to the Scottish manager, Berti Vogts' relief.
Sir Alex Ferguson rated the midfielder very highly given the fact he had a squad number while only 16 years of age. Fergie stated many times that he believed Fletcher had the talent to become one of the best in the country. Darren made his debut in March 2003 in a 1-1 Champions League draw at home to FC Basle at the age of 19 and has featured in several of the opening games of the 2003-2004 season.
The midfielder represented Scotland at Youth and Under-21 level, before finally earning his first full Scottish cap against Norway in Oslo on 20th August 2003 coming off the bench in the second half. Better was to come as he scored the crucial winner against Latvia to take the Scots into the European Championship play-offs in October 2003.
In his younger days Fletcher was mainly a creative central midfield player, but he was deployed largely operate on the right wing. The young Scot had a four-year contract signed in October 2003 to keep him at Old Trafford until June 2007, which was later extended to 2009.
In the 2003-2004 season he was given his opportunity to make an impression on the first team by the boss. Darren started 25 games and was sub nine times. Playing mainly on the wing, opinion was divided on the young star's contribution but towards the end of the season he had impressed many of the Old Trafford faithful with solid composed performances.
Enough that he edged out long standing stalwarts Nicky Butt and Phil Neville for a starting place in the FA Cup Final. At the end of the season he was named the new captain of Scotland despite being aged only 20 and is one of the Scots most influential players.
In 2005 Fletcher further established his place in the United first team, despite a spell on the sidelines after damaging knee ligaments in February. He returned at the end to score two goals, against Charlton and Southampton as well as playing in the FA Cup final. In the following season he scored the winner at home to Chelsea which was especially poignant having suffered the brunt of Roy Keane's stinging verbal attack in the now infamous MUTV interview. "I can't understand why people in Scotland rave about Darren Fletcher" Keane had said.
Fletcher was a regular in the starting eleven for the vast majority of the 2005-2006 campaign. His role was now becoming less creative and more as a defensive midfield lynchpin. In the last few months, despite no serious injury he was consigned to substitute appearances and did not even make the bench. Some suggested this was an indication his days at Old Trafford were numbered.
However, this was far from the case and last season the Scot started 26 matches, (including the FA Cup final) was sub 14 times and bagged 3 goals including the winner in a 2-1 win at Middlesbrough. Though Michael Carrick was the favoured partner for Scholes, Fletcher's high energy style showed continued improvement.
This was especially true in the 7-1 win over Roma in which he made sure the Reds did not miss the suspended Scholes. The Scot has gone a long way to convince fans he is now more than a utility player and will be at Old Trafford for a good while yet.
Squad Number: 24
Position: Midfield
Place of Birth: Edinburgh, Scotland
Date Of Birth: 01/ 02/ 1984
Height: 6'0
Weight: 13st 1lbs
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