On this day in 1987, Darron Gibson was born in Londonderry in Northern Ireland. His time on Wearside could be described as eventful, but it was all off the pitch.
In his career as a young talent he played for Northern Irish side Institute Football Club for just one season before he went to play for Manchester United’s academy in the 2005-2006 season. And again, it only took him one season to impress Sir Alex Ferguson enough to make his senior debut for United on the 26th October 2005 against Barnet in The League Cup. But along with other previous Sunderland players, Jonny Evans and Frazier Campbell, Ferguson decided that Gibson should be sent on loan to Belgian side Royal Antwerp and then the next season to Wolverhampton Wanderers. The Derryman would feature frequently for both teams during his time there.
Gibson, as a youngster, was rated very highly before and after his loan spells so it was no surprise that he would make his Premier League and Champions League debut in quick succession with just 10 days between them in 2008. In that same year Man Utd had qualified for the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan, where he would get a winner’s medal despite not making any appearances to contribute to The Red Devils’ success. But he would start in the League Cup final later that season, where United would beat Tottenham Hotspur 4-1 on penalties after a 0-0 draw after full time. Despite these triumphs, Gibson would not feature that regularly for United so in January of 2012 he left. David Moyes signed him for Everton but again he would feature irregularly, as he got a knee injury while on national duty for The Republic Of Ireland in 2013. Injuries would be a regular concern for Gibson, who never managed to string together a solid number of games.
And so, the previous wonderkid, now 29 years of age, signed for Sunderland AFC in 2017 and I think it would be fair to say from his first day to his last at the club it was a travesty to behold and bear witness to. Just to begin with, once he had joined the Lads in the 2016/17 January transfer window along with Everton teammate Bryan Oviedo, we won only two games until the end of the season. One of which was against Hull City, after we had already been relegated. And Gibson wasn’t even in the squad!
It was too little too late for us, and so The Black Cats’ 10 year stay in The Premier League was over and we were a EFL Championship side for the first time since Roy Keane was in charge. Darron Gibson had made zero impact since signing as our new ‘midfield maestro’ in January, and became one of several players stealing a living at that time.
The following pre-season did not go as planned for Sunderland, as we were beaten at home by Celtic 5-0 after which Darron Gibson was seen drunk and belligerent. He was videoed talking to some fans where he described with grace and elegance what he thought of Sunderland and their recent performances. “We’re fucking shit” was the way he put it and he also claimed that “there are too many at the club who don't give a fuck.” And when asked who he meant he responded with “You tell me”. He later confirmed that he meant Lamine Kone, Jeremain Lens and Wahbi Khazri. Personally I also assume he meant Jack Rodwell but that’s just me.
This outburst was only the first of his two controversies that season and only one of many of Sunderland’s problems as we quickly turned from promotion favourites to relegation battlers. His second controversy isn't as funny unfortunately as he was involved in a crash in March 2018 where he crashed his Mercedes, while drunk and on sleeping pills, into parked cars and took a taxi’s wing mirror off in West Boldon. After this incident, he was charged and Sunderland relinquished him of his duties.
Darron Gibson's career after leaving Sunderland was also lacklustre, as he would play for Wigan Athletic next but after finishing 18th in The EFL Championship, he was again released. Darron was offered a six-month contract for Salford City but as the Covid-19 crisis came the club were forced to release him. He’s been without a professional club ever since…
