Darnell Fisher

Darnell Fisher

Personal information
Full name	Darnell Theophilous Fisher [1]
Date of birth	(1994-04-04) 4 April 1994 (age 30) [2]
Place of birth	Reading, England
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) [2]
Position(s)	Right-back
Youth career
2010–2011	Farnborough
2011–2013	Celtic
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2013–2016	Celtic	17	(0)
2015–2016	→ St Johnstone (loan)	23	(1)
2016–2017	Rotherham United	34	(0)
2017–2021	Preston North End	111	(1)
2021–2023	Middlesbrough	13	(0)
Total		198	(2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 13:21, 10 May 2022 (UTC)

Darnell Theophilous Fisher (born 4 April 1994) is an English former professional footballer who played as a right-back. He has previously played in the Scottish Premiership for Celtic and St Johnstone, as well as in the Championship with Rotherham United, Preston North End and Middlesbrough.

Career

Celtic

Born in Reading, Berkshire, Fisher began his career at hometown club Eldon Celtic, before moving on to Farnborough. ^[3] He then signed his first professional contract in the summer of 2011 when he joined Celtic. ^[4] Fisher made his first team debut for Celtic on 19 October 2013 against Hibernian at Easter Road. Fisher got this opportunity to play at right-back for the first team due to Adam Matthews and Mikael Lustig both being injured. ^[5] The young defender got an extended run in the team and made a further 12 appearances. ^[6] An injury sustained in March 2014 ruled Fisher for the rest of the season, but Celtic went on to win the league title and he made enough appearances to collect a league winner's medal. ^{[7] [8]}

Fisher returned to playing football for the Development Side in September 2014. ^[7] He made his first appearance of the season for the first team on 11 December 2014 when he came on as a substitute for the under-performing Matthews in Celtic's 4–3 defeat away against Dinamo Zagreb in the Europa League. ^{[9] [10]} Fisher made a further four substitute appearances in League and League Cup games from January to March 2015. ^[9] He was an unused substitute in Celtic's 2–0 win over Dundee United on 15 March 2015 in the 2015 Scottish League Cup Final, entitling him to a winner's medal. ^[11] On 25 August 2015, Fisher was loaned to St Johnstone for the rest of the 2015–16 season. ^[12] He scored his first professional goal in a 3–0 win over Hearts on 19 March 2016. ^[13]

Rotherham United

Fisher signed a three-year contract with Rotherham United in August 2016. ^[14]

Preston North End

Following Rotherham's relegation at the end of his first season, Fisher signed a three-year contract with Preston North End for an undisclosed fee, later revealed as being "nothing" by the Preston manager Alex Neil. ^{[15] [16]}

Fisher was investigated and subsequently charged with violent conduct by the Football Association (FA) in November 2020 after footage showed him twice grab Sheffield Wednesday's Callum Paterson by the genitals during a game between their respective clubs on 21 November. ^[17] On 27 November, Fisher was found guilty and banned for three games. ^{[18] [19]}

Middlesbrough

On 29 January 2021, Fisher joined Championship side Middlesbrough for an undisclosed fee (thought to be around £300,000), signing a two-and-a-half-year contract. After a long term injury that kept Fisher out of the whole of the 2021-22 season, he was a late substitution on 8 May 2023 in a 1-1 draw against Coventry City. ^[20] He was released by the club at the end of the 2022–23 season. ^[21]

On 23 October 2023, he announced his retirement from football after dealing with his serious knee injury. ^[22]

Post-retirement

Following his retirement from professional football, Fisher began playing for amateur side South Reading FC and won the Slough Town Junior Cup in 2024. ^[23]

Career statistics

As of match played 17 April 2021 ^[24]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Domestic Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Celtic	2013–14 [25]	Scottish Premiership	12	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	13	0
	2014–15 [26]	Scottish Premiership	5	0	2	0	0	0	1 [lower-alpha 1]	0	8	0
	Total		17	0	3	0	0	0	1	0	21	0
St Johnstone (loan)	2015–16 [27]	Scottish Premiership	23	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	23	1
Rotherham United	2016–17 [28]	Championship	34	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	35	0
Preston North End	2017–18 [29]	Championship	34	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	35	0
	2018–19 [30]	Championship	35	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	38	0
	2019–20 [31]	Championship	28	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	30	0
	2020–21 [32]	Championship	14	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	16	1
	Total		168	1	4	0	4	0	0	0	177	2
Middlesbrough	2020–21 [33]	Championship	12	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	12	0
	2021–22 [34]	Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2022–23 [34]	Championship	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	Total		13	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	13	0
Career Total			198	2	8	0	4	0	1	0	211	2

1. Appearance in the Europa League

Honours

Celtic

• Scottish Premiership: 2013–14 ^[8]
• Scottish League Cup: 2015 ^[11]

References

1. "EFL Squad Numbering" (PDF). English Football League. p. 78. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
2. "Darnell Fisher". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
3. Halliday, Stephen (29 January 2014). "Darnell Fisher's quirky route to Celtic first team". The Scotsman. Retrieved 26 March 2014.
4. "Celtic Football Club". Celticfc.net. 17 July 2012. Archived from the original on 22 October 2013. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
5. "Hibernian 1-1 Celtic - BBC Sport". M.bbc.co.uk. 19 October 2013. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
6. "Darnell Fisher". Fitbastats. Retrieved 26 March 2014.
7. McHugh, Joe (30 September 2014). "Fisher makes his return from injury". Video Celts. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
8. "I'm relishing Celtic'c Champions League campaign - Darnell Fisher". Inside Futbol. 17 April 2014. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
9. "Games involving Fisher,Darnell in season 2014/2015". FitbaStats. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
10. "Match report - Dinamo Zagreb 4 - 3 Celtic". ESPN. 11 December 2014. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
11. Wilson, Richard (15 March 2015). "Dundee Utd 0 - 2 Celtic". BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
12. "Celtic's Darnell Fisher joins St Johnstone on loan". BBC Sport. BBC. 25 August 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
13. "Hearts 0-3 St Johnstone". BBC Sport. 19 March 2016. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
14. "Darnell Fisher: Rotherham sign defender from Celtic on three-year deal". BBC Sport. BBC. 10 August 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
15. "Darnell Fisher Signs For Preston North End". PNEFC. 26 July 2017. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
16. "Preston boss Alex Neil on the reasons for appointing new head of recruitment Joe Savage". BBC Radio Lancashire. 2 August 2017. Retrieved 7 September 2017.
17. "Darnell Fisher faces FA probe after grabbing Callum Paterson's genitals".
18. "Darnell Fisher Handed Three Match Ban". www.pnefc.net. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
19. Hardy, Martin. "Darnell Fisher to be banned for three games for grabbing opponent's crotch".
20. "Boro complete deal for Darnell Fisher". Middlesbrough FC. 29 January 2021. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
21. "Club Confirms Retained List For New Season". www.mfc.co.uk. 24 May 2023. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
22. Jones, Jordan (23 October 2023). "Former Preston North End, Celtic and Middlesbrough star forced to retire at 29". Lancashire Evening Post. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
23. "Former Celtic and Preston star helps South Reading win cup". Reading Chronicle. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
24. "D. Fisher". Soccerway. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
25. "Games played by Darnell Fisher in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
26. "Games played by Darnell Fisher in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
27. "Games played by Darnell Fisher in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
28. "Games played by Darnell Fisher in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
29. "Games played by Darnell Fisher in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
30. "Games played by Darnell Fisher in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
31. "Games played by Darnell Fisher in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
32. "Games played by Darnell Fisher in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
33. "Darnell Fisher | Football Stats | Middlesbrough | Season 2020/2021 | Soccer Base".
34. "Games played by Darnell Fisher in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 May 2023.