Footballers who have played league football for both PNE and Norwich
A-F
306) William Aitken
PNE 56 apps; 11 goals
Norwich 14 apps; 0 goals
PNE debut 30/08/1924 v West Ham (A) Lost 0-1
836) Darren Beckford
PNE 2 apps; 0 goals
Norwich 38 apps; 8 goals
PNE Debut 18/01/1997 v Watford (H) Drawn 1-1
401) Joe Brain
PNE 7 apps; 2 goals
Norwich 13 apps; 5 goals
PNE Debut 28/10/1933 v Port Vale (H) Drawn 0-0
882) Dickson Etuhu
PNE 134 apps; 17 goals
Norwich 62 apps; 6 goals
PNE Debut 29/01/2002 v Bradford (A) Won 1-0
415) John Frier
PNE 26 apps; 8 goals
Norwich 82 apps; 18 goals
PNE Debut 15/12/1934 V Leeds (A) Drawn 3-3
Player Profile Darren Beckford
Darren Richard Lorenzo Beckford was born in Manchester on 12 May 1967. He was an England Schoolboy and Youth International and came through the apprentice system at Manchester City .
He made his debut for Manchester City against Middlesbrough in 1984 but saw his first-team opportunities limited and only made a total of 11 appearances for the club without scoring a goal.
In October 1985, Beckford joined Bury on loan and scored 5 goals in 12 appearances. Beckford joined Port Vale on loan and scored 4 goals in 11 appearances. This was made permanent in March 1987, when he signed from Manchester City for a fee of £15,000.
Beckford stayed just over four years at Vale Park. In the 1988/89 season Port Vale just missed out on automatic promotion to the second tier on goal difference to Sheffield United. In the Play Off semi final saw Beckford score a hat-trick against Preston in the second leg to win 3-1 on the night and 4-2 on aggregate. Goals from Robbie Earle in the two legged final against Bristol Rovers saw Port Vale promoted.
The 1989/90 and 1990/91 seasons saw Port Vale finished mid table in Division Two. Beckford continued to be the clubs top goalscorer in those two seasons as he had in the two previous seasons in the Third Division. In total Beckford scored 72 goals in 178 league appearances for Port Vale.
In June 1991, Beckford joined Norwich City for a fee of £925,000 which was set by a football league tribunal after Port Vale had wanted £1.5m. This was a club record fee for Norwich which stood until 1994. The Norwich manager Dave Stringer described Beckford as “The answer to the Norwich supporters' prayers. But Beckford struggled with injuries and loss of form with the Canaries and scored 8 goals in 38 league appearances although he did score a hat-trick in a 4-3 win against Everton.
In March 1993, Beckford joined Oldham for £300,000 and scored 11 goals in 52 league appearances for the club before being released in the summer of 1996.
Beckford had a short spell in Scotland for Hearts but unable to settle he left after 3 months and 7 appearances.
On 17 January 1997, Beckford joined Preston on loan. The following day he replaced the goalscorer Gary Bennett in a 1-1 draw at home to Watford. His only first eleven appearance was on 21 January in a 1-0 defeat at York in the Auto Windowscreens Shield. His second and last league appearance for PNE was again as a substitute in a 1-0 home defeat to Chesterfield on 1 February.
Beckford joined Fulham on a non-contract basis for a month before joining Walsall in March 1997, making 8 appearances. In September 1997 he joined Vauxhall Conference side Rushden & Diamonds before moving to Souhport to make just one substitute appearance.
In November 1997, Beckford joined Total Network Solutions Llansantffraid of the League of Wales for an undisclosed fee. The following month he rejoined Bury before joining non-league side Bacup Borough.
Beckford began working for the Princes Trust with youngsters in Manchester but hit the headlines when he won an industrial tribunal case against the trust for being racially victimised.
Darren Beckford's career stats
Football League 260 + 48 substitute appearances - 96 goals;
FA Cup 24 + 4 substitute appearances - 10 goals;
League Cup 8 + 6 substitute appearances - 9 goals;
Other 11 + 2 substitute appearances - 4 goals