Sometimes a milestone comes along that makes you feel old. One of those occasions is today when our old Fulham database whirred into life and flashed up that Darren Freeman was celebrating his half century.
One of the more surprising developments that the beautiful game threw up was the transformation of Freeman from long-haired, laid back and, perhaps even, absently-minded exciting winger into a managerial non-league mastermind in the mould of his former Fulham manager Micky Adams. Freeman’s off-the-field antics made for very good copy in captain Simon Morgan’s brilliant diary of the 1996/97 promotion season, On Song for Promotion, and the thrilling forward would undoubtedly have made his mark at a higher level of the footballing pyramid were it not for persistent injury problems.
Having called in a day after one hernia problem too many, Freeman resurfaced as an inspirational manager who guided Whitehawk to three promotions in four years and then took Lewes back to the Isthmian Premier League before becoming an agent in partnership with his former Brentford team-mate Dirk Hebel. But for me, the Brighton-born winger will always be remembered for those electric bursts of pace and his happy knack of coming up with crucial goals as Adams’ side chased Fulham’s first promotion in fifteen years.
Adams, an uncompromising full-back turned player-coach under Ian Branfoot at Craven Cottage, was thrust into the hot seat at Fulham in the aftermath of that atrocious defeat at Torquay United. In his first managerial role, he guided the Whites to safety with a string of solid results in the second half of a distinctly underwhelming season and then memorably told the Fulham Chronicle that he’d prefer to be judged on the outcome of his full season in charge.
There weren’t the Al-Fayed millions to spend in those days – indeed, the club were scraping by as they struggled to put together a plan to secure the long-term future of their historic ground as well as prudently planning for the future. Adams strengthened his squad with free transfers and some shrewd purchases taking a trio of players from Gillingham’s reserves – one of whom was Freeman, a long-haired and eccentric winger or forward, for £15,000 – which to the cash-strapped Cottagers seemed a significant sum at that time.
Whilst Adams worked his magic on restoring Mick Conroy to the penalty box poacher who had scored goals in Scotland and the English pyramid, adding pace to the Fulham forward line was one of the secrets to the side’s surprise success. Freeman chipped in with nine goals as the Whites finished second Wigan on goals scored (thank you, Jimmy Hill). He didn’t take long to make his mark – heading in his first goal at Exeter to secure a narrow win at St. James’ Park – while offering a different option in attack to the conventional striking skills of Conroy and Rob Scott. He scored a crucial winner against Scunthorpe and helped turn a crunch clash against promotion rivals Swansea in Fulham’s favour with a vital equaliser at Craven Cottage.
Freeman was one of those players to be left in limbo by the sudden departure of Adams, whom he followed to Brentford and Brighton after being deemed surplus to requirements by Kevin Keegan. He helped the Seagulls win promotion as well as writing his name into the club’s storied history: memorably hitting a hat-trick in Albion’s first game at the Withdean, when they hit Mansfield for six, and scoring the first league goal of the new millennium against Exeter.
I’m not sure if it is apocryphal that Freeman modelled his mane of long hair on Mel Gibson in Braveheart but he certainly became a cult hero at Craven Cottage for his whole-hearted performances and the style with which he surged away from defenders wearing that number seven shirt. Wherever you are today, Darren, we hope you’re enjoying a very happy birthday!
