A biography for Darren Fletcherhasn’t been written yet.
“I need to go and define what I would be as a manager, finish my coaching badges, try and take in as much experience as I can from different clubs around the world, the U.K., and speak to as many people as possible and try and prepare myself for when I do make that step.”
“When you have been out for a long time, you are desperate to play and maybe push yourself a bit too much.”
“I dropped as low as 9st 10 1/2.”
“When I am on the pitch at Old Trafford, it just feels comfortable. It feels like home.”
“This club strives for young players to come through the ranks. It's within the United ethos.”
“Tackling is part of the game, especially the British game where fans love commitment.”
“Ronaldo was brilliant for us as much as we were brilliant for him, but now we have a new style, new players, and we find the best way to win a match as a team. That's United's secret and a lot of the players have learnt that from Giggs, Scholes and Neville.”
“I'm not sure one goal changed people's view of me.”
“English teams recognise you can control a game without possession.”
“I played so many games for United and was there for such a long time. United is the biggest club in the world, so you will always be remembered for your time there.”
“I know what it meant to me to play for my country.”
“I owe everything to Sir Alex Ferguson.”
“I'm a big fan of Scottish football. I want the league to do well and I think it's a fantastic product that we don't sell it well enough.”
“There's more than one way to win a match.”
“I've had fans, away fans, singing about my illness. Derogatory and chanting stuff, whole sections of away fans to do with an illness I had. My family have had to sit there and experience that. I've had to restrain myself.”
“You dream as a kid of playing for your country in a finals whether it is World Cup or Euro and I would hate it if when it is all over I never featured in either.”
“I've definitely got a mindset of making up for lost time.”
“My family are agricultural workers. They worked all year round, barely a week off, so I was taught to appreciate the life of a footballer, because I didn't want to end up doing what they were doing.”
“Roy said to me once, 'I could play for 10 years with you doing all my running, Fletch.' You can't understand how much that meant. For me, it's worked and I have loved it. I still love it.”
“When I was younger I was intense and uptight about how well I was playing. I was constantly thinking about situations in games, what I could do better, or a bad performance would play on my mind. If you're sitting at home with nothing else to do it's easier to think about those things.”