Darren Randolph

Charlton Athletic

Randolph was born in Bray to an American father and a Mayo mother. He played school football with Ardmore Rovers. He joined Charlton Athletic in the summer of 2003 by virtue of the links between the Irish and English clubs. When leaving Ardmore Rovers, the club placed Randolph in the Hall of Fame. As a youngster, Randolph spent a month on loan at Conference South club Welling United in 2004; he played four league matches and once in the FA Cup. He spent the beginning of the 2005–06 season on loan at Accrington Stanley in the Conference National, and at the end of the season, signed an extension to his Charlton contract to run until 2009. In August 2006 he joined League One Gillingham on a month's loan.

Randolph made his first-team debut for the already relegated Charlton in their last match of the 2006–07 Premier League season, away against Liverpool. Replacing loanee Scott Carson, who was ineligible to play against his parent club, Randolph performed well, limiting Liverpool to two goals, one of which was a penalty kick in the 90th minute for a 2–2 draw. He was second-choice behind Nicky Weaver in 2007–08, and in February 2008, joined Bury of League Two on loan. After featuring 14 times, Randolph was recalled by Charlton to cover for Weaver, who was sent off in a match against Plymouth Argyle. He started Charlton's next match, at home to Southampton, and contributed to a farcical own goal when he appeared to catch a high ball, then dropped it into…

Randolph has represented the Republic of Ireland at U15, U16, U17, U18, U19, U21, B, and senior levels. He was called up to the Republic of Ireland senior squad for the first time in March 2011 for a match against Macedonia. He was again called up in May, for match against Northern Ireland and Scotland in the Nations Cup, but again did not feature. Randolph made his full international debut in a friendly against Oman on 11 September 2012, coming on as a substitute in a 4–1 win. His second Republic of Ireland appearance was against Spain on 12 June 2013, again as a substitute; he made a "brilliant fingertip save" from Santi Cazorla before conceding a late goal by Juan Mata as Spain won 2–0. On 8 October 2015, Randolph replaced Shay Given in the 44th minute against Germany in a 2016 European Championship qualifying match and provided the long ball assist for Shane Long's winner in the 70th minute in a match won 1–0 by the Republic of Ireland. Randolph played every match for the Republic of Ireland at Euro 2016, against Sweden, Belgium and Italy before being defeated by France. Randolph retired from international football in 2020 after the Nations League after picking up an injury.

Club

As of 26 January 2023

International

As of 18 November 2020

His father Ed Randolph played basketball for UCD Marian and was one of the first American imports to the Irish Basketball League. His mother, Anne Randolph (née Walsh), is a folk singer originally from Kiltimagh, County Mayo. He is a past pupil of St. Cronan's Boys National School and Presentation College, Bray. He had a long-term relationship with Rochelle Wiseman from girl group The Saturdays. Randolph and singer Alexandra Burke began a relationship in 2021, and their first child was born in July 2022. They got engaged in September 2024. Randolph leads the Darren Randolph Academy, a goalkeeping academy run with the aim of giving back to the young goalkeepers of Ireland and helping them to progress. It also has a range of sportswear.