Darren Bazeley

Watford

Bazeley was born in Northampton, England, and began playing football at a young age with local team Northampton Orion. From 11 to 13 years old, Bazeley attended weekly training sessions with the School of Excellence – a coaching scheme run by the FA. It was through these sessions that Bazeley was scouted by Watford, trialling with them before signing at the age of 14. Watford's youth team coach Colin Lee was appointed the club's manager in March 1990 and he gave Bazeley his first-team debut in the final match of the 1989–90 season, bringing the 17-year-old on as a substitute against Hull City. Bazeley made 10 appearances in the 1990–91 campaign, all bar two as a substitute, and none after Lee was replaced by Steve Perryman in November 1990. Bazeley signed his first professional contract prior to the start of the 1991–92 season and in September 1991 scored his first senior goal in a 3–0 win away at Barnsley. He finished the campaign with a total of seven goals from his 38 appearances. At the end of the season, Bazeley made his only appearance for the England under-21 team, playing 20 minutes in a 2–2 friendly draw against Hungary. Bazeley played 26 matches in the 1992–93 season, half of them from the bench. Watford began the following season under a new manager in Glenn Roeder, but a medial collateral ligament saw Bazeley only make a total of 10 appearances in the campaign. He was a more frequent presence in 1994–95, making 37 appearances and scoring four…

Bazeley holds the UEFA A License.

Waitakere United

In 2008, Bazeley became head coach of Waitakere United youth team. He became assistant of the club's senior team in June 2009, working under his former Wolves teammate Emblen, the side's head coach. The club winning the New Zealand Football Championship for all three seasons.

New Zealand set-up

In 2009, Bazeley was appointed assistant coach for the New Zealand U-17 national team. The side played at the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Nigeria, reaching the competition's knock-out stages for the first time. Having continued in the role through the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Mexico, where the side again reached the knock-out phases, Bazeley was appointed head coach of the team in June 2012. In April 2013 his side won all five matches at the 2013 OFC U-17 Championship to qualify for the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates. In September 2013, Bazeley was appointed as head coach of the New Zealand U-20 national team, but he remained in charge of the U-17s for the World Cup the following month, in which New Zealand lost all three matches to finish bottom of their group. New Zealand were the host nation of the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup and so did not need to qualify. During the build-up to the tournament, Bazeley was appointed head coach of Wanderers SC, an U-20-side competing in the senior New Zealand Football Championship, while in March 2015 he worked as assistant coach of the New Zealand national…

Bazeley became a New Zealand citizen in 2015, retaining his British citizenship.

New Zealand U-20

Qualification for FIFA U-20 World Cup 2015 in New Zealand: Round of 16 OFC U-20 Championship: 2016 champion Qualification for FIFA U-20 World Cup 2017 in Republic of Korea: Round of 16 New Zealand

Qualification for FIFA Confederations Cup 2017 in Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification OFC Finals winner OFC Nations Cup: 2024