We will always remember Ambrose’s screamer at old Trafford as a beautiful piece of Palace goal history. Ambrose famously scored a 35 yard long range shot that ensured our defeat against Manchester United in the League cup quarter final, and saw him deservedly winning the Goal of the Year in 2011/12 season.
I for one will never forget that buzz when the ball hit the top left hand corner of the net that late November evening in Manchester – and for that I will always adore our former midfielder and Eagles #7. Keeping a close eye on Darren’s career since he hung up his Palace shirt in July 2012 I was shocked to learn that Ipswich boss Mick McCarthy had no plans to renew his contract next season; “Of the ones out of contract, we have released Elliott Hewitt and I’ve told Ando, Darren Ambrose, Chappers, Stephen Hunt and Noel that we won’t be offering them anything at the moment”. My view that I am sure all Palace fans will share, is that this is a huge shame and we all hope that someone snaps up the 31 year old, as surely his goal scoring days are not yet past him?!
Ambrose started his career at Ipswich Town and made his debut at the age of 18 where he then went on to score 10 goals in just 37 appearances – combining superbly on the pitch with his close friend and striker Darren Bent. When Ipswich fell into administration in 2003 Ambrose was sold at the bargain fee of £1M to Premier League side Newcastle United. Ambrose continued to do what he does best and made the transition to the top flight scoring 6 goals for the Magpies before being sold to Charlton Athletic in 2005. Ambrose spent a longer term here on loan back to Ipswich where he frustratingly spend more time on the bench meaning his contract was not renewed either here or at Charlton leaving the skilled midfielder a free man.
Fortunately for us Ambrose made the move to South London in what proved to be the most fruitful period of his career at Crystal Palace between 2009 and 2012, where he scored 29 goals in 110 league games. Ambrose truly played his way into fans hearts when he not only saved the club from near relegation with his goal against Sheffield Wednesday in 2010, but he then gave us ‘THAT AMBROSE GOAL’ for us to dream about continuously. After 3 fantastic years at the club Darren made a shock move to Lee Clark’s Birmingham City when he still had 12 remaining months left on his contract for an undisclosed fee – sparking rumours he fell out with Palace management?
This could have been a bad move for the demise of Ambrose’s career, where despite scoring on his debut, Ambrose spent most of the season on the bench after suffering a knee injury appearing only 6 times in the league. After making only two appearances for Birmingham early in the 2013–14 season, Ambrose joined Greek Superleague club Apollon Smyrni and on his return his contract expired and he was released from his contract. Ambrose then resigned a short term deal for former club Ipswich in September 2014 and also appeared in the England U21 Nationals. He hasn’t had much game time which is a huge shame for such raw talent – and he said in January this year that he “hoped to extend his stay and renew his contract to show his improvement and fitness”, so McCarthy’s decision will come as a shock to not only his fans!
Let’s wish Darren Ambrose the best of luck for his future career! We all know his talents, his impact he can have on a game and the legend that he is on the pitch so what Championship manager will be wise enough to nab him quickly?
