Darren Carter  Darren Anthony Carter (born 18 December 1983) is an English footballer who plays as a central midfielder for club Solihull Moors. He has played in the Premier League and Football League for Birmingham City, Sunderland, West Bromwich Albion, Preston North End, Millwall, Cheltenham Town and Northampton Town. A former England under-19 and under-20 international, Carter began his career with Birmingham City, and came to prominence at the age of 18 when his penalty in the 2002 First Division play-off final clinched the club's promotion to the Premier League. He was loaned to Sunderland in winter 2004, before he was sold to West Bromwich Albion for £1.5 million in July 2005. In August 2007, he joined Preston North End for a fee of up to £1.25 million. Loaned to Millwall in the 2010–11 season, he later had to spend the 2011–12 season without a club after tearing a groin muscle during a trial match. He returned to action in the 2012–13 campaign with Cheltenham Town, and then spent two seasons with Northampton Town. He spent the next two seasons with Forest Green Rovers of the National League before joining Solihull Moors in 2017. Carter was born in Solihull, West Midlands. He made his first-team debut for Birmingham City in the First Division at the age of 18 in a 1–0 defeat to local rivals West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns on 29 January 2002. He scored his first goal in senior football on 10 April, helping the Blues to secure a play-off spot with a 3–1 victory over Crewe Alexandra at St Andrew's. On 12 May, he made himself a Birmingham City hero when he scored the decisive penalty in the shoot-out to win the play-off final against Norwich City at the Millennium Stadium. The match had finished 1–1 after extra time and the spot-kick sealed Birmingham's promotion to the Premier League. Carter played only 12 Premier League matches in the 2002–03 season, with half of these appearances coming before mid-October. His first team opportunities were even more restricted in the 2003–04 campaign, as he featured in just five Premier League matches. Despite this, he signed a three-and-a-half-year contract in January 2004 after 20 months of negotiations. In March 2004 he was scheduled to go out on loan to Rotherham United before injuries and suspensions at Birmingham persuaded manager Steve Bruce to put an end to the deal.