Darren Way was a passenger in a white van, in the process of moving house, when a 4x4 veered over from the other side of the A3088 just outside of Yeovil in December 2008. The impact of the serious car accident that followed ended Way’s playing career and almost his life.
“I feel very fortunate to be alive,” Way says. “At one stage I did ask the passerby that came up to the window to help me just to tell the kids that I love them and that one day I would see them again. If it was not for her asking me my childrens’ names, then I do not think I would be here to tell the story today. It was a critical moment in me staying alive because it gave me something to fight for.”
He broke three limbs but what was left undamaged, though, was an incredible relationship between Way and Yeovil Town. Following the crash, he joined the club’s backroom staff, working as a scout and honing his skills in sports science, later assuming duties as the first-team coach and assistant manager before taking interim charge following Paul Sturrock’s exit in December.
Yeovil went on to lose seven league matches during the rest of the season as Way steered the club away from a League Two relegation that was virtually inevitable when he took over on a permanent basis last New Year’s Eve. “When it came to me having the opportunity to becoming manager, I didn’t want to let the club down knowing what they had done for me,” says Way, who takes his team to Everton in the EFL Cup on Tuesday. “I was proud keeping the club up knowing that on both parties we’ve kept this unbelievable relationship and that was my way of saying thank you.” The club’s motto “achieve by unity” feels extremely apt.
After being cut free from the van by emergency services, Way was airlifted to Dorchester hospital, where he was in intensive care with a list of injuries that included a dislocated hip and a broken kneecap. The road to recovery was challenging, undergoing numerous operations and learning how to walk again along the way. Way was bed-bound for almost eight months before eventually returning home with the use of an electric wheelchair that he funded with the help of the Professional Footballers’ Association.
“When I got home I had to be careful, I had a child at the time at six months and one at one and a half, so you can imagine how difficult that was at the same time as trying to fight for my Yeovil career,” he says. “They didn’t know at that time how my body would react and I didn’t know. All I did know was I was going to give it everything I possibly could. Behind the scenes they knew that I was never going to play again but I just seem to have this never, never give up attitude and I wanted to give it everything I possibly could to get back playing again. In the meantime, I was trying to organise an event to get Manchester United down for my testimonial.”
Sir Alex Ferguson sent down a young team including Ravel Morrison, Jesse Lingard and Joshua King to play at Huish Park. Way entered the field as a last-minute substitute to rapturous applause. “It was a big thing for me,” says Way, who retired in 2010. “In my heart of hearts I knew I would do well to get back and I knew deep down inside my body was never going to allow me to get back.”
Ferguson’s kindness was echoed by those at Yeovil, his former club Swansea City and friends within the game, notably Craig Bellamy, who he played with at Norwich City as a schoolboy. Bellamy sent Way, a boyhood Chelsea fan, a signed Gianfranco Zola shirt while in hospital. “To take a gift from him at that important time, it was a nice moment,” Way says. “It was great to have that support. I’ll never forget Martin Allen called me, Gary Johnson came to my bedside. The Yeovil team wore shirts that year with my name on it. Garry Monk came to visit. It was only recently I had come back to Yeovil from Swansea and the Swansea supporters were fantastic, too. I think they could see the pictures of the accident and how serious it was.”
Swansea’s manager at the time of the accident was Roberto Martínez, who Way considers a mentor and a good friend. It has proved a useful relationship, too, with Martínez instrumental in allowing Shane Duffy and John Lundstram to join Yeovil on loan from Everton three years ago as well as Liam Walsh last season. Yeovil’s reputation as a trusted stable for young players to develop has also ensured Ryan Mason, Steven Caulker and Andros Townsend have shone in Somerset over previous seasons.
Martínez was sacked by Everton in May and there is a sense of frustration the two did not reunite last season after losing to Carlisle United on penalties in an FA Cup third-round replay denied Yeovil a trip to Goodison Park in the next round. “I wanted it desperately last year but it wasn’t to be,” Way says. “I believe he’s a fantastic manager and he gave me an insight into the change in English football, how he manages and how he coaches. I’ll never forget when he took us to Barcelona and the next minute we’re having conversations with Johan Cruyff. I was 28 at the time and you do not really understand when you’re a young player: was it a trip? There were reasons why he did it.
“You only have to look at how Swansea kicked on under him and now he’s with Belgium. He’s somebody I’ve always looked up to and a very good manager in the way he deals with situations. I have no doubt in my mind he’ll be a successful manager. Every manager is going to go through bad times and, unfortunately, it did not work out at Everton.”
Yeovil are your archetypal minnows. Financially, the club is run on fumes. On the day of this interview, Tuesday’s opponents, Everton, completed the signing of Yannick Bolasie for about £28m and sold John Stones for almost £20m more. Most players arrive at Yeovil with a point to prove: the defender Bevis Mugabi signed this summer from Southampton, Otis Khan from Barnsley and Tom Eaves from Bolton Wanderers. For Yeovil, it was not unusual for the match-day squad to comprise only six substitutes from a possible seven last season.
“We had one player the other day who’s never even played extra time and that shows you perhaps the experience is not there,” Way says. “I’ve said to the players: if you’re unknown, you need to make sure you are known and by the end of the season you need to have a good CV.
“You can outwork a team and that’s one thing that money can’t buy. I’ve got to make sure the players relish the environment they’re going to. They have to show no fear, enjoy the moment because they’ve worked hard for this.”
