Danis Salman

Danis Mahmut Mehmet Salman (Turkish: Danış Salman; born 12 March 1960),[2] sometimes known as Danny Salman,[3] is an English former professional football player and coach, best remembered for his time as a defender in the Football League with Brentford. He made over 380 appearances for the Bees, is the club's youngest-ever league debutant and was inducted into the club's Hall of Fame. He also played for Millwall, Plymouth Argyle and Torquay United. Born in Cyprus, he represented England at youth level.

Danis Salman
Personal information
Full name Danis Mahmut Mehmet Salman[1]
Date of birth (1960-03-12) 12 March 1960
Place of birth Famagusta, Cyprus
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[2]
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
Arsenal
Tottenham Hotspur
0000–1975 Queens Park Rangers
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1975–1986 Brentford 325 (8)
1986–1990 Millwall 93 (3)
1990–1992 Plymouth Argyle 74 (4)
1992 → Peterborough United (loan) 1 (0)
1992–1993 Torquay United 20 (0)
Total 513 (15)
International career
1978 England Youth 5 (0)
Managerial career
1992–1993 Torquay United Youth (player-manager)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

Early years

Born in Famagusta, Cyprus,[4] Salman was brought up in England from the age of two.[5] He spent the early part of his career with Tottenham Hotspur, Queens Park Rangers and came under the wing of John Docherty at the latter club.[6]

Brentford

Despite being offered an apprenticeship, a fee and a guaranteed professional contract by Arsenal, new Brentford manager John Docherty convinced Salman to join the Fourth Division club on schoolboy forms in September 1975.[7][8] Beginning life at Griffin Park in the club's youth team, Salman was handed an unexpected senior debut in a match versus Watford on 15 November 1975,[9] having never even trained with the first team.[3] At 15 years, 248 days old, he became Brentford's youngest ever debutant.[9] Salman later revealed that he only found out he was playing the day before the match, when a reporter from The Sun arrived at his house and told him the news.[3] He made five further appearances during the 1975–76 season and 22 in the following campaign, scoring his first senior goal.[10]

Salman's debutant record was beaten by Paul Walker in August 1976, but Salman remains the Bees' youngest-ever league debutant.[11] Salman signed his first professional contract during the 1977 off-season,[7] worth £55 a week.[3] Adept at right back or centre back, he broke into the team during the 1977–78 season, making 37 appearances on the way to the Bees securing automatic promotion to the Third Division with a fourth-place finish.[10] During the 1978 off-season, Brentford turned down transfer bids from other clubs for Salman's services.[7]

Salman was a first-team regular until the 1982–83 season, when a mismanaged ruptured thigh injury restricted him to just a single appearance.[7] Potential moves away from Griffin Park fell through, with Salman failing trials with Stoke City and Millwall in 1982.[12] He re-established himself in the team during the 1984–85 season, making 58 appearances and following up with another 45 during the following season.[10]

At only age 26, Salman was rewarded with a testimonial versus Tottenham Hotspur in May 1986,[6] which earned him £5,552.[13] The match brought down the curtain on an 11-year career at Griffin Park, during which Salman made 371 appearances and scored eight goals.[6] A return to Brentford during the reign of Steve Perryman was mooted, but fell through after Perryman's departure in August 1990.[6] In recognition of his performances for the club, Salman was inducted into the Brentford Hall of Fame in November 2014.[14]

Millwall

Salman moved up to the Second Division to sign for Millwall in August 1986 for a £20,000 fee,[2] which was settled by a tribunal.[12] He made 36 appearances and scored two goals during a forgettable debut season, in which the Lions finished in the bottom half of the table.[2] Everything came right during the 1987–88 season, making 42 appearances as the Lions won the Second Division title.[2] Receiving the club's Player of the Year award capped Salman's season.[2] His appearances tailed off in the First Division and he departed in March 1990, having made 112 appearances and scored five goals during his time at The Den.[2]

Plymouth Argyle

Salman dropped back down to Second Division to sign for Peter Shilton's Plymouth Argyle on 20 March 1990 for a £50,000 fee.[5][2] He made 11 appearances in what remained of the 1989–90 season, before establishing himself in the team in a poor 1990–91 season for the club.[5] He remained with the club until the end of the 1991–92 season and played for Peterborough United on loan in March 1992.[1][15] Salman departed Home Park having made 84 appearances and scored five goals for the Pilgrims.[5]

Torquay United

Salman joined Third Division club Torquay United in September 1992.[1] He made 20 league appearances during the 1992–93 season and retired at the end of the campaign.[1]

International career

Salman won five caps for England Youth and played at the 1978 European U18 Championship.[16]

Post-football career

While still a player, Salman had a spell managing the Torquay United youth team during the 1992–93 season, combining his role with that of the club's Youth Development Officer.[12] He became the Gulls' Commercial Manager in 1993. As of July 2010, Salman was coaching youth players in the South West at his own soccer school and Plymouth College.[16] He is a qualified sport and body massage therapist and as of July 2010 was working part-time for Plymouth Raiders.[16]

Personal life

Since retiring from football, Salman has lived in Plymouth.[17] Salman works for the Press Association and focuses on covering Plymouth Argyle's matches.[18] He writes a column in the Plymouth Herald.[3]

Career statistics
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Brentford 1975–76[10] Fourth Division 6 0 0 0 0 0 — 6 0
1976–77[10] 18 1 2 0 2 0 — 22 1
1977–78[10] 37 0 2 0 2 0 — 41 0
1978–79[10] Third Division 40 1 1 0 2 0 — 43 1
1979–80[10] 41 3 1 0 1 0 — 43 3
1980–81[10] 38 0 2 0 1 0 — 41 0
1981–82[10] 40 0 2 0 2 0 — 44 0
1982–83[10] 1 0 0 0 0 0 — 1 0
1983–84[10] 21 0 2 0 3 0 1[lower-alpha 1] 0 27 0
1984–85[10] 43 3 4 0 4 0 7[lower-alpha 1] 0 58 3
1985–86[10] 40 0 1 0 2 0 2[lower-alpha 1] 0 45 0
Total 325 8 17 0 19 0 10 0 371 8
Millwall 1986–87[2] Second Division 31 2 1 0 3 0 1[lower-alpha 1] 0 36 2
1987–88[2] 36 1 1 0 3 0 3[lower-alpha 1] 0 43 1
1988–89[2] First Division 19 0 1 0 2 2 2[lower-alpha 2] 0 24 2
1989–90[2] 7 0 2 0 0 0 — 9 0
Total 93 3 5 0 8 2 6 0 112 5
Plymouth Argyle 1989–90[5] Second Division 11 0 — — — 11 0
1990–91[5] 35 3 2 0 3 1 1[lower-alpha 2] 0 44 4
1991–92[5] 28 1 1 0 2 0 1[lower-alpha 2] 0 32 1
Total 74 4 3 0 5 1 2 0 87 5
Peterborough United (loan) 1991–92[15] Third Division 1 0 — — — 1 0
Torquay United 1992–93[1] Third Division 20 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 22 0
Career total 513 15 25 0 32 3 18 0 593 18
  1. Appearances in Football League Trophy
  2. Appearances in Full Members Cup

Honours

Brentford

Millwall

Individual

References
  1. "Danis Salman". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  2. "Danis Salman". Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  3. "The Big Interview: With Plymouth Argyle's Danny Salman". Plymouth Herald. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
  4. "Former footballer Salman made patron of human rights group". Londra Gazete. Archived from the original on 5 March 2012. Retrieved 14 March 2010.
  5. "Danis Salman". Greens on Screen Database. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  6. Haynes, Graham; Coumbe, Frank (2006). Timeless Bees: Brentford F.C. Who's Who 1920–2006. Yore Publications. p. 140. ISBN 978-0955294914.
  7. Long, Dan. "Kings of the Castle: Danis Salman". www.brentfordfc.com. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  8. White 1989, p. 298.
  9. Wilson, Steve (1 October 2008). "Barnsley's record-breaking Reuben Noble-Lazarus to be looked after says Simon Davey". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 4 October 2008. Retrieved 19 August 2009.
  10. White, Eric, ed. (1989). 100 Years Of Brentford. Brentford FC. pp. 393–398. ISBN 0951526200.
  11. Brentford's Official Matchday Magazine versus Gillingham. 27 August 1996. p. 2.
  12. Official Matchday Magazine of Brentford Football Club versus Oldham Athletic. Blackheath: Morganprint. 14 August 1999. p. 41.
  13. Croxford, Mark; Lane, David; Waterman, Greville (2011). The Big Brentford Book of the Seventies. Sunbury, Middlesex: Legends Publishing. pp. 276–277. ISBN 978-1906796709.
  14. Wickham, Chris. "Bob Booker, Peter Gelson, Keith Millen, Alan Nelmes and Danis Salman honoured at Brentford FC 125 Year Anniversary Dinner". Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  15. "Danış Salman's Biography". UpThePosh! The Peterborough United Database. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  16. "Where Are They Now? Danis Salman – Part 1". brentfordfc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 15 February 2018. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  17. "Danis Salman has admitted his former club Plymouth Argyle will have to produce promotion form to escape relegation from League One". Western Morning News. Archived from the original on 18 November 2014. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  18. "Pilgrims Urged To Attack Magpies". West Briton. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  19. Croxford, Mark; Lane, David; Waterman, Greville (2011). The Big Brentford Book of the 80s. Legends Publishing. p. 383. ISBN 978-1906796716.
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