Denver Gage Player Profile

Biography

The Clough native, part of a footballing family of brothers including Ian (formerly on the fringes of Nigel Best's United team) and David (of Ballymoney United and Wakehurst) ' progressed through Cullybackey Blues to Ballymena United's Reserves left the club to join Ballymoney United (aged 19) in October 2006 having failed to make any inroads into Tommy Wright's first team squad at the time.

During four seasons at the Riada Stadium, Denver grew into a fearless, dominating central defender in the Irish League's second tier. Earning a place in the Northern Ireland Junior International squad off the back of his impressive performances.

In July 2010, Ballymena United manager Roy Walker offered Gage a return to his boyhood club, with whom he was also now officially a shareholder alongside his father Robert, a regular stalwart of the United support. Denver's debut came in August 2010 as a substitute in the season opening scoreless draw with Linfield at Windsor Park. He quickly won the acclaim of the fans with wholehearted dominating performances in the heart of the United defence as they impressed many during the first half of the 2010/2011 season.

Both the team and Denver's promising first season fizzled out post-Christmas as United eventually finished ninth, but Gage's reputation was tarred with accusations regarding his behaviour at a Northern Ireland international game which made the back pages of the tabloids and subsequently affected performances on the pitch for the remainder of the season. Having coming out of the other side of the off-field torment, the big defender's second season was over before it barely started as a seemingly innocuous hernia injury in October 2011, almost exclusively ruled him out of football for two years.

A rare deep rooted groin injury to both legs had doctors effectively writing off his ability to play senior football again, as he only managed a ten minute cameo appearance from the bench at the end of the 2012/2013 season ' his only first-team football in 18 months amidst a number of failed comebacks. Having lapsed out of contract at the Showgrounds, it wasn't until January 2014 that Gage was fit to attempt another return to competitive action, signing with Ballyclare Comrades following self-financed surgery on his troublesome groins.

His spell at Dixon Park reignited his career as Niall Currie took notice and brought Denver to Championship chasing Ards in January 2015. In the memorable 2015/2016 season, the Clough man won a League Cup runners-up medal followed by a league championship medal and promotion back to the NIFL Premiership ' a season in which the central defender was Ards' joint leading goalscorer with 10 goals!

With the dust barely settled on the 2015/2016 season, Denver got the call that he had desperately hoped for as Ballymena United manager David Jeffrey sought to bring him back to the Showgrounds for a third time, looking add some local steel to a previously leaky defence. Injury prevented his second debut at Warden Street until October 2016, but Gage marked his return with a goal in a 4-0 win.