Darren Venn returned to Norwich, the club he supported as a schoolboy, in 2014 to become interim commercial director. Although born in Newbury, his family moved to Norwich in the mid-1970s and he became a keen follower of the Canaries.

He played for both Norwich schoolboys and Norfolk. After university, he worked for the Football League's commercial department for four years before joining the Football Association in 1993. He was involved with the sponsorship of the Euro 96 finals. He was also involved with the production of the Three Lions song. In 1997, he was headhunter to work in the USA for the National Football League before returning a year later to run commercially the ENIC group of clubs including Spurs, FC Basel, Vicenza, Sparta Prague and AEK Athens.

He left to work for Vicenza for four years. He later worked for Newcastle United but left in 2008 to set up his own business. Work for Norwich City led to him becoming interim commercial director.