Paul Darby joined Ulster University in 2002 having previously held a lectureship at Liverpool Hope University. He was awarded his PhD from Ulster University in 1997. He is currently reader in the sociology of sport and leads the Centre for Sport in Society.

His teaching and research interests lie in the social sciences and history of sport. Alongside over 90 articles in peer reviewed journals and edited collections, he is author of three research monographs: African football migration: Aspirations, experiences and trajectories: Gaelic games, nationalism and the Irish Diaspora in the United States and; Africa, football and FIFA: Politics, colonialism and resistance. He has also co-edited two books on sport and the Irish Diaspora and football related disasters.

Paul's research has been funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, the British Academy, the European Union, UNICEF and UK Sport. He was formerly editor of the international journal Soccer and Society and currently sits on the editorial board of Soccer and Society and Impumelelo: The interdisciplinary electronic journal of African Sport. He has also guest edited special issues of African Historical Review and Sport in Society. He was a member of the ESRC Peer Review College (2010-2014) and has acted as a peer reviewer for numerous international journals. He is a founding member of the Sport Migration Network hosted at Aalborg University in Denmark and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.