Matt Derbyshire

Matt Derbyshire

Derbyshire playing for Olympiacos in 2010
Personal information
Full name	Matthew Anthony Derbyshire[1]
Date of birth	14 April 1986
Place of birth	Great Harwood, England[2]
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[2]
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current team	Rotherham United
Number	27
Youth career
0000–2002	Darwen
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
2002–2003	Great Harwood Town	31	(21)
2003–2009	Blackburn Rovers	63	(10)
2004–2005	→ Plymouth Argyle (loan)	12	(0)
2005–2006	→ Wrexham (loan)	16	(10)
2009	→ Olympiacos (loan)	7	(5)
2009–2011	Olympiacos	14	(6)
2010–2011	→ Birmingham City (loan)	13	(0)
2011–2014	Nottingham Forest	44	(8)
2012	→ Oldham Athletic (loan)	18	(4)
2013	→ Blackpool (loan)	12	(0)
2014–	Rotherham United	64	(16)
National team
2007–2009	England U21	14	(4)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 14:07, 06 April 2016 (UTC). † Appearances (goals)

Matthew Anthony "Matt" Derbyshire (born 14 April 1986) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Championship club Rotherham United. He played for Blackburn Rovers for five years, and had loan spells with Plymouth Argyle, Wrexham and Olympiacos, before joining the latter club on a permanent basis in 2009. He played for Birmingham City on loan for the 2010–11 season. He won 14 caps for the England under-21 side.

Club career

Early life and career

Derbyshire was born in Great Harwood, Lancashire^[2] and attended Our Lady and St John R.C. High School in Blackburn.^[3] He played football as a youngster for Darwen before joining Great Harwood Town in 2002. He scored his first goal for the club's first team as a 16-year-old, in October 2002, and by the time he left in November 2003, he had scored 26, of which 21 had come in the North West Counties League, and 18 in his last nine appearances.^[3]

Blackburn Rovers

He joined his boyhood club, Blackburn Rovers, in November 2003 for a £20,000 fee, a club record for Great Harwood.^[3] He had previously worked in the club's community department, coaching young children. He rejected a move to Manchester United in favour of Blackburn^[4] as he felt his first team opportunities would be greater there.

He had a loan spell at Plymouth Argyle but did not manage to score in any of his 13 games, resulting in Mark Hughes ending the player's loan early. He then joined Wrexham on loan for the final three months of the season where he made a name for himself hitting the net on 10 occasions from 16 appearances.

He opened his senior goal account for the first team in a 3–0 against Wigan Athletic on 1 January 2007 before extending his tally further with the opener away to Everton in a 4–1 FA Cup Third Round victory on 7 January. He made his first Premiership start against Arsenal on 13 January, and scored his third goal in four games against Manchester City.

Derbyshire's impressive form continued the following week with two goals and an assist against Luton Town in the FA Cup Fourth Round. He also scored against Manchester United taking advantage of a Michael Carrick error to give Blackburn Rovers a 1–0 lead, although they went onto lose the match 4–1.

He finished his first Premier League season with 9 goals in all competitions, from 14 starts and 16 substitute appearances. In the 2007–08 season, Derbyshire scored in the first match of the season, against Middlesbrough, coming on as a substitute to score the winner in a 2–1 victory.

On 1 March 2008, he scored a late stoppage-time winner against Newcastle United, and on 20 September, he again scored another late winner against Fulham, putting away a poacher's goal assisted by Roque Santa Cruz.

Olympiacos

On 28 January 2009, Derbyshire moved to Olympiacos on loan until the end of the 2008–09 season.^[5] He made his first appearance for the club as a substitute in the first leg of a Greek Football Cup match at PAOK's Toumba Stadium. In the return match, his home debut, Derbyshire scored a goal in extra time, securing progress to the next round (Greek Cup, semi-finals 2008–09).

He made his league debut on 14 February 2009 in a 2–1 home victory over Aris as an 80th-minute substitute for Diogo. On 15 March 2009, he scored his first goal in a 5–0 win over Iraklis with his first touch of the ball, after coming on for Luciano Galletti in 81st minute adding his second goal (and Olympiacos' fifth) just five minutes later. The following week he started the match against Panionios and played the whole 90 minutes, scoring in a 2–3 away win.

On 2 May 2009, Derbyshire played a pivotal role in the Greek Cup final against cross-city rivals AEK Athens. With Olympiacos 2–0 down, Derbyshire was brought on at half-time. Three minutes after coming on, Derbyshire scored for Olympiacos. The game then went to 2–2 before AEK Athens had seemingly scored the winning goal in stoppage time. However, with the last touch of the game, Derbyshire popped up to head in the equaliser in the sixth minute of added time, bringing the score to 3–3, after having suffered a concussion following a clash with an opponent. It was obvious during celebrations that he was not fully aware, and he stated afterwards that he realised he had scored from the cheers of fans. Olympiacos went on to win the match 15–14 on penalties, and Derbyshire was handed the Man of the match award for his efforts.^[6][7] On 18 June 2009, Blackburn Rovers and Olympiacos agreed a fee for the permanent transfer of Derbyshire. He signed a four-year contract on 23 June 2009. ^[8] The fee was reported to be £3m.^[9]

On 21 March 2010, Derbyshire scored the winning goal against Panathinaikos, in a 0–1 away victory, and was instantly nicknamed The English Killer.

In August 2010, the team's new coach, Ernesto Valverde, told Derbyshire that he was not part of his plans for the 2010–11 season, so he should search for a new team.

Derbyshire returned to England when he signed for Birmingham City on 16 August 2010 on loan for the 2010–11 Premier League season, with a possibility of the deal being made permanent at the end of that time.^[10] He made his debut against former club Blackburn Rovers on 21 August as a second-half substitute for fellow new signing Nikola Žigić,^[11] and scored his first goal for the club five days later in a 3–2 League Cup victory over Rochdale.^[12] After waiting until January 2011 for his first Premier League start for Birmingham, against Blackpool, he then scored twice in the 4–1 win at Millwall in the third round of the FA Cup.^[13] Derbyshire never established himself in the first team, and despite making 5 appearances in the League Cup competition that season, he was left out of the match squad for the League Cup Final at Wembley with fellow strikers Nikola Zigic, Cameron Jerome, Kevin Phillips and Obafemi Martins all preferred. Birmingham achieved a shock victory beating Arsenal 2–1. 'Darbo' left Birmingham at the end of the season after their relegation from the Premier League.

Nottingham Forest

Before the 2011–12 season began, Olympiacos informed Derbyshire he was free to find another club.^[14] He signed a three-year contract with Championship club Nottingham Forest on 10 August 2011. The fee was undisclosed.^[15] He was issued squad number eight.^[16] Upon signing, Derbyshire stated the importance to his career of getting regular first team football again. At Forest Derbyshire would be renewing acquaintance with assistant manager Rob Kelly, who was his coach when he was a youth player at Blackburn Rovers.^[17] Derbyshire made his debut for Forest on 16 August in a 1–0 away win against Doncaster Rovers.^[18] His first and only goal in the 2011–12 season was the opener in a 3–2 away defeat to Southampton.^[19]

On 14 September 2012 Derbyshire signed on loan for League One club Oldham Athletic in a short term deal.^[20] He scored on his debut a day later, scoring in a 2–2 draw at home to Notts County.^[21] He scored again in the following game, earning a point for Oldham in a 1–1 draw against Scunthorpe United.^[22] Derbyshire's third goal for Oldham came in a 2–0 away win over Crewe Alexandra.^[23] Derbyshire was reported as keen to stay at Oldham.^[24] He scored again in a 2–0 win at home to Leyton Orient,^[25] however the goal was controversial as Leyton Orient manager Russell Slade accused Derbyshire of a "blatant" handball offence that the referee did not pick up on.^[26] Manager Paul Dickov then stated his desire to keep him at the club.^[27] On 29 October, Dickov confirmed that Derbyshire would return for another spell at Oldham in the near future,^[28] and on 31 October, the spell was extended until 15 December.^[29][30]

Rotherham United

Derbyshire signed for newly promoted Championship team Rotherham United on a two-year contract on 30 May 2014.^[31]

International career

On 1 February 2007, Derbyshire was called up to the England Under-21 squad by new manager Stuart Pearce, for the match against Spain on 6 February. He was subsequently injured playing for Blackburn against Sheffield United on 3 February, and therefore missed joining up with the squad.

However, Derbyshire was fit enough to be included in England's Under-21 match against Italy at the new Wembley Stadium on 24 March. He scored England's third goal in a thrilling 3–3 draw. During the group stage of the 2007 European Under-21 Football Championship, he was the scorer of a controversial goal against the Serbian under-21 team. He did not kick the ball out when Serbian defender Slobodan Rajković was down injured and went on to score England's second goal of the game;^[32] in his defence, Derbyshire claimed he did not see the injured player.^[33] He took part in the epic semi-final shootout against hosts Netherlands, scoring his first but having his second penalty saved as England lost 13–12. On 28 March 2009, Derbyshire played the second half for England as they beat Norway 5–0, scoring two goals.

Personal life

Derbyshire's wife Melissa, née Norman, is from Ireland and they have three boys, twins Braidín and Callum and the youngest Killian.^[34][35]

Career statistics

As of match played 15 December 2015.

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Blackburn Rovers	2004–05[36]	Premier League	1	0	0	0	0	0	—		1	0
	2006–07[37]	Premier League	22	5	6	4	0	0	2[lower-alpha 1]	0	30	9
	2007–08[38]	Premier League	23	3	1	0	3	1	6[lower-alpha 2]	2	33	6
	2008–09[39]	Premier League	17	2	1	0	4	3	—		22	5
	Total		63	10	8	4	7	4	8	2	86	20
Plymouth Argyle (loan)	2005–06[40]	Championship	12	0	—		1	0	—		13	0
Wrexham (loan)	2005–06[40]	League Two	16	10	—		—		—		16	10
Olympiacos (loan)	2008–09[41]	Superleague Greece	7	5	4	3	—		2[lower-alpha 1]	0	13	8
Olympiacos	2009–10[42][43]	Superleague Greece	14	6	0	0	—		7[lower-alpha 3]	0	21	6
	2010–11[42]	Superleague Greece	—		—		—		2[lower-alpha 4]	1	2	1
	Total		21	11	4	3	—		11	1	36	15
Birmingham City (loan)	2010–11[44]	Premier League	13	0	2	2	5	1	—		20	3
Nottingham Forest	2011–12[45]	Championship	15	1	0	0	1	1	—		16	2
	2012–13[46]	Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	2013–14[47]	Championship	29	7	3	0	3	3	—		35	10
	Total		44	8	3	0	4	4	—		51	12
Oldham Athletic (loan)	2012–13[46]	League One	18	4	2	2	—		—		20	6
Blackpool (loan)	2012–13[46]	Championship	12	0	—		—		—		12	0
Rotherham United	2014–15[48]	Championship	34	9	1	0	1	1	—		36	10
	2015–16[49]	Championship	17	3	0	0	2	0	—		19	3
	Total		51	12	1	0	3	1	—		55	13
Career total			250	55	20	11	20	10	19	3	309	79

1. Appearances in UEFA Cup
2. Two appearances and one goal in UEFA Intertoto Cup, four appearances and one goal in UEFA Cup
3. Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, five in post-season play-offs
4. Appearances in UEFA Europa League

Honours

Blackburn Rovers

• UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2007

Olympiacos

• Superleague Greece: 2008–09^[42]
• Greek Cup: 2008–09^[42]

Birmingham City

• Football League Cup: 2010–11^[42]

References

1. "Professional retain list & free transfers 2012/13" (PDF). The Football League. 18 May 2013. p. 22. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
2. Hugman, Barry J. (ed) (2008). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2008–09. Mainstream. ISBN 978-1-84596-324-8.
3. Fenton, John. "Great Harwood Legends: Matt Derbyshire". Great Harwood Town Unofficial Website. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
4. VIP Magazine, Dublin, September 2010.
5. Wilson, Zack (28 January 2009). "Matt Derbyshire joins Olympiacos on loan". Olympiacos F.C. Retrieved 28 January 2009.
6. Paraskevas, Chris (2 May 2009). "Olympiakos Beat AEK Athens in Historic Greek Cup Final". Goal.com. Retrieved 2 May 2009.
7. "Derbyshire stars in Greek Cup win". BBC Sport. 2 May 2009. Retrieved 24 June 2009.
8. "Derbyshire signs for Olympiakos". BBC Sport. 24 June 2009. Retrieved 24 June 2009.
9. "Matt Derbyshire". Soccerbase. Racing Post. Retrieved 20 May 2012.
10. "Derbyshire Pens Blues Deal". Birmingham City F.C. 16 August 2010. Archived from the original on 19 August 2010. Retrieved 16 August 2010.
11. Tattum, Colin (23 August 2010). "Birmingham City 2, Blackburn Rovers 1 – Colin Tattum's big match verdict". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 8 September 2010.
12. "Birmingham 3–2 Rochdale". BBC Sport. 26 August 2010. Retrieved 8 September 2010.
13. Tattum, Colin (10 January 2011). "Matt Derbyshire feels like a January signing". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
14. "Leicester, Cardiff and Brighton on alert as Olympiakos tell Derbyshire he can leave". Daily Mail. 21 July 2011. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
15. "Matt's A Red". Nottingham Forest F.C. 10 August 2011. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
16. "Welcome Matt". Nottingham Forest F.C. 12 August 2011. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
17. "Matt's Thrilled By His English Return". Nottingham Forest F.C. 10 August 2011. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
18. "Doncaster 0–1 Nott'm Forest". BBC Sport. 16 August 2011. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
19. Ronay, Barney (10 November 2011). "Rickie Lambert's hat-trick helps Southampton beat Nottingham Forest". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 26 October 2011.
20. "Oldham sign strikers Jose Baxter and Matt Derbyshire". BBC Sport. 14 September 2012. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
21. "Oldham 2–2 Notts County". BBC Sport. 15 September 2012. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
22. "Oldham 1–1 Scunthorpe". BBC Sport. 18 September 2012. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
23. "Crewe 0–2 Oldham". BBC Sport. 3 October 2012. Retrieved 22 October 2012.
24. "Matt Derbyshire wants to extent Oldham loan spell". Daily Star (Northern & Shell). 16 October 2012. Retrieved 22 October 2012.
25. "Oldham 2–0 Leyton Orient". BBC Sport. 20 October 2012. Retrieved 22 October 2012.
26. "Leyton Orient boss Russell Slade questions handball decision". BBC London 94.9. 20 October 2012. Retrieved 22 October 2012.
27. "Oldham want Jose Baxter & Matt Derbyshire to extend stays". BBC Sport. 22 October 2012. Retrieved 22 October 2012.
28. "Derbyshire set to stay at Latics". The Football League. 29 October 2012. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
29. "Derbyshire extends Latics loan". FFO. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
30. Nicholson, Fraser (31 October 2012). In January 2012 Derbyshire joined Championship club Blackpool but failed to score for them. During Forests 2013-2014 Pre-Season friendly Derbyshire caught the eyes off manager scoring 6 goals. 458489.aspx "Matt's Deal Extended" Check |url= value (help). Nottingham Forest F.C. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
31. "Rotherham United sign Matt Derbyshire". Rotherham United F.C. 30 May 2014. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
32. "Uefa probes England & Serbia U21". BBC Sport. 18 June 2007. Retrieved 8 September 2010.
33. "Matt's England expectations". Blackburn Rovers F.C. 20 June 2007. Retrieved 9 September 2010.
34. Neild, Andy (3 March 2008). "Derbyshire celebrates fatherhood with a goal". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 8 September 2010.
35. Hart, Simon (23 February 2010). "Matt Derbyshire: 'I've got the beach, the pool... you can't pop out in Lancashire and find that'". The Independent. Retrieved 8 September 2010.
36. "Games played by Matt Derbyshire in 2004/2005". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
37. "Games played by Matt Derbyshire in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
38. "Games played by Matt Derbyshire in 2007/2008". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
39. "Games played by Matt Derbyshire in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
40. "Games played by Matt Derbyshire in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
41. "Matt Derbyshire". Footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
42. "M. Derbyshire". Soccerway. Global Sports Media. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
43. "Olympiacos F.C.". Superleague Greece. Retrieved 3 June 2014. Select season and competition via dropdown menu.
44. "Games played by Matt Derbyshire in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
45. "Games played by Matt Derbyshire in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
46. "Games played by Matt Derbyshire in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
47. "Games played by Matt Derbyshire in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
48. "Games played by Matt Derbyshire in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
49. "Games played by Matt Derbyshire in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 December 2015.

External links

• Matt Derbyshire career statistics at Soccerbase