Matt Derbyshire

Matthew Anthony Derbyshire (born 14 April 1986) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Macarthur. 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.

Matt Derbyshire
Derbyshire playing for Olympiacos in 2010
Personal information
Full name Matthew Anthony Derbyshire[1]
Date of birth (1986-04-14) 14 April 1986
Place of birth Great Harwood, England[2]
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[2]
Position(s) Striker
Club information
Current team
 Macarthur FC
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)
2014–2016 Rotherham United 69 (17)
2016–2020 Omonia 113 (62)
2020– Macarthur FC 5 (1)
National team
2007–2009 England U21 14 (4)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 30 January 2021

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, whom he had supported since he was a child.[4]

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 on to 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] He signed a four-year contract with Olympiacos on 23 June 2009 after the clubs agreed a fee reported as £3m.[7]

On 21 March 2010, Derbyshire scored the winning goal against Panathinaikos, in a 1–0 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.[8]

Birmingham loan

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.[9] He made his debut against former club Blackburn Rovers on 21 August as a second-half substitute for fellow new signing Nikola Žigić,[10] and scored his first goal for the club five days later in a 3–2 League Cup victory over Rochdale.[11] 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.[12] Derbyshire never established himself in the first team, and despite making five appearances in that season's League Cup competition, he was omitted from Birmingham's squad for the final, in which Birmingham achieved a shock 2–1 victory against Arsenal.[13][14] He left the club at the end of the season after their relegation from the Premier League.

Nottingham Forest

Derbyshire 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 renewed 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 went on loan to 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] He scored again in a 2–0 win at home to Leyton Orient,[24] 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.[25] Manager Paul Dickov then stated his desire to keep him at the club,[26] and the spell was extended until 15 December.[27]

In January 2012 Derbyshire went on loan to Championship club Blackpool[28] but failed to score for them.

Rotherham United

Derbyshire signed for newly promoted Championship team Rotherham United on a two-year contract on 30 May 2014.[29] Until his departure in summer 2016 he scored 17 goals in 69 matches for the club.[30]

Omonia Nicosia

On 17 June 2016, Cypriot First Division club Omonia Nicosia announced the signing of Derbyshire.[30] He made his debut on 30 June against FC Banants Yerevan in the first leg of the Europa League first qualifying round, and scored the only goal of the match.[31] In his first league appearance, in a 3–1 win against Ermis Aradippou, Derbyshire opened the scoring with a second-minute penalty[32] On 4 January 2017 he drew attention when he scored a hat-trick against Ethnikos Achna in 4 minutes, overturning a 2-0 deficit against Omonia, that gave his side a valuable league victory.[33] He continued to score regularly, and finished the season as the league's top scorer with 24 goals, three more than his nearest rival.[34]

On 9 August 2017, Omonia announced the extension of his contract until the summer of 2021.[35]

In the first game of the 2017-18 season, on 10 September 2017, he scored both goals for Omonia against Ethnikos Achna.[36] Until the end of the season he was capped 33 times and scored 23 goals and was the top scored of the league for a second consecutive year.

On the 2018-2019 season Derbyshire was capped 25 times and scored 2 goals.[37]

On the 2019-20 season premiere against Doxa Katokopias, Derbyshire scored the first goal of the game with a header.[38]

Macarthur FC

On 4 August 2020, it was announced that Derbyshire had decided to retire from playing and had signed for new Australian A-League club Macarthur FC.[39]

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;[40] in his defence, Derbyshire claimed he did not see the injured player.[41] 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.[42][43]

Career statistics
As of 7 March 2020
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Blackburn Rovers 2004–05[44] Premier League 100000—10
2005–06[45] Premier League 00—00—10
2006–07[46] Premier League 22564002[lower-alpha 1]0309
2007–08[47] Premier League 23310316[lower-alpha 2]2336
2008–09[48] Premier League 1721043—225
Total 63108474828620
Plymouth Argyle (loan) 2005–06[45] Championship 120—10—130
Wrexham (loan) 2005–06[45] League Two 1610———1610
Olympiacos (loan) 2008–09[49] Superleague Greece 7543—2[lower-alpha 1]0138
Olympiacos 2009–10[50][51] Superleague Greece 14600—7[lower-alpha 3]0216
2010–11[50] Superleague Greece ———2[lower-alpha 4]121
Total 211143001113615
Birmingham City (loan) 2010–11[13] Premier League 1302251—203
Nottingham Forest 2011–12[52] Championship 1510011—162
2012–13[53] Championship 000000—00
2013–14[54] Championship 2973033—3510
Total 4483044005112
Oldham Athletic (loan) 2012–13[53] League One 18422——206
Blackpool (loan) 2012–13[53] Championship 120———120
Rotherham United 2014–15[55] Championship 3491011—3610
2015–16[56] Championship 3581020—388
Total 69172031007418
Omonia 2016–17[50] Cypriot First Division 332441—4[lower-alpha 4]24127
2017–18[50] Cypriot First Division 332322—3525
2018–19 Cypriot First Division 25230—282
2019–20 Cypriot First Division 221312—2315
Total 11362105004212769
Career total 36912129162010235429152
  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

Club

Olympiacos

Birmingham City

Individual

References
  1. "Professional retain list & free transfers 2012/13" (PDF). The Football League. 18 May 2013. p. 22. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 August 2014. 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.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  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.
    "Derbyshire stars in Greek Cup win". BBC Sport. 2 May 2009. Retrieved 24 June 2009.
  7. "Derbyshire signs for Olympiakos". BBC Sport. 24 June 2009. Retrieved 24 June 2009.
  8. "Blues eye Derbyshire deal". Sky Sports. 13 August 2010. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
  9. "Derbyshire pens Blues deal". Birmingham City F.C. 16 August 2010. Archived from the original on 19 August 2010. Retrieved 16 August 2010.
  10. Tattum, Colin (23 August 2010). "Birmingham City 2, Blackburn Rovers 1 – Colin Tattum's big match verdict". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 8 September 2010.
  11. "Birmingham 3–2 Rochdale". BBC Sport. 26 August 2010. Retrieved 8 September 2010.
  12. Tattum, Colin (10 January 2011). "Matt Derbyshire feels like a January signing". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
  13. "Games played by Matt Derbyshire in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
  14. McNulty, Philip (27 February 2011). "Arsenal 1–2 Birmingham". BBC Sport. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
  15. "Matt's a Red". Nottingham Forest F.C. 10 August 2011. Archived from the original on 5 August 2012. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
  16. "Nottingham Forest 2011/12". FootballSquads.com. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  17. "Matt's thrilled by his English return". Nottingham Forest F.C. 10 August 2011. Archived from the original on 5 August 2012. 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. "Oldham 2–0 Leyton Orient". BBC Sport. 20 October 2012. Retrieved 22 October 2012.
  25. "Leyton Orient boss Russell Slade questions handball decision". BBC London 94.9. 20 October 2012. Retrieved 22 October 2012.
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  27. "Oldham Athletic extend Matt Derbyshire's loan spell". BBC Sport. 1 November 2012. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  28. "Matt Derbyshire: Blackpool sign Nottingham Forest striker on loan". BBC Sport. 25 January 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
  29. "Rotherham United sign Matt Derbyshire". Rotherham United F.C. 30 May 2014. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  30. "Matt Derbyshire: Rotherham striker leaves club for Omonia Nicosia". BBC Sport. 17 June 2016. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  31. "UEFA Europa League Matches:Banants-Omonia". UEFA. Retrieved 3 July 2016.
  32. Hajiloizis, Mario (21 August 2016). "Apollon and Omonia kick-off Protathlima CYTA with wins". SigmaLive. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
  33. Hajiloizis, Mario (5 January 2017). "Matt Derbyshire's incredible 4-minute hat-trick saves Omonia". SigmaLive. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
  34. "Παγκύπριο Πρωτάθλημα CYTA 16/17: Σκόρερς" [Cypriot Championship CYTA 16/17: Scorers] (in Greek). Cypriot Football Association. Archived from the original on 23 May 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  35. "Τον πράσινο λαό θα χαιρετά για τα επόμενα 4 χρόνια ο Ματ Ντάρμπισαϊρ" [The Greens welcome Matt Derbyshire for the next 4 years] (in Greek). AC Omonia Nicosia. 9 August 2017. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  36. "Match Report: Νικηφόρο ξεκίνημα" [Match Report: Winning start] (in Greek). Omonoianews.com. 10 September 2017. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
  37. "MATTHEW ANTHONY DERBYSHIRE". ΚΟΠ Επίσημη Ιστοσελίδα. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  38. "Match Report: Πρώτη νίκη στο πρωτάθλημα, 0-2 τη Δόξα!". ΟΜΟΝΟΙΑ Official Website. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  39. "Signing news: Macarthur secure English striker Derbyshire". A-League. 4 August 2020.
  40. "Uefa probes England & Serbia U21". BBC Sport. 18 June 2007. Retrieved 8 September 2010.
  41. "Matt's England expectations". Blackburn Rovers F.C. 20 June 2007. Archived from the original on 2 September 2012. Retrieved 9 September 2010.
  42. Neild, Andy (3 March 2008). "Derbyshire celebrates fatherhood with a goal". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 8 September 2010.
  43. 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.
  44. "Games played by Matt Derbyshire in 2004/2005". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
  45. "Games played by Matt Derbyshire in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
  46. "Games played by Matt Derbyshire in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
  47. "Games played by Matt Derbyshire in 2007/2008". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
  48. "Games played by Matt Derbyshire in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
  49. "Matt Derbyshire". Footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
  50. "M. Derbyshire". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  51. "Olympiacos F.C." Superleague Greece. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013. Retrieved 3 June 2014. Select season and competition via dropdown menu.
  52. "Games played by Matt Derbyshire in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
  53. "Games played by Matt Derbyshire in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
  54. "Games played by Matt Derbyshire in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
  55. "Games played by Matt Derbyshire in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
  56. "Games played by Matt Derbyshire in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
  57. "Παγκύπριο Πρωτάθλημα Cyta 17/18: Σκόρερς" [Cypriot Championship CYTA 17/18: Scorers] (in Greek). Cypriot Football Association. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
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