Matt Derbyshire

Early life and career

Derbyshire was born in Great Harwood, Lancashire and attended Our Lady and St John R.C. High School in Blackburn. 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.

Blackburn Rovers

He joined his boyhood club, Blackburn Rovers, in November 2003 for a £20,000 fee, a club record for Great Harwood. 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.

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

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.

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. He made his debut against former club Blackburn Rovers on 21 August as a second-half substitute for fellow new signing Nikola Žigić, and scored his first goal for the club five days later in a 3–2 League Cup victory over Rochdale. 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. 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. He left the club 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. He signed a three-year contract with Championship club Nottingham Forest on 10 August 2011. The fee was undisclosed. He was issued squad number eight. 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. Derbyshire made his debut for Forest on 16 August in a 1–0 away win against Doncaster Rovers. His first and only goal in the 2011–12 season was the opener in a 3–2 away defeat to Southampton.

On 14 September 2012 Derbyshire went on loan to League One club Oldham Athletic in a short term deal. He scored on his debut a day later, scoring in a 2–2 draw at home to Notts County. He scored again in the following game, earning a point for Oldham in a 1–1 draw against Scunthorpe United. Derbyshire's third goal for Oldham came in a 2–0 away win over Crewe Alexandra. Derbyshire was reported as keen to stay at Oldham. He scored again in a 2–0 win at home to Leyton Orient, 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. Manager Paul Dickov then stated his desire to keep him at the club, and the spell was extended until 15 December.

In January 2012 Derbyshire went on loan to Championship club Blackpool 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. Until his departure in summer 2016 he scored 17 goals in 69 matches for the club.

Omonia Nicosia

On 17 June 2016, Cypriot First Division club Omonia Nicosia announced the signing of Derbyshire. 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. In his first league appearance, in a 3–1 win against Ermis Aradippou, Derbyshire opened the scoring wih a second-minute penalty 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. He continued to score regularly, and finished the season as the league's top scorer with 24 goals, three more than his nearest rival.

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

In the 2017-18 season's first game, on 10 September 2017, he scored both goals for Omonia against Ethnikos Achna.

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; in his defence, Derbyshire claimed he did not see the injured player. 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.

Career statistics

Club

Blackburn Rovers

Olympiacos

Birmingham City

Individual