Matt Derbyshire

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

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.

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

He had previously worked in Rovers' 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 progressed through the youth and reserve teams, and his performances earned him the Supporters' Young Player of the Year award for the 2004–05 season.

Derbyshire made his first-team debut as a late substitute in the Premiership defeat at home to Fulham on 7 May 2005.

He joined Championship club Plymouth Argyle on 30 August 2005 on loan for the season; a few days later, manager Bobby Williamson was sacked.

Derbyshire made his debut as a substitute in caretaker Jocky Scott's first match in charge, and started the next three, after which Tony Pulis was appointed manager and Derbyshire made nine more appearances but no more starts.

The loan was ended early, and on the advice of Blackburn manager Mark Hughes, he began another loan, an initial month at League Two club Wrexham.

He scored five goals in as many games, the loan was extended to three months, and he ended up with ten goals from 16 league matches and a new two-year contract with Blackburn.

Derbyshire opened his senior goal account for Blackburn in a 3–0 win 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 six days later.

He made his first Premiership start against Arsenal on 13 January, and scored his third goal in four games against Manchester City.

His form continued the following week with two goals and an assist away to Luton Town in the FA Cup fourth round.

He also scored against Manchester United, taking advantage of a defensive 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 90th-minute winner against Newcastle United, and again scored a late winner, against Fulham on 20 September, finishing off a move involving Tugay, Carlos Villanueva and Roque Santa Cruz.

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 found starts hard to come by under new manager Paul Ince and played little after the arrival of his successor Sam Allardyce, and in late January 2009, Derbyshire joined Olympiacos on loan until the end of the 2008–09 Superleague season.

He made his first appearance for the club as a substitute in the first leg of a Greek 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 semi-finals.

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

He played for Birmingham City on loan for the 2010–11 season, and continued with spells at Nottingham Forest, Oldham Athletic, Blackpool and Rotherham United.

He spent four seasons in Cypriot football with Omonia followed by one season with A-League club Macarthur FC before returning to Cyprus with AEK Larnaca.

He joined NorthEast United in 2022.

He won 14 caps for England at under-21 level.

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

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

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.

He made his league debut on 14 February in a 2–1 home victory over Aris as a 79th-minute substitute for Diogo.

On 15 March, 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 the 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.

Derbyshire played a pivotal role in the Greek Cup final against cross-city rivals AEK Athens.

With Olympiacos 2–0 down, he was brought on at half-time; three minutes later, he scored.

The game then went to 2–2 before AEK Athens scored what seemed to be the winning goal in stoppage time.

However, with the last touch of the game, Derbyshire headed an equaliser in the sixth minute of added time, bringing the score to 3–3, after having suffered a broken nose and suspected concussion following a clash with an opponent.

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 received the Man of the match award for his efforts.