Damien Duff

Damien Duff in action for Premier League side Fulham
Personal information
Full name	Damien Anthony Duff
Date of birth	(1979-03-02) 2 March 1979 (age 33)[1]
Place of birth	Ballyboden, Ireland
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[2]
Playing position	Winger
Club information
Current club	Fulham
Number	16
Youth career
	Leicester Celtic
	Lourdes Celtic
	St. Kevin's Boys
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1996–2003	Blackburn Rovers	184	(27)
2003–2006	Chelsea	81	(14)
2006–2009	Newcastle United	69	(5)
2009–	Fulham	84	(12)
National team‡
1998–	Republic of Ireland	96	(8)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 6 May 2012 (GMT). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 26 May 2012 (UTC)

Damien Anthony Duff (born 2 March 1979) is an Irish footballer who plays for Premier League team Fulham and the Republic of Ireland national football team. With Ireland he has participated in the 2002 FIFA World Cup and helped his team qualify for UEFA Euro 2012. With Fulham he has played in the 2010 UEFA Europa League Final.

Duff has previously played for Blackburn Rovers, with whom he won the Football League Cup; Chelsea, where he won two Premier League titles and another League Cup; and Newcastle United where he won the 2006 UEFA Intertoto Cup.

Club career[link]

Blackburn Rovers[link]

Born in Ballyboden, County Dublin, Ireland, Duff joined Blackburn Rovers as a trainee in 1996 after playing for Leicester Celtic, Lourdes Celtic and St. Kevin's Boys as a schoolboy in Dublin. He made his Blackburn debut at the age of 18 against Leicester City on the final day of the 1996–97 season for which he won the Man of the match award. In his first full season (1997–98) he scored four goals. Blackburn were relegated the following season.

Duff helped Blackburn achieve promotion back to the Premier League in 2001^[3] and then win the League Cup in 2002, beating Tottenham Hotspur 2–1 at the Millennium Stadium.^[4] Following the 2002 World Cup, Duff signed a new four-year contract with Rovers,^[5] though press reports had suggested that he was to change clubs. Despite injury problems in the 2002–03 season, he finished as Rovers' top goalscorer with 11 league goals, which helped his team finish 6th and qualify for the UEFA Cup.

Chelsea[link]

In the run up to the 2003–04 season, Chelsea made a series of bids for Duff,^[6] with a £17 million offer, eventually triggering a release clause in the player's contract. Duff chose to move to West London in July.^[7] His first season at Chelsea was plagued by injury, and he missed the latter stages of the season, including the UEFA Champions League semi-finals. Duff scored six goals that season. He was instrumental in securing for Chelsea the club's highest league finish for 49 years as well as the Champions League run, but the season ultimately ended trophyless and with the sacking of manager Claudio Ranieri.

The arrival of Dutch winger Arjen Robben and new manager José Mourinho posed a threat to Duff's place in the starting line-up for the 2004–05 season, but an injury to Robben at the start of the season saw Duff as the only available winger. Mourinho, however, did not play Duff in the early part of the 2004–05 season, preferring a more narrow approach. Duff eventually got into the side after four games and, when Robben returned to the side, Duff's versatility saw him move to the right wing and form a wing partnership with Robben. The season proved to be successful for both Duff and Chelsea. He scored ten goals, including a crucial strike in a 4–2 win against Barcelona in the Champions League,^[8] while the team won the Premiership title and the League Cup, in which Duff scored the winning goal in the semi-final against Manchester United.^[9]

Newcastle United[link]

Damien Duff with Newcastle United

In July 2006, Duff agreed terms over a £5 million move to Newcastle United, signing a five-year contract.^[10] Duff made his competitive debut in a UEFA Cup second round qualifying first leg match against Latvian side Ventspils. He scored his first goal for Newcastle in September that year in a 2–0 victory over West Ham United away at Boleyn Ground. Duff suffered a knee injury in November that kept him out for four months, during which Newcastle had a bad run of defeats. He returned but was then ruled out for the rest of the season due to an ankle injury in a 2–1 loss to Portsmouth in April 2007.^[11] Sam Allardyce later described Duff's injury as 'career threatening'.^[12] Duff made a full return to fitness in December.

Duff was linked with an exit from the club, but remained at St. James' Park and made some key contributions^{[citation needed]} in the aftermath of Kevin Keegan's departure and Joe Kinnear's appointment as interim manager.

Under the new appointment of Alan Shearer as manager, because of his versatility, Duff was asked to play as Left Back. In the final match of the 2008–09 Season, against Aston Villa in a crucial relegation decider, Duff unluckily scored the deciding own goal that sent his side down. Much as when he did when with Blackburn, Duff confirmed his intention to stay at the relegated club and help them back into the Premier League. Duff scored Newcastle's first goal of the 2009–10 season against West Bromwich Albion.

Fulham[link]

Damien Duff taking a corner for Fulham in August 2010 against Manchester United

After playing one game for Newcastle in 2009–10, Duff returned to the Premier League, signing for Fulham on a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee, and re-joining Roy Hodgson, his first manager at Blackburn Rovers.^[13] He made his Fulham debut coming on as a substitute against Amkar Perm in the Cottagers' UEFA Europa League qualifier match, setting up the third goal in a 3–1 win. On 19 December 2009, just six days before Christmas in a Premier League game vs. Manchester United at Craven Cottage Duff scored in the 75th minute in a 3–0 victory. On 17 January 2010, Duff started the game against Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park and also completed the full 90 minutes in a 2–0 defeat. On 22 August 2010, he started and played the full 90 minutes against Manchester United at Craven Cottage in a 2–2 draw and also picked up a booking. On 18 September 2010, he started and played the entire match against Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park in a 1–1 draw.^[14]

Duff played his first Premiership game against one of his old clubs Chelsea. The game was at Craven Cottage and Chelsea went on to win the game with a 0–2 win. Duff scored his first league goal for Fulham in a 2–1 victory over Everton, scoring in the 79th minute to give the Cottagers a vital win. On 6 November 2010, he made a substitute appearance by coming on for Mexican international Carlos Salcido in the 69th minute in the match with Aston Villa at Craven Cottage in the 1–1 draw. His second goal for Fulham was scored against Manchester United after Bobby Zamora had set him up in a 3–0 win. On 15 January 2011, Duff made his 500th career appearance in English football when he lined up against Wigan Athletic playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–1 draw at the DW Stadium. On 5 February 2011, he started the Barclays Premier League game against Aston Villa in a 2–2 draw at Villa Park, but was replaced on 67 minutes by Simon Davies. On 27 February 2011, he played the full 90 minutes and also scored a goal in the match with Manchester City at Eastlands in a 1–1 draw.^[15]

On 5 March 2011, Duff scored a brace in a 3–2 win against former side Blackburn Rovers at Craven Cottage.^[16] With the two goals, he continued a run of four goals in five matches.^[17]

About Fulham and his time at the football club, Duff stated: "I like to think that I have found my feet again here at Fulham. It's a good environment and one that players feel very comfortable in. This is a club with so much character and I'm very happy to be helping move it forward.” At the end of the 2010–11 season, Duff made 27 appearances and scored 4 goals in all competitions, including making 24 Barclays Premier League appearances. As of July 2011, he has made 81 appearances and has scored 15 goals for Fulham in all competitions.^[18]

On 19 August 2011, Duff signed a one-year extension to his current deal. The contract should see the player remain at Craven Cottage until at least the summer of 2013.^[19]

After nine goalless matches, Duff scored in Fulham's 2–1 win over Norwich City on 31 March 2012.^[20] A week later, on 7 April 2012, he starred in Fulham's 0–3 away win over Bolton Wanderers, setting up Clint Dempsey for the second goal of the match. During the match, which marked his 350th league appearance, he was a constant threat on the right wing.^[21]

International career[link]

Duff taking a corner for Ireland during a game against Serbia in 2008

At junior level, Duff played for Ireland in the 1997 and 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship. In the former tournament in Malaysia he scored the first ever Golden Goal in a World Cup match.^[22]

Duff made his senior début for the Republic of Ireland in 1998 against the Czech Republic. He has won 95 caps, making him the fifth most capped player in Irish history.^[23] He has started a total of 82 times for the Ireland senior squad, scoring eight goals.

Duff played every game for Ireland at the 2002 FIFA World Cup and was voted the team's player of the tournament. After scoring against Saudi Arabia en route to the second round of the FIFA World Cup, Duff marked his goal with an oriental bow, in retrospect often referred to as one of the most memorable moments of his international career, with Asian fans still travelling to his club's training ground ten years later to catch a glimpse of the player.^[24]

He was part of the team that secured qualification for UEFA Euro 2012 with an unprecedented 5-1 aggregate play-off win over Estonia.^[25]

Personal life[link]

Duff married Elaine in June 2010 in Midsomer Norton. The couple's first child, Woody, was born a year later in Somerset.^[26][27] Duff is also a rugby fan, and is personally acquainted with some of Ireland's international rugby players.^[28]

According to the February issue of FourFourTwo magazine Duff was worth £14m, placing him 92nd in the magazine's 2009 Football Rich List.^[29]

Honours[link]

Club[link]

Blackburn Rovers

• Football League Cup (1): 2001–02

Chelsea

• Premier League (2): 2004–05, 2005–06
• Football League Cup (1): 2004–05
• Community Shield (1): 2005
• Premier League Asia Trophy (1): 2003

Newcastle United

• UEFA Intertoto Cup (1): 2006

Fulham

• UEFA Europa League (1): 2010 Runner up

International[link]

Republic of Ireland

• FIFA World Youth Championship: 1997 Third Place

Individual[link]

• Football League First Division PFA Team of the Year (1): 2000-01
• UEFA Team of the Year (1): 2002

Career Statistics[link]

Club[link]

^[30][31]

As of 15:50, 12 February 2012.

2011-12 appearances includes match in Uefa Cup, away to Dnipro on 25/8/2011, which is currently not included on Soccerbase website.

International[link]

^[32]

As of 1 March 2012

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Damien Duff

• Damien Duff – FIFA competition record
• Damien Duff career stats at Soccerbase
• Football Database provides Damien Duff's profile and stats
• Newcastle Club profile
• Premier League profile

v t e Republic of Ireland squad – 2002 FIFA World Cup 1 Given 2 Finnan 3 Harte 4 Cunningham 5 Staunton (c) 6 Roy Keane 7 McAteer 8 Holland 9 Duff 10 Robbie Keane 11 Kilbane 12 Kinsella 13 Connolly 14 Breen 15 Dunne 16 Kiely 17 Quinn 18 G. Kelly 19 Morrison 20 O'Brien 21 Reid 22 Carsley 23 A. Kelly Coach: McCarthy

v t e Republic of Ireland squad – UEFA Euro 2012 1 Given 2 St Ledger 3 Ward 4 O'Shea 5 Dunne 6 Whelan 7 McGeady 8 Andrews 9 Doyle 10 Keane (c) 11 Duff 12 Kelly 13 McShane 14 Walters 15 Gibson 16 Westwood 17 Hunt 18 O'Dea 19 Long 20 Cox 21 Green 22 McClean 23 Forde Coach: Trapattoni