Michael Duff (footballer)

Michael James Duff (born 11 January 1978) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player. In a career spanning from 1995 to 2016, in which he made over 700 appearances, he played as a defender for Carterton Town, Cheltenham Town, Cirencester Town (on loan) and Burnley. At international level, Duff earned 24 caps for Northern Ireland. Since 2018, he is the manager of League Two club Cheltenham Town, having previously managed the Burnley reserves for two years.

Michael Duff

Personal information
Full name	Michael James Duff[1]
Date of birth	11 January 1978[1]
Place of birth	Belfast, Northern Ireland
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[1]
Position(s)	Centre back[2]
Club information
Current team	Cheltenham Town (manager)
Youth career
	Darlington
1995–1996	Carterton Town
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1996–2004	Cheltenham Town	300	(15)
1996–1997	→ Cirencester Town (loan)
2004–2016	Burnley	342	(7)
Total		642	(22)
National team
2003	Northern Ireland B	1	(0)
2002–2012	Northern Ireland	24	(0)
Teams managed
2018–	Cheltenham Town
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

With Burnley, Duff became the first footballer to be promoted to the Premier League on three occasions with the same club. He is also the only player in history to have played in each of the top eight tiers of English football.

Playing career

Although born in Belfast,[2] Duff was raised in Bedale, North Yorkshire. As a school boy he represented North Yorkshire and joined the Darlington Football Club School of Excellence before moving to Cheltenham in 1994.

Spotted by Cheltenham Town scout Derek Bragg playing for Carterton Town, Duff was invited by Mike Davis, youth team manager to join Cheltenham, then playing in the Southern League. He had a spell on loan at Cirencester Town before returning to Cheltenham when Steve Cotterill took over as manager.[3] He became a regular for Cheltenham, and went on to play 242 games and score 15 times, including a 93rd-minute winner in a 3–2 victory at home to Yeovil Town in 1999 that secured Cheltenham Town promotion to the Football League.

On 5 July 2004, he made a £30,000[4] switch to Burnley where he became a regular, if not always automatic, first-team choice. Over the next couple of seasons he established himself as first choice right-back, although he had equally often played at centre-back. His first Burnley goal was credited in a League Cup game against Carlisle United, even though it might equally have been credited as an own goal. He finally got incontrovertibly on the score-sheet on 14 October 2006 against Hull City.

Duff was part of two of Northern Ireland's finest international moments of recent years; as a late substitute in their 1–0 victory over England on 7 September 2005 and then in a 3–2 victory over Spain on 6 September 2006.

In the 2007–08 season Duff picked up a serious injury during the Championship match against Crystal Palace at Turf Moor. The injury ruled Duff out for almost a year, causing him to miss the first half of the following campaign. He suffered multiple ligament damage and hamstring damage as well as a cruciate knee injury.[5] Duff started his first Premier League match on Boxing Day 2009 against Bolton Wanderers at Turf Moor, having made his debut as a substitute in the preceding game versus Wolverhampton Wanderers. In doing so, he completed the rare feat of having played in each of the top eight tiers of English football in ascending order during his career: the Hellenic League with Carterton Town, the Southern League (Midland Division) with Cirencester Town, the Southern League (Premier Division), Conference (prior to its 2004 re-organisation), League Two and League One with Cheltenham Town, and the Championship and Premier League with Burnley.[6]

After Burnley's relegation, Duff remained with the team and, over the next three seasons, was a frequent, though not automatic, first team choice as injuries and competition for places saw him play in roughly half of Burnley's league matches in each of the seasons through this period. By the summer of 2013, having earned a season extension for 2013–14 on the basis of his appearances, Duff was the longest-serving player at the club. On 2 July 2014, Duff signed a new one-year contract with Burnley, Duff remained the only survivor of the squad that reached the Premier League in 2009 and his final deal meant the former Northern Ireland international entered his 11th season with the club.

Duff retired from playing professionally at the end of 2015–16 season, having helped Burnley win the Championship title and promotion to the Premier League.[7] As a result of this, Duff became the first footballer to be promoted to the Premier League on three occasions with the same club.[8]

Managerial career

On 10 September 2018, Duff was appointed to his first managerial appointment at his former club Cheltenham Town in League Two.[9] He was awarded the League Two Manager of the Month award for September 2019 and February 2020.[10] On 1 November 2019, Duff signed a contract extension which will keep him at Cheltenham Town until June 2023.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Cheltenham Town	1996–97[11]	Southern League Premier	17	0	0	0	—		0	0	17	0
	1997–98[12]	Football Conference	41	0	5	0	—		0	0	46	0
	1998–99[13]	Football Conference	41	3	1	0	—		0	0	42	3
	1999–2000[14]	Third Division	31	2	2	0	0	0	2[lower-alpha 1]	0	35	2
	2000–01[15]	Third Division	39	5	2	0	2	0	1[lower-alpha 1]	0	44	5
	2001–02[16]	Third Division	45	3	5	0	1	0	5[lower-alpha 2]	0	56	3
	2002–03[17]	Second Division	44	2	3	0	2	0	2[lower-alpha 1]	0	51	2
	2003–04[18]	Third Division	42	0	3	0	1	0	0	0	45	0
	Total		300	15	21	0	6	0	10	0	337	15
Burnley	2004–05[19]	Championship	42	0	2	0	4	0	—		48	0
	2005–06[20]	Championship	41	0	1	0	3	1	—		45	1
	2006–07[21]	Championship	44	2	0	0	1	0	—		45	2
	2007–08[22]	Championship	8	1	0	0	2	0	—		10	1
	2008–09[23]	Championship	27	1	3	0	7	0	3[lower-alpha 3]	0	40	1
	2009–10[24]	Premier League	11	0	2	0	1	0	—		14	0
	2010–11[25]	Championship	28	1	3	0	1	0	—		32	1
	2011–12[26]	Championship	31	0	0	0	1	0	—		32	0
	2012–13[27]	Championship	24	1	1	0	3	0	—		28	1
	2013–14[28]	Championship	41	1	0	0	1	0	—		42	1
	2014–15[29]	Premier League	21	0	1	0	0	0	—		22	0
	2015–16[30]	Championship	24	0	0	0	1	0	—		25	0
	Total		342	7	13	0	25	1	3	0	383	8
Career total			642	22	34	0	31	1	13	0	720	23

1. Appearance(s) in Football League Trophy
2. Three appearances in Football League Third Division play-offs, two in Football League Trophy
3. Appearances in Football League Championship play-offs

International

Source:[31]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Northern Ireland	2002	2	0
	2004	2	0
	2005	3	0
	2006	7	0
	2007	6	0
	2008	2	0
	2012	2	0
Total		24	0

Managerial statistics

As of match played 30 January 2021[32]

Managerial record by team and tenure

Team	From	To	Record
			P	W	D	L	Win %
Cheltenham Town	10 September 2018	Present	126	54	36	36	042.9
Total			126	54	36	36	042.9

Honours

Cheltenham Town

• Football Conference: 1998–99; runner-up: 1997–98
• FA Trophy: 1997–98
• Football League Third Division play-offs: 2002[33]

Burnley

• Football League Championship play-offs: 2009[34]
• Football League Championship: 2015–16;[35] runner-up: 2013–14[36]

References

1. 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)
2. "Michael Duff". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
3. "The Michael Duff fairytale story". This is Gloucestershire. 18 January 2010. Archived from the original on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
4. Michael Duff | Burnley | Team | Profiles Archived 16 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine
5. Duff Faces Lengthy Spell Out | Burnley | News | Latest Headlines | Latest Headlines Archived 10 January 2008 at the Wayback Machine
6. "Duff tips Dyche to manage England". Belfast Telegraph. 2 April 2015. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
7. "Burnley stalwart Michael Duff retires after 383 games for club". Sky Sports. 9 May 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
8. Quelch, Tim (2017). From Orient to the Emirates: The Plucky Rise of Burnley FC. Pitch Publishing Ltd. p. 342. ISBN 978-1785313127.
9. "Michael Duff: Cheltenham Town appoint Burnley Under-23 coach as manager". BBC Sport. 10 September 2018.
10. "Sky Bet League Two: Manager and Player of the Month winners". English Football League. 13 March 2020. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
11. "Games played by Mike Duff in 1996/1997". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
12. "Games played by Mike Duff in 1997/1998". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
13. "Games played by Mike Duff in 1998/1999". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
14. "Games played by Mike Duff in 1999/2000". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
15. "Games played by Mike Duff in 2000/2001". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
16. "Games played by Mike Duff in 2001/2002". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
17. "Games played by Mike Duff in 2002/2003". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
18. "Games played by Mike Duff in 2003/2004". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
19. "Games played by Mike Duff in 2004/2005". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
20. "Games played by Mike Duff in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
21. "Games played by Mike Duff in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
22. "Games played by Mike Duff in 2007/2008". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
23. "Games played by Mike Duff in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
24. "Games played by Mike Duff in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
25. "Games played by Mike Duff in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
26. "Games played by Mike Duff in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
27. "Games played by Mike Duff in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
28. "Games played by Mike Duff in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
29. "Games played by Mike Duff in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
30. "Games played by Michael Duff in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
31. "Mike Duff". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
32. "Managers: Michael Duff". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
33. "Cheltenham crack Diamonds". BBC Sport. 6 May 2002. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
34. Fletcher, Paul (25 May 2009). "Burnley 1–0 Sheff Utd". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
35. Anderson, John, ed. (2016). Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2016–2017. London: Headline Publishing Group. pp. 94–95. ISBN 978-1-4722-3395-0.
36. Anderson, John, ed. (2014). Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2014–2015. London: Headline Publishing Group. pp. 90–91. ISBN 978-1-4722-1251-1.

External links

• Michael Duff at Soccerbase
• NIFG profile