Buckley&District Reds

Matt Derbyshire’s arrival on loan at Wrexham from Blackburn Rovers in February 2006 was not greeted with too much hype.

 

We’d already had Premiership youngsters Robbie Foy and Sam Williams on loan that season and while they showed flashes of their ability, they struggled to make too much of an impact. Following Matt’s Wrexham debut however, we knew he was different.

 

Matt had made his Blackburn Rovers debut the previous season as a late sub in a Premiership game against Fulham. He had originally started out as a member of staff with Blackburn’s ‘Football in the Community Scheme’ after leaving school. At the same time he was banging in the goals for now defunct non-league side Great Harwood Town. Manchester United and Blackburn themselves were starting to take note of this late developer, but Matt was only ever going to sign for one club, his beloved Rovers.

 

He continued to impress in Rovers reserves and early in the 2005-06 season was sent on loan to Championship side Plymouth Argyle. Unfortunately a change of manager shortly after he arrived left Matt on the periphery. He made many late substitute appearances but was not given a real chance to impress. Before Matt had gone to Plymouth the Wrexham manager Denis Smith had enquired about him. Smith got his man later on as Rovers boss Mark Hughes let Matt move to the Racecourse temporarily. After the disappointment of his spell at Plymouth, ‘Sparky’ was eager for Matt to join his hometown club to gain valuable first-team experience.

 

Matt was due to make his debut away at Macclesfield the weekend after he signed but inclement weather meant he had to wait a few days longer. Lining up against Rushden & Diamonds on Valentine’s Day Matt took just 24 minutes to make his mark scoring a poacher’s goal to give Wrexham the lead against the doomed Diamonds. He followed this up with another goal just over 10 minutes later; a great solo run and finish beating players in a style reminiscent of the goals a young Michael Owen used to score.

Matt scored two more goals in his next game at Mansfield, adding another at Barnet and then one at Rochdale. He secured a 2-2 draw at Cheltenham with another double, and scored a suspiciously ‘hand-ball’ consolation goal at home to Shrewsbury.

 

His final goal for Wrexham came at home to Bristol Rovers following a great through ball by Darren Ferguson. Derbyshire was perhaps the last beneficiary of Darren Ferguson’s eye for a pass and ability to provide forwards with great accuracy, something which Matt acknowledged his appreciation for while at the Racecourse.

Matt finished the season with 10 goals in 16 outings for Wrexham and an FAW Premier Cup runner’s up medal. He might have had more had an illness not restricted him near the end of the season.

 

Though we finished mid-table Matt’s goals with hindsight perhaps prevented us from becoming engaged in a relegation battle a season earlier than we did. Though lightweight in appearance, Matt had great balance, speed, control, and ability for making great runs. His most valuable attribute was his finishing and its variation of course. He was a constant menace and goal threat to defenders at ‘League 2’ level.

Wrexham fans realised he was a cut above this level and that there was little chance of him coming back on loan the next season. Many assumed he’s be loaned out to a ‘Championship’ club again to test his ability there.

 

Matt didn’t leave Blackburn again, but had to wait until December 2006 for his next senior opportunity, again as a late sub in the Premiership against Fulham. More sub appearances followed as well as a start in the UEFA Cup at home to French side Nancy.

 

Matt registered his first Premiership goal for Blackburn on New Year’s Day 2007, a tap-in away at Wigan. The goal clearly meant so much to Matt and the Blackburn fans. He was one of them living the dream of playing and scoring for Rovers, the sort of happy occurrence that’s all too rare in Premiership football nowadays. Given his first start for Rovers the following game at Everton in the FA Cup 3rd Round Matt scored again. He soon followed that goal up with another at Man.City.

 

He then came to national attention in an FA Cup 4th Round tie televised live on the BBC. Against Luton he scored two goals and displayed the same ability to a wider audience as witnessed by Wrexham fans less than a year earlier. By the end of the season he’d added four more Premiership goals, played in an FA Cup semi-final, and won his first England Under-21 cap in the first-ever game at the new Wembley stadium as a substitute.Typically, in that 3-3 draw with his Italian counterparts Matt, marked the occasion with a goal!

 

In summer 2007 he was a member of the England Under-21 squad that took part in the UEFA Under-21 Championships in Holland. He scored his third goal at that level somewhat controversially against Serbia & Montenegro whose players believed Matt had played on cynically, while they had a player down injured, to score his goal. Unfortunately for Matt the tournament ended against Holland after an epic penalty shoot-out that required some players to step up to the spot more than once. One of those players was Matt. He scored his first penalty, but his second attempt was saved, and following Anton Ferdinand’s miss England were out 13-12 on penalties.

 

The disappointment didn’t last long for Matt as he began this season (2007-08) with an opening day goal for Blackburn against Middlesbrough following a UEFA Cup goal against Vetra. Matt is now a local hero as an established member of the Blackburn Rovers squad pushing at the higher end of the Premiership. He has 4 goals in 9 games for the England Under-21’s, and with England currently lacking in quality finishers, who would bet against him becoming a senior international one day? Still only 21 Matt should have a great future ahead of him with Wrexham having some claim to having kick-started his career.

 

In these tough times being a Wrexham fan, many of us are grateful to be able to look back on the goals and performances of a recent player going on to better things.

 

In a recent interview Matt was asked which club he could never play for. His response: ‘Burnley and Chester’. That says it all, a Rover and a Dragon.