Duncan Ian Watmore (born 8 March 1994) is an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

club

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...

. Watmore previously played for

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population o ...

Clitheroe Clitheroe () is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Ribble Valley, Lancashire, England; it is located north-west of Manchester. It is near the Forest of Bowland and is often used as a base for tourists visiting the area. In 2018, the Cl ...

Curzon Ashton Curzon Ashton Football Club is an association football club based in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, England. Founded in 1963 and nicknamed "The Nash", the club is affiliated to the Manchester Football Association and currently compete ...

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

and Hibernian.

Early life

Watmore was born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

and is the son of

Ian Watmore Ian Charles Watmore (born 5 July 1958) is a British management consultant and former senior civil servant under three prime ministers, serving from October 2016 as the First Civil Service Commissioner. Early life and business career Born in C ...

, a former chief executive of

the Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...

. He was educated at Cheadle Hulme School.

Career

Early career

Watmore started his career at

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

, but was released at the age of 12. He joined

in their youth team at the age of 16. He made his first-team debut on 27 November 2011 as a substitute in a 2–1 away defeat to

F.C. United of Manchester Football Club United of Manchester is a semi-professional football club based in Moston, Manchester, England, that competes in the , the seventh tier of the English football league system, and plays home matches at Broadhurst Park. Found ...

in the

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

. Watmore had spells on

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...

Division One North clubs

and

in early 2012. He scored 14 goals for Altrincham in the 2012–13 season.

Sunderland

Watmore signed for

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club

on 24 May 2013 for an undisclosed fee on a two-year contract. He made his debut for the Sunderland first team on 5 January 2014 as a 60th-minute substitute for

Ji Dong-won Ji Dong-won (, Hanja: 池東沅, or ; born 28 May 1991) is a South Korean professional footballer who plays as a winger for FC Seoul and the South Korea national team. Early life Born in Chuja Islands, an archipelago of Jeju City, Ji beg ...

in a 3–1 home win against

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...

in the third round of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

. On 31 January 2014, Watmore joined

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...

club Hibernian on loan for the rest of the 2013–14 season. His first goal came on 15 March 2014 in a 3–1 defeat away to

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. ...

. Watmore left Hibernian at the end of the season. On 29 May 2015, Watmore was named the

U21 Premier League The Professional Development League is a system of youth association football, football leagues that are managed, organised and controlled by the Premier League or by the Football League. It was introduced by the The Football Association, Footbal ...

Player of the Season, after scoring 11 goals in 19 matches in the competition. Watmore made his league debut for Sunderland on 15 August 2015, coming off the bench to score a late consolation goal with a scuffed volley into the bottom-left corner in a 3–1 home loss to

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

. He signed a new four-year contract with Sunderland on 22 November 2015. Watmore returned from two months out with an ankle injury on 16 April 2016 as a half time substitute away to Norwich City, and scored the third goal in Sunderland's 3–0 victory, a result which brought the team to within a point of Norwich in the relegation battle. Watmore was ruled out for the remainder of the a 2016–17 season after suffering cruciate knee ligament injury during Sunderland's 2–1 home win over

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

on 3 December 2016. It was announced on 17 June 2020 that Watmore would be leaving Sunderland, bringing to an end his 7 years at the club.

Middlesbrough

On 17 November 2020, Watmore signed for

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

on a short-term deal until January 2021. He scored his first goals for Middlesbrough when he scored twice in a 2–0 win against Swansea City on 2 December 2020. Watmore continued his goal scoring with two on 12 December in a 3–0 win against

. On 7 January 2021, Watmore signed a new two-and-a-half year deal at Middlesbrough. Watmore's performances earned him the championship player of the month for December. Watmore was Middlesbrough's top scorer for the 2020–21 season, with nine goals.

Millwall

On 31 January 2023, Watmore signed for

for an undisclosed fee.

International career

Watmore made his debut for England under-20s on 28 May 2015 in the

2015 Toulon Tournament The 2015 Toulon Tournament was the 43rd edition of the Toulon Tournament. The competition began on 27 May and ended on 7 June 2015. Participants AFC * * CAF * * CONCACAF * * * UEFA * * * Source: Squads Venues Group stage Group A ...

, scoring England's second goal in a 3–3 draw with

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

. He was named in the Team of the Tournament and was also voted as the Revelation of the Tournament. He made five appearances and scored two goals for the under-20s in 2015. In August 2015, Watmore was called up to the England under-21 squad for the first time. He made his debut against the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

on 3 September 2015 as a second-half substitute, and assisted

James Wilson James Wilson may refer to: Politicians and government officials Canada *James Wilson (Upper Canada politician) (1770–1847), English-born farmer and political figure in Upper Canada * James Crocket Wilson (1841–1899), Canadian MP from Quebe ...

's winning goal. Watmore scored his first under-21 goal and assisted two others on 14 November 2015 after coming on as a substitute against

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

in a 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifier. He was part of the team that won the

2016 Toulon Tournament The 2016 Toulon Tournament was the 44th edition of the Toulon Tournament. It took place 18–29 May 2016. The tournament was used by several teams as preparation for the 2016 Summer Olympics. The tournament was won by England. Participants ;AFC ...

, their first such win for 22 years. He scored three goals in 13 appearances for the under-21s from 2015 to 2016.

Style of play

Watmore plays as a winger. In November 2015, Sunderland forward

Jermain Defoe Jermain Colin Defoe (born 7 October 1982) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. He also played for the England national team. Defoe began his career with Charlton Athletic, joining their youth team aged 14, be ...

likened Watmore to

Gareth Bale Gareth Frank Bale (born 16 July 1989) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a winger for Major League Soccer club Los Angeles FC and the Wales national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wingers of his generation ...

, his former

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

teammate, citing a shared ability of ball control.

Personal life

Watmore continued studying for a degree in economics and business management after signing for Sunderland, transferring from the

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a UK public university, public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is ...

. He graduated with a first-class honours degree in December 2015. In 2017 whilst on holiday in Barbados Watmore reportedly helped save three pensioners from the water after a boat crash.

Career statistics

Honours

England U21 *

Toulon Tournament The Toulon Tournament (officially the Festival International "Espoirs" – Tournoi Maurice Revello) is a football (training match) tournament, which traditionally features invited national teams composed of youth players from U-17 to U-23 level. ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

Individual *

Player of the Year: 2012–13 *Altrincham Goal of the Year: 2012–13 *

Supporters' Young Player of the Year: 2015–16 *

Player of the Season: 2014–15 *Toulon Tournament Team of the Tournament:

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

*Toulon Tournament Revelation of the Tournament: 2015 *EFL Championship Player of the Month:December 2020.

References

External links

Profile
at the Sunderland A.F.C. website {{DEFAULTSORT:Watmore, Duncan 1994 births Living people Footballers from Manchester English footballers England youth international footballers England under-21 international footballers Association football wingers Manchester United F.C. players Altrincham F.C. players Clitheroe F.C. players Curzon Ashton F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Hibernian F.C. players Middlesbrough F.C. players Millwall F.C. players National League (English football) players Scottish Professional Football League players Premier League players English Football League players People educated at Cheadle Hulme School Alumni of the University of Manchester Alumni of Newcastle University