James Duffy (born 27 April 1959) is a Scottish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, Kick (football), kicking a Football (ball), ball to score a Goal (sport), goal. Unqualified, Football (word), the word ''football'' normally means the form of football tha ...

coach and former player, who is currently in his second spell as manager of

Scottish League One The Scottish League One, known as cinch League One for sponsorship reasons, is the third tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish League One was es ...

club Clyde. During his playing career he played for Celtic, Greenock Morton,

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mi ...

(three spells) and Partick Thistle. His managerial career has involved spells with

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had ...

, Hibernian,

(two spells – first as player-manager), Brechin City, Greenock Morton,

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 1 ...

and Ayr United. Duffy also had a brief

Director of Football A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The sport ...

role at Hearts and an extensive coaching career including spells in English football.

Playing career

Duffy was born in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, growing up in the

Maryhill Maryhill ( gd, Cnoc Màiri) is an area of the City of Glasgow in Scotland. Maryhill is a former burgh. Maryhill stretches over along Maryhill Road. The far north west of the area is served by Maryhill railway station. History Hew Hill ...

area of the city (specifically the

Wyndford Wyndford is an area of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. Located northwest of the city centre in Maryhill, Wyndford is bounded by Maryhill Road to the north and the River Kelvin to the south. The area comprises council housing that is typical of ...

estate) where he was a childhood friend and neighbour of Charlie Nicholas. Like Nicholas, Duffy began his senior career with Celtic. Duffy, however, was unable to follow his friend into the Celtic first team and moved to Greenock Morton. His career developed greatly there, and in 1985 he was named Scottish PFA Players' Player of the Year despite Morton being relegated. He moved to

, only for his career to apparently be ended by injury aged only 28. After brief spells as Airdrieonians assistant manager in 1988, and then as manager of

, he made a playing comeback with

before joining Partick Thistle. Duffy then returned to Dundee for a third spell in 1992 as player/assistant manager to Simon Stainrod. Duffy then succeeded Stainrod to become player-manager in the autumn of 1993.

Managerial career

Early career

Duffy led First Division side Dundee to the

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existe ...

Final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

in November 1995, but the team lost 2–0 to

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), a ...

. Duffy followed this with an unsuccessful spell as manager of Hibernian. After working for

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament con ...

and

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most d ...

as a coach, he returned yet again to Dundee for a second stint as manager in 2002.

Second spell at Dundee

He was appointed manager on 4 July 2002. During his second spell as manager at

Dens Park Dens Park, officially known as Kilmac Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Dundee, Scotland, which is the home of club Dundee F.C. and has a capacity of . Tannadice Park, the home of rivals Dundee United, is just 200 yard ...

he again led Dundee to Hampden, this time for the 2003 Scottish Cup Final against Rangers, which Dundee lost 1–0. As Rangers also won the

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Football League (SFL). It was abolished in 2013, when th ...

, Dundee qualified for the

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. During November 2003 the club went into

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, admini ...

due to the gross financial mismanagement by the club's owners, Peter and Jimmy Marr. Going into administration meant that Dundee lost most of their talented players, but the team battled on and managed to avoid relegation that season. In the following season, however, Dundee struggled with a threadbare squad and were relegated on the last day of the season. Duffy stayed on with the blessing of the board to try to get the club back into the SPL at the first attempt. However, on 24 August 2005, the board then decided to sack Duffy after just four games of the new season, even though Dundee were top of the

Scottish First Division The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. History The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 to replace the old Scottish Football League Division Two, as t ...

Director of football at Hearts

He joined the coaching staff at Hearts at the end of January 2006 and was promoted to

director of football A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The sport ...

two weeks later on a contract until the end of the 2005–06 season. Duffy spent barely a month in that position, however, as he was dismissed by the club, along with manager

Graham Rix Graham Cyril Rix (born 23 October 1957) is an English former professional football player who later became a coach and manager. He is the current manager of Fareham Town. He played for Arsenal for thirteen years, then Brentford (on loan), Cae ...

, on 22 March 2006.

Norwich City

On 9 February 2007, Duffy was appointed the Assistant Manager to Peter Grant at Norwich. When Grant left Norwich on 9 October, Duffy was made caretaker manager. But after recording losses against

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River ...

and WBA he was not awarded the job on a full-time basis. Duffy left Norwich after

Glenn Roeder Glenn Victor Roeder (13 December 1955 – 28 February 2021) was an English professional football player and manager. As a player, Roeder played as a defender for Arsenal, Leyton Orient, Queens Park Rangers, Notts County, Newcastle United, Wat ...

was appointed Norwich manager on 30 October.

Brechin City

Duffy was appointed as Brechin City manager in January 2009, replacing Michael O'Neill, who had left the club to manager Shamrock Rovers a month earlier. Duffy resigned after Brechin were beaten 3–0 on aggregate by

Cowdenbeath Cowdenbeath (; sco, Coudenbeith) is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 189 ...

in the First Division play-offs in May 2010.

Clyde

Duffy was appointed temporary manager of Clyde on 6 February 2011. Duffy appointed his former Partick Thistle teammate Chic Charnley as his assistant two day later. He succeeded in lifting Clyde off the bottom of the Third Division briefly, but finished the season last, and agreed to stay with the club for the 2011–12 season. He was appointed permanent manager on 28 April 2011. Duffy chose to stay at Clyde because of job security in a time where an average managerial reign at a club in Britain lasts approximately less than 15 months and in agreement with the Clyde board, progression on the field would take time for the club . At the start of the 2011–12 season, Duffy's Clyde defeated his ex managing team Brechin City 4–2 away and East Stirlingshire 7–1. On 1 February 2012, Duffy was appointed on to the club's board. His Clyde team could only muster back-to-back two ninth-place finishes in seasons 2011–12 and 2012–13. Nairn County of the Highland League knocked his Clyde team out of the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Le ...

for October 2013 after an unbeaten month with Clyde in the league and

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Peterhead Peterhead (; gd, Ceann Phàdraig, sco, Peterheid ) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is Aberdeenshire's biggest settlement (the city of Aberdeen itself not being a part of the district), with a population of 18,537 at the 2011 Census. ...

on 7 December ended that run. They secured a

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Le ...

play-off spot in the penultimate league match of the season with a 4–0 home defeat of Albion Rovers, but were beaten by East Fife after a penalty shootout in the semi-finals. Soon afterwards, Duffy resigned as manager of Clyde to take a similar position at

Morton Morton may refer to: People * Morton (surname) * Morton (given name) Fictional * Morton Koopa, Jr., a character and boss in ''Super Mario Bros. 3'' * A character in the ''Charlie and Lola'' franchise * A character in the 2008 film '' Horton ...

Greenock Morton

Duffy took over from Kenny Shiels as Greenock Morton manager on 19 May 2014. He signed a two-year contract with the club. His first match was a 1–0 home win over

Spartans Sparta (Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referred ...

in the

Scottish Challenge Cup The Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup,League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

for November 2014. His Morton team, however, did suffer a shocker in the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Spartans Sparta (Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referred ...

in a 2–1 defeat in November, a Spartans team that had knocked out his former club Clyde in the previous round. He eventually led the Ton to the

title which was clinched on the final day in a closely fought contest in the 2014–15 season, his first silverware as a manager. After leading Forfar Athletic on goal difference going into the last game, Morton recovered from 1–0 down against

Peterhead Peterhead (; gd, Ceann Phàdraig, sco, Peterheid ) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is Aberdeenshire's biggest settlement (the city of Aberdeen itself not being a part of the district), with a population of 18,537 at the 2011 Census. ...

to win 3–1 at home on the last day to win the title by three points and clinch automatic promotion to the

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship, known as the cinch Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish Champi ...

. After successfully keeping Morton in the Championship, Duffy signed a new two-year deal on his 57th birthday, He was awarded the Championship Manager of the Month for October 2016. After reaching the play-offs, Duffy was nominated for the SPFL Manager of the Year. Whilst he did not win that award, he was named Ladbrokes Championship Manager of the Season in May 2017. Duffy was sacked on 29 April 2018 after a run of defeats saw Morton fail to make the

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 ...

playoffs, finishing 7th in the Championship.

Dumbarton

Duffy was appointed Dumbarton manager in October 2018, following the sacking of Stephen Aitken. His first match in charge was a 4–0 victory against East Fife. After a difficult start to his time with the club, the ''Sons'' ended the 2018–19 season in sixth place in Scottish League One, losing just twice in their final 15 games. They again finished sixth in the 2019-20 season, which was curtailed by the worldwide

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Duffy left Dumbarton at the end of the 2020–21 season, when they avoided relegation by winning play-off ties with

Stranraer Stranraer ( , in Scotland also ; gd, An t-Sròn Reamhar ), also known as The Toon, is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is located in the historical parish of Inch in the historic county of Wigtownshire. It lies on the shores of ...

and Edinburgh City.

Ayr United

Duffy joined Ayr United as assistant to

David Hopkin David Isaac Hopkin (born 21 August 1970) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player who was most recently the manager of Ayr United. As a player he was a midfielder from 1989 until 2003, notably in the English Premier League ...

, then became caretaker manager in September 2021 when Hopkin resigned. On 1 October, Duffy was appointed Ayr United manager on a permanent basis. Duffy was relieved of his duties on 20 December.

Second spell at Clyde

After eight years, Duffy was re-appointed manager of Clyde on 7 November 2022.

Personal life

Duffy suffered a heart attack in June 2020.

Achievements

Honours

Player

;Greenock Morton *

: 1983–84

Manager

;Greenock Morton *

: 2014–15 ;Dumbarton *

play-offs : 2020–21

Individual

* Greenock Morton ** Scottish PFA Players' Player of the Year: 1984–85 ** SPFL League One Manager of the Month: November 2014SPFL Monthly Awards
SPFL. Retrieved 08-05-2015. ** SPFL Championship Manager of the Month: November 2016 ** PFA Scotland Manager of the Year: 2016-17 (nominee) **Ladbrokes Championship Manager of the Season: 2016-17 *

** SPL Manager of the Month: January 2003 ** SPL Manager of the Month: March 2003 ** SPL Manager of the Month: January 2004 * Clyde ** SPFL League Two Manager of the Month: October 2013

Managerial statistics

:' * Initially caretaker and appointed permanently on 1 October 2021 * Ayr United statistics include 3-0 forfeit Challenge Cup defeat to Rangers B (ineligible player in an initial 3–0 win).

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Duffy, Jim 1959 births Association football central defenders Footballers from Glasgow People from Maryhill Maryhill F.C. players Scottish Junior Football Association players Brechin City F.C. managers Celtic F.C. players Clyde F.C. managers Dundee F.C. managers Dundee F.C. players Falkirk F.C. managers Greenock Morton F.C. players Heart of Midlothian F.C. non-playing staff Hibernian F.C. managers Living people Norwich City F.C. managers Partick Thistle F.C. players Scotland under-21 international footballers Scottish Football League managers Scottish Football League players Scottish football managers Scottish footballers Scottish Professional Football League managers Scottish Premier League managers Greenock Morton F.C. managers Greenock Morton F.C. non-playing staff Dumbarton F.C. managers Ayr United F.C. managers Association football player-managers