Mark James Duffy (born 7 October 1985) is an English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

coach and former player who was most recently head coach for club

Macclesfield Macclesfield is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Bollin in the east of the county, on the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east ...

. A

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As #Cent ...

and

right winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, Duffy began his career with the academies at

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

and

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

before joining non-league side

Vauxhall Motors Vauxhall Motors LimitedCompany No. 00135767. Incorporated 12 May 1914, name changed from Vauxhall Motors Limited to General Motors UK Limited on 16 April 2008, reverted to Vauxhall Motors Limited on 18 September 2017. () is a British car compa ...

. From there he went to

Prescot Cables Prescot Cables Football Club is a supporter-owned football club based in Prescot, Merseyside. It was established in 1884 and has also been known as Prescot and Prescot Town. They compete in the and play their home games at Valerie Park. They ...

and

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Irish ...

and entered the Football League with

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea. Name The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), w ...

. He joined

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...

in January 2011, where he spent two-and-a-half years at

Glanford Park Glanford Park is a football stadium in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England, and is the current home of team Scunthorpe United. Opened in 1988 at a construction cost of £2.5 million, it was the first new purpose-built Football League st ...

and the 2013–14 season at

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

. Duffy moved to

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

in June 2014 but failed to establish himself in the side and was loaned out to

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

and

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club moved its home groun ...

with whom he helped win promotion to the Championship. Duffy signed for

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

in June 2016 and under the management of

Chris Wilder Christopher John Wilder (born 23 September 1967) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as a right-back. He was most recently the manager of club Middlesbrough ...

the Blades won promotion from League One in 2016–17 and the Championship in 2018–19. In August 2019 Duffy joined

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

on loan for the first half of the 2019–20 season and then Dutch side

ADO Den Haag Alles Door Oefening Den Haag (), commonly known by the abbreviated name ADO Den Haag (), is a Dutch association football club from the city of The Hague. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation f ...

in January 2020.

Career

Early life and career

Born in

, Duffy played for the youth teams of both home-town club

(from the age of 7 to 16) and Welsh club

. Duffy began his senior career playing

non-League football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

for

, where he made nine appearances (six in the league), scoring once against Woodley Sports in the

Cheshire Senior Cup The Cheshire County Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the Cheshire Senior Cup, is a football knockout tournament founded in the 1879–80 season and involves teams from Cheshire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside, England. It ...

. He later joined

. Duffy stated that, early in his career, he lost his love of football and began working as a scaffolder and as a sports coach for the council. Duffy moved to

Conference National The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...

side

from

in February 2007. The Sandgrounders were relegated to the

Conference North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sy ...

at the end of the 2006–07 season. Duffy remained at

Haig Avenue Haig Avenue is a football stadium in Blowick, Southport, Merseyside, England, that holds 6,008 people (1,660 seated, 4,164 standing) Since its opening in 1905 it has been the home ground of Southport F.C. Everton Reserves also use the stadium fo ...

for the 2007–08 season and mid-way through 2008–09 he was in talks to join Football League side

Morecambe

Duffy signed for

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 Lea ...

club

on loan in February 2009. He scored his first goal Football League goal on 18 April 2009 in a 1–0 win against

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

. He made the move to

Globe Arena Avicii Arena, originally known as Stockholm Globe Arena and previously as Ericsson Globe, but commonly referred to in Swedish simply as Globen (; "the Globe"), is an indoor arena located in Stockholm Globe City, Johanneshov district of Stockho ...

permanent in the summer and scored six goals in 41 games as the Shrimps reached the League Two play-offs where they lost 7–2 on aggregate to

Dagenham & Redbridge Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club is a professional association football club based in Dagenham, Greater London, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Often known simply as Dag ...

. Duffy began the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

season in good form and manager

Sammy McIlroy Samuel Baxter McIlroy (born 2 August 1954) is a Northern Irish retired footballer who played for Manchester United, Stoke City, Manchester City, Örgryte (Sweden), Bury, VfB Mödling (Austria), Preston North End and the Northern Ireland natio ...

stated that he can go on to play at a higher level.

Scunthorpe United

Duffy moved to

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 ...

side

on 20 January 2011 for an undisclosed fee, signing a two-and-a-half-year contract. He made his debut two days later, in a 0–0 draw at home to

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 Bru ...

. Duffy played 22 times for Scunthopre in

as the Iron suffered relegation to League One. He made 43 appearances in 2011–12 helping Scunthopre avoid a second consecutive relegation. However relegation to League Two was suffered in

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

despite a final day victory against

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at ...

. Following relegation Scunthopre received several bids for Duffy from

Doncaster Rovers

Duffy moved to

in July 2013 for an undisclosed fee. Duffy scored twice in 39 appearances in 2013–14 as Doncaster were relegated to League One on goal difference.

Birmingham City

Duffy signed a two-year contract with

in June 2014 after activating his relegation release clause at Doncaster Rovers. He made his debut as a second-half substitute in the opening-day defeat at

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 ...

, and his first League start for the club on 27 September, in a 2–1 home defeat to

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

; Duffy was substituted at half-time, at which point Birmingham were leading. After appearing only once more in the league by the end of January 2015, he spent a month on loan to

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 ...

club

, where he made one start and two substitute appearances.

Loan to Burton Albion

Before the start of the 2015–16 season, Duffy joined

, newly promoted to League One, on loan until 2 January 2016. In pre-season, Burton manager

Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink Jerrel Floyd "Jimmy" Hasselbaink ( ; born 27 March 1972) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of League One club Burton Albion. Born in Suriname, he and his family would later move to ...

used him in a

playmaker In association football, a playmaker is a player who controls the flow of the team's play, and is often involved in offensively and defensively playing passing moves which lead to goals, through their vision, technique, ball control, creativit ...

role, and he began the league season as a regular selection in the starting eleven. In the opening match, Scunthorpe goalkeeper

Luke Daniels Luke Matthew Daniels (born 5 January 1988) is an English professional footballer who plays for club Middlesbrough as a goalkeeper. Daniels is product of the Manchester United and West Bromwich Albion academies and played much of the early year ...

was sent off for elbowing Duffy in the head; the resulting penalty gave Burton a 2–1 win. After the initial loan period expired, it was extended to the end of the season. Duffy completed the season having missed only one league match, against

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

in February after twisting his ankle in training. He scored eight goals and provided numerous assists as Burton were promoted to the Championship as League One runners-up. His performances earned him selection in the PFA League One Team of the Year.

Sheffield United

Duffy was released by Birmingham at the end of the season, and signed a two-year contract with League One club

. Duffy won promotion from League One for a second successive year in 2017, and was also named in the PFA Team of the Year for a second time. Duffy was converted to an

attacking midfield A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

role under the management of

as the Blades had a solid return to the Championship finishing in 10th place. He signed a new contract with Sheffield United in January 2018. Duffy scored six goals in 38 matches in 2018–19 as Sheffield United had a very successful campaign finishing as runners-up and were promoted to the

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 ...

. However, in pre-season Duffy's request for a new contract was turned down by Wilder who made him available for a move away from

Bramall Lane Bramall Lane is a association football, football stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which is the home of Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United. The stadium was originally a cricket ground, built on a road named after the Bramal ...

Loan to Stoke City

On 8 August 2019, Duffy joined

on loan for the 2019–20 season. Duffy struggled for game time at Stoke making just nine appearances under Nathan Jones and didn't feature at all under Michael O'Neill.

Loan at ADO Den Haag

On 31 January 2020 Duffy's loan at Stoke was cut short and he moved on a six-month loan to Dutch side

. He was released by Sheffield United at the end of the 2019–20 season.

Fleetwood Town

On 4 September 2020 he signed a one-year contract with

Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Fleetwood, Lancashire. Established in 1997, the current Fleetwood Town F.C. is the fourth incarnation of the club; it was originally formed in ...

. He scored his first goal for Fleetwood in an

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

tie against Everton on 23 September 2020. At the end of the 2020–21 season, he was released by Fleetwood Town.

Tranmere Rovers

On 31 August 2021, Duffy joined

club

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they adop ...

on a short-term deal until January 2022.

Macclesfield

On 7 January 2022, Duffy signed for

North West Counties League The North West Counties Football League is a football league in the North West of England. Since 2019–20, the league has covered the Isle of Man, Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, Cumbria, northern Staffordshire, northern S ...

Premier Division side

. During his time at the club, he helped them achieve back-to-back league titles and promotions, with Macclesfield going from the 9th tier to the 7th tier.

Coaching career

On 5 May 2023, after the departure of

Neil Danns Neil Alexander Danns (born 23 November 1982) is a professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Macclesfield F.C., Macclesfield and the Guyana national football team, Guyana national team. In December 2022, Da ...

, Duffy was named as the head coach of

. Duffy had already spent the previous season as assistant player/coach. He was sacked in October 2023 following a run of four defeats in five matches.

Career statistics

Honours

Southport *

Lancashire Junior Cup The Lancashire Football Association Challenge Trophy is an English football competition for senior non-league clubs who are members of the Lancashire County Football Association. The trophy was first played for in 1885, when it was known as the ...

: 2007–08 Burton Albion *

Football 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 ...

runner-up: 2015–16 Sheffield United *

EFL 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 ...

: 2016–17 *

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...

runner-up: 2018–19 Macclesfield *

North West Counties Football League The North West Counties Football League is a football league in the North West of England. Since 2019–20, the league has covered the Isle of Man, Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, Cumbria, northern Staffordshire, northern S ...

Premier Division: 2021–22 *

Northern Premier League Division One West Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

Individual *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premie ...

: 2015–16 League One, 2016–17 League One

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duffy, Mark 1985 births Living people Footballers from Liverpool English men's footballers Men's association football wingers Liverpool F.C. players Wrexham A.F.C. players Vauxhall Motors F.C. players Prescot Cables F.C. players Southport F.C. players Morecambe F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players Burton Albion F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players ADO Den Haag players Fleetwood Town F.C. players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Macclesfield F.C. players National League (English football) players English Football League players Eredivisie players English expatriate men's footballers English expatriates in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands English football managers Macclesfield F.C. managers Northern Premier League managers