Michael Wayne Duberry (born 14 October 1975) is an English former 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 played as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. He started his career with

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 ...

side

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 consti ...

, and also played in the top flight for

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...

and

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

, and in the

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...

for St Johnstone. He has also previously played in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

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 ...

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their ho ...

and

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and t ...

before finishing his career with Non-league side

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the Borough of Barnet, North-West London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has been part of Great ...

Club career

Chelsea

Duberry attended

Enfield Grammar School Enfield Grammar School (abbreviated to EGS; also known as Enfield Grammar) is a boys' Comprehensive school and sixth form with academy status, founded in 1558, situated in Enfield Town in the London Borough of Enfield in North London. Histo ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and started his career at

where he was a trainee and made his debut during the 1993–94 season, before a brief loan period with

. Duberry made a total of 115 appearances for Chelsea and scored 3 goals, including one in a 2–1 win over

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 ...

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

in November 1996. His two other Chelsea goals came in their 1995–96 FA Cup campaign, with goals against Grimsby Town and Wimbledon. He won the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

, the

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...

and the European Super Cup with Chelsea, all in 1998, but faced stiff competition for a place in the side from the likes of

Marcel Desailly Marcel Desailly (born Odenke Abbey; 7 September 1968) is a French former professional footballer, widely considered to be among the greatest centre-backs and defensive midfielders to ever play football. During a successful career at club level, l ...

and Frank Leboeuf. Duberry picked up an Achilles tendon injury in January 1997 meaning he missed the rest of that season, including the

1997 FA Cup Final The 1997 FA Cup Final was the 116th final of the FA Cup. It took place on 17 May 1997 at Wembley Stadium and was contested by Chelsea and Middlesbrough, the North East club appearing in its first FA Cup Final. Chelsea won 2–0 to win the FA C ...

Leeds United

Seeking regular football, Duberry eventually requested a transfer and moved to

in June 1999 for £4.5 million. However, he again failed to break into the first team, as the likes of Jonathan Woodgate,

Dominic Matteo Dominic Matteo (born 28 April 1974) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a defender and midfielder in a 17-year professional career from 1992 to 2009. He made a total of 366 league and cup appearances, of which 276 were i ...

Lucas Radebe Lucas Valeriu Ntuba Radebe OIS (born 12 April 1969) is a South African former professional footballer who played as a centre back. He began playing in South Africa with Kaizer Chiefs, before transferring to Leeds United, where he played 256 ...

and

Rio Ferdinand Rio Gavin Ferdinand (born 7 November 1978) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre-back, and is now a television pundit for BT Sport. He played 81 times for the England national team between 1997 and 2011, and was ...

took Leeds to the Champions League semi-finals. He did play the full 90 minutes of their memorable 1–0 win over AC Milan at Elland Road during that campaign; however, this would prove to be his last appearance of that season in any competition. He was involved in a court case with Leeds teammates Jonathan Woodgate and

Lee Bowyer Lee David Bowyer (; born 3 January 1977) is an English football manager and former professional player. As a player, he was a midfielder who featured for Charlton Athletic, Leeds United, West Ham United (two spells), Newcastle United, Birming ...

. The first season in which he played regularly for Leeds was 2003–04, as by this time Lucas Radebe had become increasingly injury-prone and crippling debt had forced the sales of Ferdinand and Woodgate. However, Duberry failed to impress in a defence often made up of loan signings (such as Zoumana Camara and

Didier Domi Didier Arsène Marcel Domi (born 2 May 1978) is a French former professional footballer who played as a left-back. During his prime, Domi used to be captain of Paris Saint-Germain and won multiple trophies in Greece with Olympiacos as well. Domi ...

) and then youth-team players (such as

Frazer Richardson Frazer Richardson (born 29 October 1982) is an English former professional footballer. Richardson began his career with Leeds United where he spent nine years making 186 appearances only interrupted by two loan spells at Stoke City in 2003. He ...

and

Matthew Kilgallon Matthew Shaun Kilgallon (born 8 January 1984) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. Kilgallon began his career at Leeds United, where he came through the youth set up before becoming a fixture in their first ...

Stoke City

When Leeds were relegated to

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

he stayed on for a season until Leeds manager

Kevin Blackwell Kevin Patrick Blackwell (born 21 December 1958) is an English former professional football goalkeeper who since retiring as a player has worked as a coach and a manager. He is currently the manager of Thai League 1 club Nakhon Ratchasima. Ear ...

allowed him to move to

where he went on to become a first-team regular and club captain. All 80 of his appearances for the club were as a starter; not once did he feature on the bench. He scored once for Stoke, in a 2–0 win over Crewe Alexandra.

Reading

On 31 January 2007, Duberry signed for

, who invoked a clause in his contract that allowed him to leave Stoke for a

club if a set fee was received, rumoured to be in the region of £800,000. He made his league debut for Reading on 24 February in a 2–1 defeat away to

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 ...

Wycombe Wanderers

On 15 May 2009, Reading announced that they would not be renewing Duberry's contract, and on 10 July he signed a two-year contract with

, being appointed club captain shortly afterwards. He was released from his contract on 1 February 2010 having seen his contract terminated by mutual consent, according to the official Wycombe Wanderers website.

St Johnstone

Four days later, Duberry signed for Scottish side St Johnstone. He made his Saints debut in a 1–0

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...

. He scored his first goal for St Johnstone in a 2–2 draw with St Mirren on 17 April 2010. Duberry re-signed a further one-year deal with St Johnstone on 27 May.

Oxford United

Duberry joined Oxford United on 1 June 2011 on a two-year deal, to be closer to his family. He scored his first goal for the club, in a 2–1 victory over

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

, on 29 October. On 21 January 2012, Duberry scored two

own goal An own goal, also called a self goal, is where a player performs actions that result in them or their team scoring a goal on themselves, often resulting in a point for the opposing team, such as when a football player kicks a ball into their own ...

s followed by a last-minute equaliser as Oxford drew 2–2 with

Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'The ...

. In August, 36-year-old Duberry underwent neck surgery in an attempt to prolong his career, and stated his hopes of a return to fitness within four months. He made two substitute appearances in December and returned to the starting line-up in a league fixture on 1 January 2013. During his second season at the club he became the oldest outfield player to appear in the Oxford first team, his final appearance at

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England. The club competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They have spent their complete his ...

coming at the age of . He was released by Oxford at the end of the 2012–13 season having made 50 appearances for the club in two seasons.

Hendon

Duberry announced that he had signed a week-to-week deal with non-league

on 9 August 2013. After just 4 games, and 16 days with the Greens, he was released, and announced his retirement from football on 2 October.

International career

Duberry was eligible to play international football for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, through birth and

Montserrat Montserrat ( ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is part of the Leeward Islands, the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles chain of the West Indies. Montserrat is about long and wide, with r ...

, as both his parents were born there. He stated that

Ruel Fox Ruel Adrian Fox (born 14 January 1968) is a former professional footballer and the club chairman of Whitton United. As a player he was midfielder who played in the Premier League for Norwich City, Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur. He a ...

had asked him earlier in his career if he wanted to play for the Montserrat national football team, but declined as he stated his dream was to play for England. Duberry was approached again, later in his career, whilst playing for St Johnstone. However, he declined again despite the team training in

Enfield Enfield may refer to: Places Australia * Enfield, New South Wales * Enfield, South Australia ** Electoral district of Enfield, a state electoral district in South Australia, corresponding to the suburb ** Enfield High School (South Australia) ...

, close to where he grew up.

Personal life

After retiring as a player, Duberry began Made Leaders, a mentoring, coaching and leadership business.

Career statistics

:A. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the

Football League play-offs The English Football League play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the four association football teams finishing immediately below the automatic promotion places in the second, third and fourth tiers of the English football league ...

and

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

Honours

Chelsea *

Football League 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 ...

: 1997–98 *

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was originall ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

References

External links

*
England profile
at theFA {{DEFAULTSORT:Duberry, Michael 1975 births Living people Footballers from Enfield, London English footballers England under-21 international footballers Association football defenders Chelsea F.C. players AFC Bournemouth players Leeds United F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Reading F.C. players Wycombe Wanderers F.C. players St Johnstone F.C. players Oxford United F.C. players Hendon F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players People educated at Enfield Grammar School Black British sportspeople British people of Montserratian descent