Troy Matthew Deeney (born 29 June 1988) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for and captains EFL Championship club Birmingham City.
Deeney started his professional career at Walsall. He spent a brief spell on loan with Southern League Premier Division club Halesowen Town during the 2006–07 season. He transferred to Championship club Watford in 2010 and captained the team to promotion to the Premier League in the 2014–15 season. After 11 years and more than 400 matches with Watford, he left the club as a free agent in August 2021 and signed for Birmingham City.
Club Career
Early career
Deeney was invited by the Aston Villa academy to take part in a four-day summer trial at the age of 15 with a view to earning a youth contract; however, he missed the first three days as he "knew there was a game on the last day" and was not offered terms by Villa. After leaving school in 2004 he had begun training as a bricklayer, earning £120 a week, and joined Chelmsley Town. He made his debut on 9 October 2004 in a 2–1 victory against Mile Oak Rovers, only coming into the first team as several players were unavailable because the game was an early kick-off – it had been brought forward to avoid clashing with England's 2006 World Cup Qualifier against Wales. After holding down a regular place in the team, Deeney went on to win Chelmsley Town's Player of the Year for the 2005–06 season.
Walsall
Deeney was spotted by Walsall's Head of Youth Mick Halsall, who only attended the match because his son was also playing, and because the match he was scheduled to attend had been postponed. Deeney was playing while drunk, but scored seven goals in an 11–4 win. He was offered a trial by the then League Two club, but only attended after his Chelmsley manager got him out of bed and paid for his taxi.
This page also has a version in other languages : Трой Дини (russian)