Troy Deeney

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. After signing for Walsall on 18 December 2006, Deeney was instantly sent out to Halesowen Town on loan for the rest of the 2006–07 season. He scored his first professional competitive goal for Walsall against Millwall in a 2–1 win in September 2007. This…

Forest Green Rovers

Deeney joined League Two club Forest Green Rovers on 17 August 2023 as a player-coach. Prior to joining Forest Green, Deeney confirmed he had received an offer from Australian club Melbourne Victory. On his debut two days later, he came on as a substitute in a 3–0 home loss to Newport County, and on 26 August he came from the bench and scored the equaliser in a 1–1 draw at AFC Wimbledon. Deeney scored a hat-trick on 23 September, though his team lost 4–3 away to Notts County. After manager David Horseman left the club by mutual consent, Deeney was appointed head coach on a permanent basis on 20 December 2023, at which time the team were 23rd in League Two, five points from safety. Two days later on his debut, the team drew 0–0 away to Gillingham. Following a 2–0 loss to Harrogate Town in January 2024, Deeney publicly criticised his squad, stating that he said that he would "rather watch Antiques Roadshow" than his team, in addition to singling out right-back Fankaty Dabo as "awful." Former professionals Chris Sutton, Shay Given, and Martin O'Neill criticised his public comments. Deeney stood by his comments but later expressed regret at telling the media, stating "I don't apologise for what I said, I just apologised as it was said in public." On 18 January 2024, Deeney was sacked as manager after no wins in six matches. Hours before his dismissal, he had been given a four-match ban and fined £1,500 by the Football Association for his conduct in a…

In October 2015, Deeney revealed that he had twice rejected invitations to play for Jamaica internationally and that he harboured an ambition of playing for England. Deeney originally believed he was eligible to play for Northern Ireland but that possibility was quickly ruled out as neither his parents nor grandparents are from Northern Ireland. Having never been selected for England at a youth level, Deeney remained uncapped.

Troy Matthew Deeney was born on 29 June 1988 in Solihull, West Midlands, one of three children born to his parents, and grew up in Chelmsley Wood. At the age of 10, Deeney and his mother were assaulted by his father, leading to visits from social services. The couple split when Deeney was 11 with his mother taking custody of their children. He maintained a relationship with his father, who was a drug dealer in Deeney's local area. Deeney was expelled from school when he was 14, before returning at the age of 15 but left at 16 without any GCSEs. Since 2012 he has earned GCSEs in English, Science and Maths.