Matt Duke
Encyclopedia
Matthew "Matt" Duke is an English footballer who plays for Bradford City
Bradford City A.F.C.
Bradford City Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, playing in League Two....

 as a goalkeeper.

Career

Duke began his career playing for a pub football side in Bradway, Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...

. He joined Hull City
Hull City A.F.C.
Hull City Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, founded in 1904. The club participates in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football...

 on 23 July 2004 from Burton Albion
Burton Albion F.C.
Burton Albion Football Club are a professional English football club based in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire. The club's home ground is the Pirelli Stadium, having moved from Eton Park in 2005...

 for a fee
Fee
A fee is the price one pays as remuneration for services. Fees usually allow for overhead, wages, costs, and markup.Traditionally, professionals in Great Britain received a fee in contradistinction to a payment, salary, or wage, and would often use guineas rather than pounds as units of account...

 of £20,000, which could rise to £60,000 depending on appearances. He was a regular starter at Burton, having made 78 league appearances for them in his three seasons at the club, but at Hull he spent several seasons mainly being used as cover for first-choice goalkeeper Boaz Myhill
Boaz Myhill
Glyn Oliver Myhill , more commonly known as Boaz Myhill , is a footballer who plays for Birmingham City, on loan from West Bromwich Albion, and the Wales national team as a goalkeeper.-Early life:...

, making few first-team appearances and spending time on loan
Loan (football)
In sports, a loan involves a particular player being allowed to temporarily play for a club other than the one he is currently contracted to. Loan deals may last from a few weeks to all season-long....

 at Stockport County
Stockport County F.C.
Stockport County Football Club is an English football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester. The club formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, shortly afterwards merging with Heaton Norris F.C., and adopted the current name on 24 May 1890 on the creation of the County Borough of Stockport...

 and Wycombe Wanderers
Wycombe Wanderers F.C.
Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional football team from High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, which has been promoted to Football League One after finishing third in Football League Two in the season 2010–11. The club's nicknames are "The Chairboys" and "The Blues", and they play...

.

In 2007–08
2007-08 in English football
The 2007–08 season was the 128th season of competitive football in England.-European competitions:In October 2007 Arsenal equalled the UEFA Champions League record victory with a 7–0 win over Slavia Prague at the Emirates Stadium. The record was broken the following month when Liverpool...

, Duke impressed sufficiently in a League Cup
Football League Cup
The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...

 match against Crewe
Crewe Alexandra F.C.
Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional football club based in Crewe, Cheshire. Nicknamed The Railwaymen due to the town's links with the rail industry, they currently play in Football League Two, the fourth tier of English football, and are based at the Alexandra Stadium.The club...

 to retain his place in the Hull team for the subsequent league game and demote Myhill to the bench. He was also selected for the next two matches, but a thigh injury prevented him from finally getting a run in the team.

On 5 January 2008 Duke underwent an operation to remove a testicular tumour
Testicular cancer
Testicular cancer is cancer that develops in the testicles, a part of the male reproductive system.In the United States, between 7,500 and 8,000 diagnoses of testicular cancer are made each year. In the UK, approximately 2,000 men are diagnosed each year. Over his lifetime, a man's risk of...

. He returned to the squad on 29 March to take his place on the bench for a 3–0 victory against Watford.

On 1 June 2008, Duke completed the "Keep Your Eye On The Ball" 5 km run in London's Victoria Park, in aid of the Everyman Campaign
Everyman Campaign
The Everyman Campaign is a campaign that was launched in the UK by The Institute of Cancer Research in 1997. It seeks to raise awareness of testicular and prostate cancer and to raise funds to research treatments....

 cancer charity. In September 2008, Duke, manager Phil Brown, chairman Paul Duffen
Paul Duffen
Paul Jeremy Duffen is the ex-chairman of Hull City A.F.C. and was formerly Chief Executive Officer of Catalyst Media Group plc , where other board members included Sir David Frost and Steven Smith...

 and other Hull City colleagues participated in Everyman's "Tacheback
Tacheback
Tacheback is the name of a UK charitable event where each September, thousands of men grow a sponsored moustache for that month to raise money for the Everyman Campaign, a UK male cancer research charity which funds research in and awareness of male prostate and testicular cancers.The name is a mix...

" campaign, growing moustaches to raise sponsorship money for the charity.

In Hull City's debut Premier League season in 2008–09, Duke again started the season as Myhill's understudy. He impressed however when given his chance in League Cup and FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

 matches, keeping two clean sheets against Newcastle
Newcastle United F.C.
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger...

, which resulted in him being called up to make his Premier League debut on 28 January 2009 against West Ham
West Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...

. Although Hull City lost the game 2–0, Duke saved a penalty and was City's man-of-the-match
Man of the match
In sport, a Man of the Match or Player of the Game or Man of the Series award is given to the outstanding player, almost always the one who makes the most impact, in a particular match or series. The term was originally used more often in cricket before being adopted by other sports. This can be a...

. He retained his place in the side for the next nine league games – his longest run in the Hull first team to date.

On 4 March 2011, Derby County
Derby County F.C.
Derby County Football Club is an English football based in Derby. the club play in the Football League Championship and is notable as being one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888 and is, therefore, one of only ten clubs to have competed in every season of the English...

 confirmed that they have signed Duke on loan from Hull City until the end of the season. The loan period was cut short when he was recalled by Hull City following an injury to reserve keeper Mark Oxley
Mark Oxley
Mark Thomas Oxley is an English footballer who plays for Hull City as a goalkeeper.-Career:Oxley joined Rotherham United as a youngster and was promoted to the club's first team during the 2007–08 season. After being scouted by several bigger clubs, he joined newly promoted Premier League club...

.

On 10 May 2011, following the end of the 2010–11 season, it was confirmed by the club that Duke had been released from Hull City along with three other players, ending seven years of service to the club. He began training with Derby County
Derby County F.C.
Derby County Football Club is an English football based in Derby. the club play in the Football League Championship and is notable as being one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888 and is, therefore, one of only ten clubs to have competed in every season of the English...

 at the start of July 2011.

Duke went on trial at boyhood favourites Sheffield United and played 45 minutes of their 2011 pre-season match with Worksop Town FC as reported by the Sheffield Star. On 31 August 2011, Duke joined Bradford City
Bradford City A.F.C.
Bradford City Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, playing in League Two....

 on a two-year contract. He made his debut on 3 September 2011 in a 1–1 draw away to Morecambe
Morecambe F.C.
Morecambe Football Club is an English football club based in Morecambe, Lancashire. It plays its football in League Two, the fourth division of English football, having been promoted in 2007 for the first time in their history to the Football League. They played their home matches at Christie Park...

.

Phil Parksinson has currently dropped duke to the bench for mistakes while replacement Jon McLaughlin has been in world class form and has been rumoured to be been scouted by giants Manchester United

External links

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