Troy Deeney

In April 2019 Deeney (and Watford team-mates Adrian Mariappa and Christian Kabasele) were subjected to racist comments on social media. In May 2020, Deeney denied returning to Premier League non-contact training with Watford players. The skipper cited he did not wish to put his five-month-old child at risk, who has breathing difficulties. "It only takes one person to get infected within the group and I don't want to be bringing that home.”

On 1 July 2016, Deeney signed a new five-year deal with Watford. He opened his 2016–17 goalscoring account on 10 September at West Ham United's new home venue, the London Stadium, equalising in a 4–2 comeback victory. Deeney scored his 100th Watford goal in all competitions on 26 December 2016 with a penalty in a 1–1 home draw against Crystal Palace, ending a ten-match goalless run. He became the fifth player to reach a century of goals for Watford. Since summer 2018 he has given up gambling entirely and alcohol in weeks Watford are playing.

On 8 August 2015, Deeney made his Premier League debut, captaining the Hornets in their 2015–16 season opener, a 2–2 draw with Everton at Goodison Park. On 24 October, he scored his first Premier League goal as Watford defeated Stoke City 2–0 at the Britannia Stadium. On 21 November, Deeney scored a penalty against Manchester United in the 87th minute to equalise; just after that, he scored an own goal in the 90th minute to help Manchester United secure a 2–1 victory over Watford in a dramatic change of events at Vicarage Road. Deeney would extend his goal streak to five in six matches with the opener in a 2–0 win against Norwich City on 5 December 2015. On 13 February 2016, he scored twice in a 2–1 away win over Crystal Palace and in the process extended the Eagles' winless run in the league to nine matches.

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.

Netting a brace in a 4–1 win away against Sheffield Wednesday on 29 March 2014, Deeney took his 2013–14 season tally to 20 goals. In the process, he became the first Watford player to score 20 or more goals in consecutive seasons in all competitions since Luther Blissett managed the feat in 1983.

Deeney scored again, this time against Burnley in a 1–1 draw on 5 April 2014, to become the first Watford player to score 20 league goals in consecutive seasons since Cliff Holton managed the feat in 1961. The striker won both the Watford Player of the Season award for 2013–14 and also won the Players' Player of the Year at the end of season awards on 2 May 2014.

Following the departure of Manuel Almunia, Deeney was named the Watford captain by manager Giuseppe Sannino prior to the 2014–15 campaign. During the course of the 2014–15 Championship season, Deeney helped Watford earn promotion to the Premier League. In the process he became the first player in Watford history to score 20 or more goals in three consecutive seasons (2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15).

In March 2013, Deeney signed a new contract with Watford, keeping him at the club until 2016. Deeney netted another brace in a 4–0 win over Blackburn Rovers on 20 April 2013, taking his tally to 18 for the season. Six days later, he scored his 19th goal of the season in the next match against Leicester, scoring the first goal in an important 2–1 away win for Watford.

On 12 May 2013, Watford faced Leicester City in the play-off semi-final second leg at Vicarage Road. In one of the most dramatic ends to a play-off match in history, Deeney scored a goal deep into injury time to qualify for the Championship Play-off final at Wembley. After Manuel Almunia saved a penalty taken by Anthony Knockaert and a rebound, Watford charged down to the other end, and Deeney lashed in the winning goal in the seventh minute of added time – an ecstatic Deeney celebrated the goal by jumping into the crowd.

Deeney was born in Birmingham, 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.

Deeney made his first appearance for Watford, after his release from prison, against Bristol City at Vicarage Road on 22 September 2012. The match finished 2–2, with Deeney coming on in the second half and hitting the post. He started the next match against Huddersfield Town on 29 September, and scored the winner from a spot kick in the 3–2 away win. He scored a memorable double against his boyhood club, Birmingham City, as Watford ran out 4–0 winners on 16 February 2013.

On 25 June 2012, Deeney was sentenced to ten months' imprisonment after pleading guilty to a charge of affray, having attacked a group of students outside a nightclub. The Guardian reported that a "30-second video clip, which was played to the court several times, clearly showed both Troy Deeney and Brennan [Deeney's friend] kicking out at the "defenceless" students, one of whom received repeated blows to the head as he lay injured". He was released after serving almost three months of the sentence. Deeney has cited his grief surrounding his father's death from cancer in May 2012 as a reason for the behaviour leading to his arrest in that period.

At the beginning of the 2011–12 campaign, Deeney initially found it hard to acquire a starting spot in the team as many of his early season matches saw him consigned to a bench role. He soon found his way into the starting eleven and amassed a total of 46 appearances under the management of Sean Dyche in his preferred position as striker. Deeney finished the season as Watford's top goalscorer with 12 goals in all competitions and also won the Goal of the Season Award for his goal against Ipswich Town in March 2012.

On 4 August 2010, Deeney handed in a written transfer request amid interest from several Championship clubs. He had been told he was to leave Walsall earlier in the summer, and had slackened his pre-season training in protest at the club's hardline stance when trying to sell him. He signed for Watford two days later for an initial fee of £250,000 rising up to £500,000 on a two-year contract that lifted his salary from £1,200 to £6,000 a week. On the same day Deeney signed for Watford, he played a part in their 3–2 win against Norwich City on the opening day of the season, coming on for Marvin Sordell in the second half. Deeney found his poor pre-season meant he struggled for fitness in comparison to his new teammates. He scored his first Watford goal against Notts County in the first round of the League Cup on 24 August. Deeney went on to make 40 appearances for Watford in his first season, scoring three goals from 20 starts, although he was mainly deployed on the wing by Malky Mackay.

He scored his first professional competitive goal for Walsall against Millwall in a 2–1 win in September 2007. This turned out to be his only goal of the 2007–08 season, and the 2008–09 season started similarly, with him managing only two goals in the first half of the season. However, the introduction of Chris Hutchings as manager coincided with Deeney finding a goalscoring touch. Helped by the fact that his new manager started playing him in his favoured striking position, instead of on the right wing as the previous manager Jimmy Mullen had, Deeney scored nine goals in Hutchings' first 12 matches in charge. On 9 September 2009, it was announced that Deeney had signed a new two-year deal until 2011. In the 2009–10 season, Deeney scored 14 goals to finish as Walsall's top scorer and was awarded the club's Player of the Year award.

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.

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. It was there he was scouted by Walsall's Head of Youth Mick Halsall, who only attended the match Deeney was playing in because his son was also playing and due to the match he was scheduled to attend being 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.

After scoring 20 goals in the 2012–13 season, Deeney scored the only goal as Watford beat Birmingham City 1–0 in the opening match of the 2013–14 season. A week later on 10 August, Deeney scored a hat-trick as Watford thrashed Bournemouth 6–1 at Vicarage Road. In doing so, he became the first Hornets player to score a hat-trick in a match since Michael Chopra in 2003, and the first one to do so at Vicarage Road since David Connolly on 7 December 1996. It was also Deeney's first career hat-trick.

Troy Matthew Deeney (born 29 June 1988) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for and is captain of Premier League club Watford.