Damien Anthony Duff (born 2 March 1979) is an Irish professional football manager and former player, who is currently the assistant head coach of Premier League club Brentford.
He began his professional playing career with Blackburn Rovers, with whom he won the Football League Cup, and in 2003 was signed for £17 million by Chelsea, where he won two Premier League titles and another League Cup. After three seasons at Stamford Bridge, he left for Newcastle United where he won the 2006 UEFA Intertoto Cup, and then moved on to Fulham, with whom he played in the 2010 UEFA Europa League final. He ended his career with brief spells in the A-League with Melbourne City and the League of Ireland with Shamrock Rovers.
After retiring in December 2015, he has moved into coaching, working with Shamrock Rovers, Celtic and Republic of Ireland youth teams.
Duff was Republic of Ireland international for 14 years, earning 100 caps between 1998 and 2012. He played at the 2002 FIFA World Cup and captained the country at UEFA Euro 2012.
Damien Anthony Duff was born on 2 March 1979 in Ballyboden, County Dublin.
Duff joined Blackburn Rovers as a trainee in 1996 after playing for Leicester Celtic, Lourdes Celtic and St. Kevin's Boys as a schoolboy in Dublin. He made his Blackburn debut at the age of 18 against Leicester City on the final day of the 1996–97 season for which he won the Man of the match award. In his first full season, he scored five goals. Blackburn were relegated the following season.
Duff helped Blackburn achieve promotion back to the Premier League in 2001 and then win the League Cup in 2002, beating Tottenham Hotspur 2–1 at the Millennium Stadium in a season where he was Player of the Year. Following the 2002 World Cup, Duff signed a new four-year contract with Rovers. Despite injury problems in the 2002–03 season, he finished as Blackburn's top goalscorer with 9 league goals, which helped his team finish sixth and qualify for the UEFA Cup.
In the run up to the 2003–04 season, Chelsea made a series of bids for Duff, with a £17 million offer, eventually triggering a release clause in the player's contract. Duff chose to move to West London in July. Signed by manager Claudio Ranieri as part of the development of Chelsea financed by new owner Roman Abramovich, Duff made his debut in August 2003 in the Champions League against Slovak side MŠK Žilina. Chelsea won 2–0 and Duff was described as the "star of the show". He scored his first Chelsea goal on 20 September 2003 in a 5–0 away win against Wolverhampton Wanderers. Duff scored the third Chelsea goal and was named as Man of the match. Duff played 23 games in all competitions for Chelsea in the 2003–04 season scoring five goals. He missed the Champions League semi-finals as Chelsea lost to AS Monaco but was instrumental in securing for Chelsea second place in the Premier League, the club's highest league finish for 49 years as well as being part of the Champions League run, but the season ultimately ended trophyless and with the sacking of manager Claudio Ranieri.
The arrival of Dutch winger Arjen Robben and new manager José Mourinho posed a threat to Duff's place in the starting line-up for the 2004–05 season, but an injury to Robben at the start of the season saw Duff as the only available winger. Mourinho, however, did not play Duff in the early part of the 2004–05 season, preferring a more narrow approach. Duff eventually got into the side after four games and, when Robben returned to the side, Duff's versatility saw him move to the right wing and form a wing partnership with Robben. The season proved to be successful for both Duff and Chelsea. He scored ten goals, including a crucial strike in a 4–2 win against Barcelona in the Champions League, while the team won the Premier League title by 12 points from second placed Arsenal, and the League Cup, in which Duff scored the winning goal in the semi-final against Manchester United. He scored three goals in 28 league appearances in the following season as the club retained their Premier League title.
In July 2006, Duff agreed terms over a £5 million move to Newcastle United, signing a five-year contract. Duff made his competitive debut in a UEFA Cup second round qualifying first leg match against Latvian side Ventspils on 10 August 2006. He scored his first goal for Newcastle in September that year in a 2–0 victory over West Ham United away at the Boleyn Ground. Duff suffered a knee injury in November that kept him out for four months, during which Newcastle had a bad run of defeats. He returned but was then ruled out for the rest of the season due to an ankle injury in a 2–1 loss to Portsmouth in April 2007. Sam Allardyce later described Duff's injury as 'career threatening'. During Alan Shearer's short stint as interim manager, Duff was asked to play as left back.
In the final match of the 2008–09 season, against Aston Villa in a crucial relegation decider, Duff unluckily scored the deciding own goal by deflecting in a 20-yard shot by Villa's Gareth Barry which sent Newcastle down. Duff confirmed his intention to stay at the relegated club and help them back into the Premier League. On 8 August 2009, Duff scored Newcastle's first goal of the 2009–10 season in a 1–1 draw against West Bromwich Albion.
After playing one game for Newcastle in 2009–10, Duff returned to the Premier League, signing for Fulham on a three-year contract for £4 million, and re-joining Roy Hodgson, his first manager at Blackburn Rovers. He made his Fulham debut coming on as a substitute against Amkar Perm in the Cottagers' UEFA Europa League qualifier match, setting up the third goal in a 3–1 win. Duff scored his first league goal for Fulham on 13 September 2009 in a 2–1 victory over Everton, scoring in the 79th minute. On 19 December 2009, Duff scored in the 75th minute in a 3–0 victory over Manchester United. On 17 January 2010, Duff started the game against Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park and also completed the full 90 minutes in a 2–0 defeat.
On 22 August 2010, he started and played the full 90 minutes against Manchester United at Craven Cottage in a 2–2 draw and also picked up a booking. On 18 September 2010, he started and played the entire match against Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park in a 1–1 draw. On 15 January 2011, Duff made his 500th career appearance in English football when he lined up against Wigan Athletic playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–1 draw at the DW Stadium. On 5 February 2011, he started the Premier League game against Aston Villa in a 2–2 draw at Villa Park, but was replaced on 67 minutes by Simon Davies. On 27 February 2011, he played the full 90 minutes and also scored a goal in the match with Manchester City at Eastlands in a 1–1 draw.
On 5 March 2011, Duff scored a brace in a 3–2 win against former side Blackburn Rovers at Craven Cottage.
With the two goals, he continued a run of four goals in five matches.
About Fulham and his time at the football club, Duff stated: "I like to think that I have found my feet again here at Fulham. It's a good environment and one that players feel very comfortable in. This is a club with so much character and I'm very happy to be helping move it forward." At the end of the 2010–11 season, Duff made 27 appearances and scored 4 goals in all competitions, including making 24 Premier League appearances. On 19 August 2011, Duff signed a one-year extension to his current deal.
After nine goalless matches, Duff scored in Fulham's 2–1 win over Norwich City on 31 March 2012.
A week later, on 7 April 2012, he starred in Fulham's 0–3 away win over Bolton Wanderers, setting up Clint Dempsey for the second goal of the match. During the match, which marked his 350th league appearance, he was a constant threat on the right wing. On 18 August 2012, Duff scored the opening goal in Fulham's 5–0 win over Norwich City on the opening day of the 2012–13 Premier League. He scored again in the following game, a 3–2 defeat to Manchester United.