Will Buckley (footballer)

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Will Buckley
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Personal information
Full name William Edward Buckley[1]
Date of birth (1989-11-21) 21 November 1989 (age 34)
Place of birth Oldham, England
Height Script error: No such module "person height".
Position(s) Winger
Team information
Current team
 Sunderland
Number 30
Youth career
2006–2008 Rochdale
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2010 Rochdale 59 (13)
2010–2011 Watford 39 (5)
2011–2014 Brighton & Hove Albion 96 (19)
2014– Sunderland 22 (0)
2015 → Leeds United (loan) 4 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 26 November 2015 (UTC)

William Edward "Will" Buckley (born 21 November 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a winger for Premier League club Sunderland.

Buckley previously played for Rochdale, Watford and Brighton & Hove Albion.

Career

Rochdale

Buckley started his career at Rochdale, becoming a youth scholar in 2006. Having played in the club's reserve side, he went on to make his first league appearance in Rochdale's 4–2 home defeat against Hereford United on 12 February 2008. He made a second substitute appearance in a 2–1 away at Bradford City on 16 February, before making his first start for the club in a 1–0 defeat against Wycombe Wanderers on 23 February. Buckley made four more appearances, all as a substitute, in the regular season as Rochdale finished 5th.[2]

Buckley did not feature in either leg of Rochdale's League Two play-off semi-final victory over Darlington. However, he made an appearance in the final at Wembley, where Rochdale played Stockport County for a place in League One. Buckley came on as a 73rd-minute substitute for Nathan D'Laryea with Rochdale 3–1 down. They went on to lose 3–2.

After not playing in the first four games of the 2008–09 season, Buckley started a run of seven consecutive league starts. In the third of these, a 2–2 draw away at Rotherham United on 13 September 2008, Buckley scored his first professional goal. He then scored in the two subsequent games. In January 2009 Buckley was named by The Times newspaper in an article about rising stars in the game.[3] In total Buckley made 41 appearances and scored 10 goals in the regular season. Rochdale finished 6th to again qualify for the play-offs. Buckley started the first leg of the semi-final, a 0–0 draw at home to Gillingham, before being substituted for Joe Thompson. In the second leg Buckley came off the bench to replace Thompson with all the goals in the 2–1 defeat already scored.[2]

Buckley made 18 appearances for Rochdale in 2009–10, scoring 3 goals, all in spell of 3 consecutive games in September 2009.[2]

Watford

On 26 January 2010 Buckley transferred to Championship side Watford, signing a three and a half-year contract. At his time of departure Rochdale were 9 points clear at the top of League Two.[4] On signing, Watford manager Malky Mackay said of Buckley:

Will's an exciting young talent who has impacted upon Rochdale [...] There's a lot of growth and potential in him. [...] Will's an attacking player who is comfortable on either wing and can play up and off a forward as well, he's definitely someone who is attack-minded [...] we don't have the financial luxury of signing players from the Championship and the Premiership on the whole, therefore we need to look to see where the best young talent is coming through in the lower leagues, the Conference and up in Scotland as well.[5]

After recovering from a thigh strain, Buckley was eventually given his Watford debut (following 90 minutes and a goal for the reserves) on 21 March 2010 in a 3–1 defeat at Cardiff City, replacing Don Cowie in the 67th minute. After coming on as a 90th-minute substitute for his home debut on 24 March 2010, Buckley was handed his full debut in a 1–1 draw against Middlesbrough on 27 March.

Buckley scored his first Watford goal on 3 April 2010 against Preston North End. Watford drew the game 1–1.

Brighton & Hove Albion

2011–12 season

File:Will Buckley.jpg
Buckley with Brighton in 2011

On 6 June 2011, Buckley signed for Brighton & Hove Albion for a then club record fee of £1 million.[6]

Buckley scored his first and second league goals for Brighton & Hove Albion in a dramatic 2–1 victory against Doncaster. His second goal came 8 minutes into stoppage time in the second half and earned Brighton their first win at the AMEX stadium.[7] Buckley followed this up with his first start for Brighton, in the League Cup, earning a penalty in a 1–0 victory against Gillingham.[8] On 3 December 2011, Buckley again came off the bench to score an injury-time winner – a 92nd-minute goal in a 1–0 victory over Nottingham Forest.[9] Buckley scored his fourth goal of the season in a 2–0 win over Bristol City, on 14 January 2012. It was his first Brighton goal not scored after coming on as a substitute.[10] In the very next league game, Buckley found the net twice more with a match-winning brace away at Peterborough United – his second coming in the 88th minute.[11] Buckley was then crucially involved in Brighton's shock win over Newcastle United in the FA Cup fifth round; his shot deflected to cause the own-goal that gave Brighton the 1–0 victory. On 4 February 2012, Buckley continued his extraordinary run of form by scoring yet another late winner at home, a 90th-minute goal to see off Leicester City 1–0. In April, Buckley scored his eighth goal of his Brighton career against former club Watford, with a late equaliser to make the score 2–2.

2012–13 season

Buckley scored his first goal of the 2012–13 campaign in a 3–0 victory over Sheffield Wednesday.[12] Now established as a first-team starter, he scored further goals against Ipswich (another late equaliser), Wolves in a 3–3 draw, and a brace at Huddersfield Town which secured a 2–1 Brighton win. On 4 January 2013, Buckley signed a new four-and-half-year contract at Brighton, tying him to the club until 2017.[13]

Sunderland

On 14 August 2014, Buckley transferred to Premier League club Sunderland for an undisclosed fee, believed to be £2.5 million, signing a three-year contract.[14]

In September 2015, Buckley started training with Championship club Leeds United, ahead of a loan move that was expected to be completed by early-October.[15]

Leeds United

On 2 October 2015, Buckley signed for Championship club Leeds United in a 93-day emergency loan deal. The deal was timed to ensure that Buckley would remain at the club into the January transfer window, so as to ensure he could remain at the club long term. On 3 October 2015, Buckley made his Leeds debut, starting in a 2-0 loss against Birmingham City.[16]

International career

Buckley is eligible to play for the Republic of Ireland through his grandfather and has expressed his desire to declare.[17] Former teammate Stephen Ward has backed him to get called up in the near future.[18]

Career statistics

Statistics correct as of match played 24 May 2015.[2]

Club Season Division League FA Cup League Cup League Trophy Play-offs Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Rochdale
2007–08 League Two 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 8 0
2008–09 League Two 37 10 3 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 43 10
2009–10 League Two 15 3 1 0 1 0 1 0 — 18 3
Rochdale total 59 13 4 0 1 0 2 0 3 0 69 13
Watford 2009–10 Championship 6 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 6 1
2010–11 Championship 33 4 2 0 2 0 0 0 — 37 4
Watford total 39 5 2 0 2 0 0 0 — 43 5
Brighton & Hove Albion 2011–12 Championship 29 8 4 0 2 0 0 0 — 35 8
2012–13 Championship 35 8 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 38 8
2013–14 Championship 30 3 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 32 3
2014–15 Championship 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Brighton & Hove Albion total 96 19 6 0 3 0 0 0 2 0 108 19
Sunderland 2014–15 Premier League 22 0 1 0 1 0 — — 24 0
Sunderland total 22 0 1 0 1 0 — — 24 0
Career totals 216 37 13 0 7 0 2 0 5 0 245 37

References

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  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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