Will Buckley (footballer)

Will Buckley

Buckley with Brighton & Hove Albion in 2014
Personal information
Full name William Edward Buckley[1]
Date of birth (1989-11-21) 21 November 1989[1]
Place of birth Oldham,[1] England
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[2]
Playing position Winger
Club information
Current team
 Sheffield Wednesday (on loan from Sunderland)
Number 38
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)
2016 → Birmingham City (loan) 10 (1)
2016 → Sheffield Wednesday (loan) 8 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 01:31, 4 December 2016 (UTC).


William Edward "Will" Buckley (born 21 November 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a winger for Championship side Sheffield Wednesday on loan from Premier League club Sunderland.

Buckley previously played for Rochdale, Watford and Brighton & Hove Albion, and had brief loan spells with Leeds United and Birmingham City.

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 fifth.[3]

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.[3]

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.[4] In January 2009, Buckley was named in a Times newspaper article about rising stars in the game.[5] In total Buckley made 41 appearances and scored 10 goals in the regular season.[4] Rochdale finished sixth 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.[4]

Buckley made 18 appearances for Rochdale in 2009–10, scoring 3 goals in a spell of 3 consecutive games in September 2009.[6]

Watford

On 26 January 2010, Buckley transferred to Championship club Watford, signing a three-and-a-half-year contract. At his time of departure Rochdale were nine points clear at the top of League Two.[7] 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.[8]

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 made his full debut in a 1–1 draw against Middlesbrough on 27 March.[6] He scored his first Watford goal on 3 April against Preston North End. Watford drew the game 1–1.[6]

Brighton & Hove Albion

2011–12 season

Buckley with Brighton in 2011

On 6 June 2011, Buckley signed for Brighton & Hove Albion for a then club record fee of £1 million.[9]

Buckley scored his first and second league goals for Brighton in a dramatic 2–1 victory against Doncaster. His second goal came 8 minutes into second-half stoppage time and earned Brighton their first win at their new stadum at Falmer.[10] In his first start for Brighton, in the League Cup, he earned a penalty in a 1–0 victory against Gillingham.[11] On 3 December, Buckley again came off the bench to score an injury-time winner – a 92nd-minute goal in a 1–0 victory over Nottingham Forest.[12] His fourth goal of the season, in a 2–0 win over Bristol City on 14 January 2012, was his first Brighton goal not scored after coming on as a substitute.[13] In the next league game, Buckley found the net twice more to win away at Peterborough United – his second coming in the 88th minute.[14] Against Newcastle United in the FA Cup fifth round, Buckley's shot was deflected to cause the own-goal that gave Brighton a shock 1–0 win. On 4 February, his scoring run continued with another late winner, a 90th-minute goal at home to Leicester City, and in April, the eighth goal of Buckley's Brighton career came 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.[15] Now established as a first-team starter, he scored further goals against Ipswich (another late equaliser), Wolverhampton Wanderers in a 3–3 draw, and a brace at Huddersfield Town which secured a 2–1 Brighton win.[16] On 4 January 2013, Buckley signed a four-and-half-year contract with Brighton, to expire in 2017.[17]

Sunderland

On 14 August 2014, Buckley transferred to Premier League club Sunderland for an undisclosed fee, reported as £2.5 million, signing a three-year contract.[18][19][20]

Leeds United

In September 2015, Buckley started training with Championship club Leeds United ahead of a loan move.[21] On 2 October, Buckley signed for Leeds United on a 93-day emergency loan.[22] He made his Leeds debut the following day, starting in a 2–0 loss against Birmingham City.[23]

Birmingham City

On 15 January 2016, Buckley joined Championship club Birmingham City on loan for a month.[24] He made his first appearance the following day, as a very late substitute with Birmingham already 3–0 up away at Derby County,[25] but played a rather greater part in his home debut, against Ipswich Town a week later. Brought into the starting eleven after Jacques Maghoma withdrew through illness, he produced an energetic performance, found himself in the right place to score the opening goal after several attempts had been blocked, and was the victim of a foul for which Jonathan Douglas was sent off just before half-time; Birmingham won 3–0.[26] The loan was extended to the end of the season,[27] which he ended with ten league appearances and the one goal.[28]

Sheffield Wednesday

On 5 August 2016, Buckley joined Championship club Sheffield Wednesday on a season-long loan.[29]

International career

Buckley is eligible to play for the Republic of Ireland through his grandfather and in 2013, encouraged by his then Brighton teammate Stephen Ward, expressed his desire to declare.[30][31]

Career statistics

As of match played 23 April 2016
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Rochdale 2007–08[3] League Two7000001[lower-alpha 1]080
2008–09[4] League Two371030003[lower-alpha 2]04310
2009–10[6] League Two15310101[lower-alpha 3]0183
Total 59134010506913
Watford 2009–10[6] Championship61———61
2010–11[32] Championship3342020—374
Total 3952020—435
Brighton & Hove Albion 2011–12[33] Championship2984020—358
2012–13[16] Championship36810002[lower-alpha 1]0398
2013–14[34] Championship30310102[lower-alpha 1]0343
2014–15[35] Championship10—00—10
Total 961960304010919
Sunderland 2014–15[36] Premier League2201010—240
2015–16[28] Premier League000000—00
Total 2201010—240
Leeds United (loan) 2015–16[28] Championship40———40
Birmingham City (loan) 2015–16[28] Championship101———101
Career total 23038130709025938
  1. 1 2 3 Appearances in Football League play-offs
  2. ↑ One appearance in Football League Trophy, two in Football League play-offs
  3. ↑ Appearance in Football League Trophy

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Will Buckley". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  2. ↑ "First team: Will Buckley". Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. Archived from the original on 14 January 2016. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 "Games played by Will Buckley in 2007/2008". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Games played by Will Buckley in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  5. ↑ Dart, Tom (12 January 2009). "Football's top 50 rising stars". The Times. London. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "Games played by Will Buckley in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  7. ↑ "Buckley joins the 'Orns". Watford F.C. 26 January 2010. Archived from the original on 3 April 2010.
  8. ↑ "Growth and potential". Watford F.C. 27 January 2010. Archived from the original on 27 March 2012.
  9. ↑ Smith, Frank (6 June 2011). "Buckley secures £1m move". Watford Observer. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
  10. ↑ "Brighton 2–1 Doncaster". BBC Sport. 6 August 2011. Retrieved 6 August 2011.
  11. ↑ "Brighton 1–0 Gillingham". BBC Sport. 9 August 2011. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
  12. ↑ "Brighton 1–0 Forest". BBC Sport. 3 December 2011. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
  13. ↑ "Brighton 2–0 Bristol City". BBC Sport. 14 January 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2012.
  14. ↑ "Peterborough 1–2 Brighton". BBC Sport. 21 January 2012. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  15. ↑ "Brighton 3–0 Wednesday". BBC Sport. 16 September 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  16. 1 2 "Games played by Will Buckley in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  17. ↑ Jago, Will (4 January 2013). "Buckley signs new deal". Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  18. ↑ Vose, Stuart (14 August 2014). "Buckley deal completed". Sunderland A.F.C. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  19. ↑ "Premier League: Sunderland agree £2.5million fee for Brighton for Will Buckley". Sky Sports. 13 August 2014. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  20. ↑ Young, Chris (7 January 2016). "Birmingham target Will Buckley expects to leave Sunderland in window, but no move to AEK". Sunderland Echo. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  21. ↑ Hay, Phil (21 September 2015). "Leeds United: Whites agree Will Buckley signing". Yorkshire Evening Post. Leeds. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  22. ↑ "United complete Buckley loan move". Leeds United F.C. 2 October 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  23. ↑ "Leeds 0–2 Birmingham". BBC Sport. 3 October 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  24. ↑ "Blues bring in Sunderland winger Will Buckley". Birmingham City F.C. 15 January 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  25. ↑ "Derby 0–3 Birmingham". BBC Sport. 16 January 2016. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  26. ↑ Campbell, Darren (23 January 2016). "Will Buckley: Birmingham City newboy enjoys sparkling home debut against Ipswich". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  27. ↑ "Will Buckley's loan extended". Birmingham City F.C. 29 January 2016. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  28. 1 2 3 4 "Games played by Will Buckley in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  29. ↑ "Will Buckley joins Owls on loan". Retrieved 2016-08-05.
  30. ↑ Fitzmaurice, Aidan (29 October 2013). "Buckley: I want Irish call-up". Evening Herald. Dublin. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  31. ↑ Fitzmaurice, Aidan (13 November 2013). "Stephen backing Buckley for call". Evening Herald. Dublin. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  32. ↑ "Games played by Will Buckley in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  33. ↑ "Games played by Will Buckley in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  34. ↑ "Games played by Will Buckley in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  35. ↑ "Games played by Will Buckley in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  36. ↑ "Games played by Will Buckley in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
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