David Nugent

At 39 years old, David Nugent has this physical status:

David James Nugent (born 2 May 1985) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Preston North End. He started his career in 2002 when he signed his first professional contract with Bury.

He left the club in 2005, when he joined Preston North End for two seasons.

Nugent joined Portsmouth in 2007, and later joined Burnley for the 2009–10 season, before returning to Portsmouth for one final season in 2010.

He signed for Leicester City in 2011, where he played for the club for four seasons, before joining Middlesbrough in 2015.

After helping Middlesbrough secure promotion to the Premier League, Nugent joined Derby County after his starting position at Middlesbrough was put in jeopardy. Nugent played for England at under-21 level, before playing one match in the senior team.

He failed to remain in the England senior squad, and has not played for his country since.

Personal life

Nugent has stated that he is an Everton supporter. In 2016, Nugent served as best man at former teammate Jamie Vardy's wedding.

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Club career

Nugent, who was born in Huyton, Merseyside, was a member of the Liverpool youth academy but she was dismissed at the age of 15. He only changed his role until he became a Bury professional, joining Bury's winning Youth and Centre of Excellence department. Nugent's debut as a substitute against Port Vale in March 2002 at the age of 16, but several other major clubs expressed an interest in his 2004-05 League Two season.

Although Burnley and Nugent were aiming for Burnley, Nugent chose Preston North End rather than Bury's Northampton Town in January 2005 for a £100,000.

Preston finished fourth, losing to Leeds United in the playoff semi-finals, losing out on promotion in 2005-06, with 10 goals in 32 Championship appearances. Despite transfer rumors, Nugent spent the remainder of the season at Preston, scoring 15 goals in 43 appearances and winning England honours. In 2006–07, Preston finished seventh.

Nugent was finally announced as a Pompey player at a press conference alongside John Utaka on July 11, 2007, after both Sunderland and Portsmouth had bids in the region of £6 million agreed for the player. However, rumors came only weeks later that Derby County was considering a bid for Nugent and that he might leave Portsmouth in the same transfer window he arrived in. Following a League Cup match early in Nugent's career, in which he scored his first goal for the club, Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp declared that Nugent will leave the club if the right bid came in to fund a transfer for more players. However, Nugent stated that he wanted to remain in Portsmouth.

In early March 2008, Jim Magilton, the Ipswich town's manager, was left questioning Nugent's fitness.

Nugent was a regular fixture for Portsmouth in the FA Cup, scoring a goal against Ipswich Town in the third round. His role culminated in John Utaka's participation in the 69th minute of the final against Cardiff City, who eventually lifted the trophy.

Nugent scored his first Premier League goal against former Tottenham Hotspur boss Harry Redknapp in a 1–1 draw on January 18, 2009, a new season and 18 months at the club. He scored his second goal at Fulham and then met his first league goal at Fratton Park, scoring against Liverpool on February 7, 2009. Nonetheless, these were not to be Nugent's only top flight targets for Pompey.

During Portsmouth's pre-season trip to Portugal, it was announced on August 5 that Nugent had been involved in a suspected bust-up with colleague Marc Wilson. Both players were sent home and the club later fined two weeks' wages.

Nugent was reportedly in talks with Burnley over a loan transfer on September 1, 2009. Burnley had signed Nugent on a six-month loan contract with the intention of a permanent transfer, subject to Premier League approval, thirty minutes after the transfer window was closed. On September 12, he made his Clarets debut when he was brought to an end 70 minutes into the match against Liverpool at Anfield. Nugent scored two goals on his first return to Burnley as a second-half replacement for the Clarets on his homecoming against Sunderland, helping the Clarets beat the Clarets 3–1. Nugent agreed another loan deal with Burnley on February 1st, which will keep him on loan until June.

Nugent returned to Portsmouth in the 2010–11 pre-season after struggling to renegotiate a permanent deal with Burnley or sign an alternative Premier League club. He was a regular starter as a left-sided forward. Nugent was Portsmouth's top goalscorer during his first goal drought, seeing him fail to hit the ground before his goal in a 6–1 loss of Leicester City on September 24, 2010, his first for Pompey since February 2009), and he had scored 14 goals in all competitions.

Nugent left Leicester City on a three-year deal on July 5, 2011 after his deal with Portsmouth came to an end. In a 2–1 loss to Bristol City on August 16, he made his competitive debut in a 1–0 victory over Coventry City on August 6, 2011. He scored his first goal for the club in a 1–1 loss. Nugent scored the winning goal to knock Premier League Norwich City out of the FA Cup at Carrow Road on February 18, 2012, putting Leicester through the quarter-finals. Nugent scored 16 goals in all competitions during the 2011-12 season.

Nugent beat Hull City 3–1 on September 23, 2012, giving him his first hat-trick in his career. Nugent's form continued against Bristol City, Watford, and Nottingham Forest. Nugent sustained a neck injury during the match against Nottingham Forest, which later was revealed to be a slip disc. Nugent started the match against Ipswich Town last week and scored two goals, but Jamie Vardy had to be suspended after half an hour due to a neck injury. Nugent then missed both the matches against Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds United. He returned as a substitute against Derby County. Leicester defeated their East Midlands rivals 4–1. He came off the bench and scored two goals to win by four goals. For the second straight season, he was top scorer in Leicester's 2012-2013 season.

Nugent scored his 50th league goal for Leicester against Ipswich Town on February 22, 2014. Leicester won promotion into the Premier League as the 2013-14 Football League Championship champions, scoring 20 league goals and setting up a further 12 as Leicester gained promotion into the Premier League from 2013-14.

Nugent's two-year deal deal with Leicester City began on July 9th, 2014.

Nugent's first Premier League goal for Leicester came as a result of a 5–3 home victory over Manchester United on September 21, 2014. After playing as a replacement in Leicester's 2–2 draw with Liverpool at Anfield on January 1, 2015, he scored his second goal of the season and first from open play. Nugent scored in a 2–2 draw with his boyhood team Everton at Goodison Park on February 22nd. In a 4-3 loss to Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane on March 21, he scored his fourth goal of the season.

Nugent, Jordan Rhodes, and Dwight Gayle had been linked to join Middlesbrough, and Nugent agreed to a three-year deal with the club, which would be divided if the club gained promotion. In a 3–0 home win over Bolton Wanderers on August 15, he made his club debut for the club. In a 2–0 victory over Milton Keynes Dons at the Riverside on September 12, he scored his first goal for the club.

Middlesbrough secured promotion to the 2016-17 Premier League season after a 1–1 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion on May 7th, 2016, finishing second in the league table behind champions Burnley.

Nugent joined Derby County in an undisclosed fee on a two-year deal. Julien De Sart, a former Middlesbrough teammate who signed with the club on January 5, 2017, is on loan for the remainder of the season. Nugent made his Derby debut against Leeds United on January 13, 2017. In a 2–1 home victory over Barnsley on March 4, 2017, he scored his first goal, earning him his first yellow card. Nugent scored his second goal on March 18, 2017, after a 2–2 away draw against Nottingham Forest. In a 4–2 home victory over Fulham on April 11, he later scored a hat-trick.

At the end of the 2018–19 season, he was released by Derby County.

Nugent returned to Preston North End, now in the Championship, on July 17, 2019, joining them on a free transfer.

Nugent joined Tranmere Rovers on loan for the remainder of the 2020–21 season on February 1, 2021.

International career

In February 2005, he made his England under-21 team debut against Wales. In a 2–2 draw with Moldova on August 15, he scored his first goal for the team on his debut. With Arsenal's Theo Walcott, he scored his second goal in the 3–2 victory over Switzerland on September 6, 2006, which put the team into the play-off round of 2007 European Under-21 Championship qualifying. Against Spain, he scored his third goal. In June 2007, he represented the under-21s in the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Championship in the Netherlands.

Following much rumors after Steve McClaren revealed he had been watching Nugent, David was called into the full England squad to replace the injured Darren Bent of Charlton Athletic.

In a UEFA Euro 2008 qualifier versus Andorra in Barcelona on March 28, Nugent made his debut as a late replacement for England. He recalled the moment by scoring the final goal in a 3–0 victory in the 93rd minute by putting in a goal-bound shot from Jermain Defoe as it was about to cross the line. In his post-match press interview, Nugent expressed genuine joy for completing a "1 Goal/1 Cap" national team record. Nugent hasn't been capped since, and his 11-minute England national career is the shortest of any player to have scored for the team.

He was the first Preston footballer to play for the national team since Tom Finney 49 years ago and the first England national team footballer from a club playing in the Football League since 2003 David James of West Ham. He was also the first Football League outfield player since Michael Gray of Sunderland in 1999.

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