Troy Deeney

At 35 years old, Troy Deeney has this physical status:

Troy Matthew Deeney (born 29 June 1988) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for and is captain of Watford's Premier League team. Deeney began his working life at Walsall.

During the 2006-07 season, he spent a brief period on loan with Halesowen Town in the Southern League Premier Division.

In 2010, he joined Watford in the Championship and captained the team to promotion to the Premier League in the 2014-2015 season.

Early life

Deeney was born in Birmingham, West Midlands, one of three children born to his parents, and grew up in Chelmsley Wood. Deeney and his mother were assaulted by his father at the age of ten, resulting in visits from social services. When Deeney was 11 years old with his mother taking custody of their children, they separated. He maintained a friendship with his father, who was a heroin dealer in Deeney's local area. When he was 14 years old when he first started attending but left at 16 without having any GCSEs, he was disqualified from school. He has obtained GCSEs in English, Science, and Maths since 2012.

Personal life

Deeney is divorced from his wife Stacy, with whom he had a son, Myles, and Amelia, his daughter. Since July 2018, he has been in a dating relationship with model Alisha Hosannah. He has been a lifelong fan of Birmingham City and has the club's logo inked on his calf.

Ellis' brother, who plays as a central midfielder, is a semi-professional footballer. Ellis began his career at Aston Villa, where he was captain of their academy team before being released.

After pleaded guilty to a felony of affray, Deeney was sentenced to ten months in prison for attacking a group of students outside a nightclub. Both Troy Deeney and Brennan [Deeney's friend] were seen kicking out at the "defenceless" students, one of whom sustained repeated blows to the head as he lay wounded, according to the Guardian. After almost three months of jail, he was released. Deeney cited his anxiety over his father's death from cancer in May 2012 as a cause for his father's behavior that culminated in his detention.

Deeney was hospitalized with COVID-19 in March 2020 and spent five days in hospital with a high temperature and kidney and intestine problems. In Watford's last match before lockdown, he was on a ventilator for four days and admitted that he "struggled for air" and admitted to being "struggled for air."

Deeney began working as a guest writer for The Sun in October 2020, wrangling a fortnightly column for the newspaper's sports section. He appears on TalkSport's Monday morning breakfast show alongside Laura Woods and Ally McCoist. He introduced Deeney Talks, a podcast, in April 2021.

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Club career

Deeney was invited by the Aston Villa academy to participate in a four-day summer trial with the intention of earning a youth contract, but the first three days were missed because he "knew there was a game on the last day" and was not given terms by Villa. He had started training as a bricklayer and was earning £120 a week before joining Chelmsley Town in 2004. He made his debut against Mile Oak Rovers on October 9, 2004, but only became a first team as a result of a late kick-off – it had been postponed to prevent interfering with England's 2006 World Cup Qualifier against Wales. Deeney, who had been delegated to a regular spot in the team, went on to win Chelmsley Town's Player of the Year Award for the 2005-2006 season.

Walsall's Head of Youth Mick Halsall, who only attended the match because his son was already playing, and because the game he was supposed to attend had been postponed, Deeney was spotted. In an 11–4 victory, Deeney was inebriated while driving. He was invited to a trial by the then-Lettonian club but he only attended after his Chelmsley boss called him out of bed and paid for his taxi. Deeney was immediately transferred to Halesowen Town on loan for the remainder of the 2006–07 season after signing for Walsall on December 18, 2006.

Walsall defeated Millwall 2–1 in September 2007, scoring his first competitive goal for the team. This was his only goal of the 2007-08 season, and the 2008–09 season began in a similar way, with him managing only two goals in the first half. However, Chris Hutchings' appointment as boss coincided with Deeney's discovery of a goalscoring touch. In Hutchings' first 12 games in charge, aided by the fact that his new boss started playing him in his favoured attacking position rather than on the right wing as the previous manager Jimmy Mullen did. It was revealed on September 9, 2009, that Deeney had signed a new two-year contract before 2011. Deeney scored 14 goals to finish as Walsall's top scorer in the 2009-10 season and was named Club Player of the Year for the first time.

In August 2010, Deeney lodged a written transfer request against several Championship clubs. He had been told he was supposed to leave Walsall earlier in the summer and had slackened his pre-season preparations in protest against the club's hardline approach in selling him. He joined Watford two days later for a two-year deal that increased his salary from £12,000 to £6,000 a week. According to Deeney, Walsall also agreed to a 20% selling-on fee for any gain if Watford to sell him in the future, which would make transfer attempts more difficult. Deeney signed for Watford on the same day as the season's first day, while Marvin Sordell came on for the second half. Deeney discovered that his bad pre-season meant he didn't get enough exercise in comparison to his new teammates. In the first round of the League Cup, he scored his first Watford goal against Notts County on August 24. In his first season, Deeney made 40 appearances for Watford, scoring three goals from 20 starts, although Malky Mackay was mainly deployed on the wing.

Deeney, who played in the 2011–12 season, first found it difficult to gain a starting position in the team, as many of his early season games had him consigned to a bench seat. He jumped right into the starting eleven and totaled 46 appearances under Sean Dyche's leadership as the striker's preferred position. Deeney has signed a new deal with the 2012–13 season in March. He played for 12 goals in all competitions and also received the Goal of the Season Award for his goal against Ipswich Town in March 2012.

After being released from jail, Deeney made his first appearance for Watford against Bristol City on September 22nd. The match ended 2–2, with Deeney coming on in the second half and hitting the post. In the 3–2 away victory, he started his match against Huddersfield Town on September 29th and scored the winner from a spot kick. As Watford defeated 4–0 winners on 16 February 2013, he scored a memorable double against his boyhood club, Birmingham City.

Deeney joined Watford in March 2013 and stayed at the club until 2016. In a 4–0 victory over Blackburn Rovers on April 20, Deeney took his tally to 18 for the season. In the next match against Leicester, he scored his 19th goal of the season, scoring the first goal in a crucial 2–1 away victory for Watford.

In the play-off semi-final second leg at Vicarage Road on May 12, 2013, Watford defeated Leicester City. Deeney scored a goal deep into injury time to qualify for the Championship Play-off final at Wembley Stadium in one of the most exciting games to a play-off match in history. After Manuel Almunia saved a penalty taken by Anthony Knockaert and a revival, Watford charged back to the other end, and Deeney smashed in the winning goal in the seventh minute of added time – an ecstatic Deeney embraced the goal by leaping into the crowd.

Watford beat Birmingham City 1–0 in the first match of the 2013–14 season after scoring 20 goals in the 2012-13 season. Deeney scored the only goal. Watford defeated Bournemouth 6-1 at Vicarage Road a week later, Deeney scored a hat-trick. 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 December 7, 1996. It was also Deeney's first hat-trick in his career.

In a 4–1 victory over Sheffield on Wednesday, Deeney took his 2013–14 season total score to 20 goals. He became the first Watford player to score 20 or more goals in a season in all competitions since Luther Blissett oversaw the feat in 1983.

Deeney scored again, this time against Burnley in a 1–1 draw on April 5th, becoming the first Watford player to score 20 league goals in a row since Cliff Holton managed the feat in 1961. Both the 2013–14 player of the Year award and the Players' Player of the Year were also named at the end of season awards on May 2nd.

Following Manuel Almunia's departure, Deeney was named the Watford captain by boss Giuseppe Sannino prior to the 2014-2015 campaign. Deeney helped Watford earn promotion to the Premier League over the course of the 2014-15 Championship season. In the process, he became the first player in Watford to score 20 or more goals in three seasons (2012-13, 2013–15).

Deeney played in the Premier League for the first time in his career, a 2–2 draw with Everton at Goodison Park on August 8, 2015. Watford beat Stoke City 2–0 at the Britannia Stadium on October 24th, scoring his first Premier League goal. In the 87th minute, Deeney scored a penalty against Manchester United to equalize; just after that, he scored his own goal in the 90th minute to help Manchester United beat Watford in a dramatic change of events at Vicarage Road. With the opener against Norwich City on December 5, Deeney would extend his scoring streak to five in six games. He scored twice in a 2–1 home victory over Crystal Palace on February 13, extending the Eagles' winless streak in the league to nine matches.

Deeney signed a new five-year contract with Watford on July 1, 2016. In a 4–2 victory over West Ham United's new home venue, the London Stadium, he opened his 2016-17 goalscoring account on September 10th. Deeney scored his 100th Watford goal in all competitions on Sunday, scoring a penalty against Crystal Palace in a 1–1 home draw, snapping a ten-match goalless streak. He became Watford's fifth player to reach a century of goals. He has completely quit gambling and alcohol in weeks Watford has been playing.

Deeney (and Watford teammate Adrian Mariappa and Christian Kabasele) were exposed to racial profiling on social media in April 2019.

Deeney initially refused to return to non-contact training with his teammates in May 2020, following the Premier League's suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He said he did not want to put his five-month-old boy in danger, who is breathing difficulties, "It takes one person to get sick in the organization, and I don't want to bring it home." In their first game back against Leicester City, Deeney returned to training and captained Watford, playing the full 90 minutes. On July 11, Deeney scored two second-half penalties to come from behind and win at home against Newcastle United, giving Deeney his first goals of the season. After the game, Deeney admitted he had been suffering from a right knee injury since the start of the season, but he promised to see out the season as the club captain and save Watford from relegation. Following this news, Deeney was often recalled in the second half of most games for the remainder of the season to reduce the load on his knee. In a 3–1 loss to West Ham United on July 17, he scored again, but then came off in the second half. Deeney played the full 90 minutes and scored a penalty in the first half, but Watford lost 3–2, relegating to the EFL Championship for the first time. Following the loss, it was widely predicted that Deeney had played his last game for the club; Deeney later said that he was "unsure" about his future at Watford.

Despite widespread rumors of his imminent departure and a heightened interest from Tottenham Hotspur, West Bromwich Albion, and Fenerbahçe, Deeney remained with Watford throughout the summer transfer window and came off the bench during their 1–0 victory over Luton Town on September 26, 2020. After beating Millwall 1–0 home win, Watford secured immediate promotion back to the Premier League on April 24th.

In Watford's first match since returning to the top flight on August 14th, Deeney came on as a 79th-minute replacement for Tom Cleverley, assisting in the victory after losing at home to Brighton & Hove Albion on August 21, 2021.

After eleven years with Watford, Deeney became a free agent; he had played 419 appearances for the team and scored 140 goals on August 3021.

Deeney completed a two-year deal with Birmingham City, the team he has supported since childhood, on August 30th 2021. He made his debut in a 2–0 home win over Lukas Jutkiewicz on September 10th, and five days later scored his first Birmingham goal, a late penalty in a 4–1 loss at Fulham.

International career

Deeney said in October 2015 that he had twice declined invitations to play for Jamaica internationally and that he wished to play for England. Deeney was originally thought he was able to play for Northern Ireland, but the possibility was quickly denied as neither his parents nor grandparents are from Northern Ireland. Deeney hasn't been selected for England at a youth level, so he's uncapped.

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