Matt Derbyshire

Olympiacos He found starts hard to come by under new manager Paul Ince and played little after the arrival of his successor Sam Allardyce, and in late January 2009, Derbyshire joined Olympiacos on loan until the end of the 2008–09 Super League season. He made his first appearance for the club as a substitute in the first leg of a Greek Cup match at PAOK's Toumba Stadium. In the return match, his home debut, Derbyshire scored a goal in extra time, securing progress to the semi-finals.

He made his league debut on 14 February in a 2–1 home victory over Aris as a 79th-minute substitute for Diogo. He signed a four-year contract with Olympiacos on 23 June 2009 after the clubs agreed a fee reported as £3m.

On 21 March 2010, Derbyshire scored the winning goal against Panathinaikos, in a 1–0 away victory, and was instantly nicknamed The English Killer by the Greek media.

In August 2010, the team's new coach, Ernesto Valverde, told Derbyshire that he was not part of his plans for the 2010–11 season, so he should search for a new team.

Birmingham loan Derbyshire returned to England when he signed for Birmingham City on 16 August 2010 on loan for the 2010–11 Premier League season, with a possibility of the deal being made permanent at the end of that time. He made his debut against former club Blackburn Rovers on 21 August as a second-half substitute for fellow new signing Nikola Žigić, and scored his first goal for the club five days later in a 3–2 League Cup victory over Rochdale. After waiting until January 2011 for his first Premier League start for Birmingham, against Blackpool, he then scored twice in the 4–1 win at Millwall in the third round of the FA Cup. Derbyshire never established himself in the first team, and despite making five appearances in that season's League Cup competition, he was omitted from Birmingham's squad for the final, in which Birmingham achieved a shock 2–1 victory against Arsenal. He left the club at the end of the season after their relegation from the Premier League.

Nottingham Forest Derbyshire signed a three-year contract with Championship club Nottingham Forest on 10 August 2011. The fee was undisclosed. He was issued squad number eight. Upon signing, Derbyshire stated the importance to his career of getting regular first team football again. At Forest, Derbyshire renewed acquaintance with assistant manager Rob Kelly, who was his coach when he was a youth player at Blackburn Rovers. Derbyshire made his debut for Forest on 16 August in a 1–0 away win against Doncaster Rovers. His first and only goal in the 2011–12 season was the opener in a 3–2 away defeat to Southampton.

On 14 September 2012 Derbyshire went on loan to League One club Oldham Athletic in a short-term deal. He scored on his debut a day later, scoring in a 2–2 draw at home to Notts County. He scored again in the following game, earning a point for Oldham in a 1–1 draw against Scunthorpe United. Derbyshire's third goal for Oldham came in a 2–0 away win over Crewe Alexandra. He scored again in a 2–0 win at home to Leyton Orient, but the goal was controversial as Orient manager Russell Slade accused Derbyshire of a "blatant" handball offence that the referee did not see. Manager Paul Dickov then stated his desire to keep him at the club, and the spell was extended until 15 December.

In January 2012 Derbyshire went on loan to Championship club Blackpool but failed to score for them.

Rotherham United Derbyshire signed for newly promoted Championship team Rotherham United on a two-year contract on 30 May 2014. Before his departure in summer 2016 he scored 17 goals in 69 matches for the club.

Omonia Nicosia On 17 June 2016, Cypriot First Division club Omonia Nicosia announced the signing of Derbyshire. In his first league appearance, in a 3–1 win against Ermis Aradippou, Derbyshire opened the scoring with a second-minute penalty. On 4 January 2017 he drew attention when he scored a hat-trick against Ethnikos Achna in 4 minutes, overturning a 2–0 deficit against Omonia, that gave his side a valuable league victory. He continued to score regularly, and finished the season as the league's top scorer with 24 goals, three more than his nearest rival.

On 9 August 2017, Omonia announced the extension of his contract until the summer of 2021.

In the first game of the 2017-18 season, on 10 September 2017, he scored both goals for Omonia against Ethnikos Achna. He scored 23 goals from 33 appearances over the season, which made him again the league's top scorer.

In the 2018–19 season Derbyshire made 25 league appearances but scored only twice.

On the opening day of the 2019—20 season, Derbyshire opened the scoring against Doxa Katokopias with a header.

Later career and retirement On 4 August 2020, it was announced that Derbyshire had signed for new Australian A-League club Macarthur FC on a two-year contract.

On 10 July 2021, Macarthur FC confirmed that they had agreed an undisclosed fee for Derbyshire's transfer to Cypriot top-flight club AEK Larnaca. The move was reported elsewhere as a free transfer.

Derbyshire signed for NorthEast United of the Indian Super League on 2 September 2022.

On 30 December 2022 it was announced that Derbyshire would sign for Bradford City on 9 January 2023. He was released by Bradford City at the end of the 2023–24 season.

On 1 November 2024, Derbyshire announced his retirement from football.

International career Derbyshire was called up to the England Under-21 squad by new manager Stuart Pearce for a friendly against Spain on 6 February, but was forced to withdraw after he tore a thigh muscle playing for Blackburn three days before the match.

However, Derbyshire was fit enough to be included in the under-21 squad to face Italy in the opening fixture of the new Wembley Stadium on 24 March; he scored England's third goal in a thrilling 3–3 draw. During the group stage of the 2007 European Under-21 Football Championship, he was the scorer of a controversial goal against the Serbian under-21 team. He did not kick the ball out when Serbian defender Slobodan Rajković was down injured and went on to score England's second goal of the game; in his defence, Derbyshire claimed he did not see the injured player. He took part in the epic semi-final shootout against hosts Netherlands, scoring his first but having his second penalty saved as England lost 13–12. On 27 March 2009, Derbyshire played the second half for England as they beat Norway 5–0, scoring two goals.

Personal life Derbyshire's wife Melissa, née Norman, is from Ireland and they have three children Braidin, Kendall and Killian.

Career statistics

Honours Olympiacos Super League Greece: 2008–09 A-League PFA Team of the Season: 2020–21