Former Nottingham Forest striker Matt Derbyshire is still in the goals at 34-years-old, scoring a hat-trick for Australian A-League side Macarthur FC.
Derbyshire was once hailed as one of the Football League’s most prolific finishers. In a footballing career that started way back in 2002, the Englishman has travelled the world, playing in England, Greece, Cyprus and now Australia.
Having joined Macarthur FC ahead of this current Australian A-League campaign, Derbyshire has since scored five in eight league outings.
A Matt Derbyshire hat-trick seals a first home win for @mfcbulls ⚽️⚽️⚽️#ALeague #MACvADL #RunWithTheHerd #AUFC pic.twitter.com/PW9i4X4vOu
— Isuzu UTE A-League (@aleaguemen) February 12, 2021
Derbyshire returned to English football with Nottingham Forest in 2011. He’d spent time out at Olympiacos and proved a fan favourite in Greece, returning to England better equipped than before.
His original breakthrough came with Blackburn Rovers. But after several loan spells he’d venture out to Greece before a three-year stint at the City Ground.
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In three seasons, Derbyshire scored just eight league goals for Forest, again spending the bulk of his time out on loan at the likes of Oldham Athletic and Blackpool.
Leaving Forest for Rotherham United in 2014, Derbyshire would score a handful of goals but again failed to set the Championship alight, heading for Cyprus in 2016.
He joined Omonia and in four seasons at the club he scored 69 goals in 127 appearances in all competitions, before departing the club at the end of last season.
Now in Australia, Derbyshire is proving as prolific as ever for his new club, and it’ll leave fans of a host of English clubs wondering why he didn’t prevail for them.
Nottingham Forest is one of those clubs – Derbyshire could’ve made himself a cult hero at Forest but like so many of his other clubs in England, it didn’t work out.
