| Duncan Watmore | |
| Fullname: | Duncan Ian Watmore[1] |
| Birth Date: | 8 March 1994[2] |
| Birth Place: | Manchester, England |
| Height: | 1.75m (05.74feet)[3] |
| Position: | Forward |
| Currentclub: | Millwall |
| Clubnumber: | 19 |
| Youthyears1: | –2006 |
| Youthclubs1: | Manchester United |
| Youthyears2: | 2010–2011 |
| Youthclubs2: | Altrincham |
| Years1: | 2011–2013 |
| Clubs1: | Altrincham |
| Caps1: | 48 |
| Goals1: | 15 |
| Years2: | 2012 |
| Clubs2: | → Clitheroe (loan) |
| Caps2: | 4 |
| Goals2: | 0 |
| Years3: | 2012 |
| Clubs3: | → Curzon Ashton (loan) |
| Years4: | 2013–2020 |
| Clubs4: | Sunderland |
| Caps4: | 71 |
| Goals4: | 5 |
| Years5: | 2014 |
| Clubs5: | → Hibernian (loan) |
| Caps5: | 9 |
| Goals5: | 1 |
| Years6: | 2020–2023 |
| Clubs6: | Middlesbrough |
| Caps6: | 92 |
| Goals6: | 21 |
| Years7: | 2023– |
| Clubs7: | Millwall |
| Caps7: | 52 |
| Goals7: | 9 |
| Nationalyears1: | 2015 |
| Nationalteam1: | England U20 |
| Nationalcaps1: | 5 |
| Nationalgoals1: | 2 |
| Nationalyears2: | 2015–2016 |
| Nationalteam2: | England U21 |
| Nationalcaps2: | 13 |
| Nationalgoals2: | 3 |
| Club-Update: | 23:08, 20 August 2024 (UTC) |
Duncan Ian Watmore (born 8 March 1994) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Millwall. Watmore previously played for Altrincham, Clitheroe, Curzon Ashton, Sunderland, Hibernian, and Middlesbrough.
Watmore was born in Manchester[4] and is the son of Ian Watmore, a former chief executive of the Football Association.[5] He was educated at Cheadle Hulme School.[6]
Watmore started his career at Manchester United, but was released at the age of 12.[7] He joined Altrincham in their youth team at the age of 16.[7] He made his first-team debut on 27 November 2011 as a substitute in a 2–1 away defeat to F.C. United of Manchester in the FA Trophy.[8] Watmore had spells on loan at Northern Premier League Division One North clubs Clitheroe and Curzon Ashton in early 2012.[9] [10] He scored 14 goals for Altrincham in the 2012–13 season.
Watmore signed for Premier League club Sunderland on 24 May 2013 for an undisclosed fee on a two-year contract.[5] [11] He made his debut for the Sunderland first team on 5 January 2014 as a 60th-minute substitute for Ji Dong-won in a 3–1 home win against Carlisle United in the third round of the FA Cup.[12]
On 31 January 2014, Watmore joined Scottish Premiership club Hibernian on loan for the rest of the 2013–14 season.[13] His first goal came on 15 March 2014 in a 3–1 defeat away to Partick Thistle.[14] Watmore left Hibernian at the end of the season.[15]
On 29 May 2015, Watmore was named the U21 Premier League Player of the Season, after scoring 11 goals in 19 matches in the competition.[16]
Watmore made his league debut for Sunderland on 15 August 2015, coming off the bench to score a late consolation goal with a scuffed volley into the bottom-left corner in a 3–1 home loss to Norwich City.[17] He signed a new four-year contract with Sunderland on 22 November 2015.[18] Watmore returned from two months out with an ankle injury on 16 April 2016 as a half time substitute away to Norwich City, and scored the third goal in Sunderland's 3–0 victory, a result which brought the team to within a point of Norwich in the relegation battle.[19]
Watmore was ruled out for the remainder of the a 2016–17 season after suffering cruciate knee ligament injury during Sunderland's 2–1 home win over Leicester City on 3 December 2016.[20]
It was announced on 17 June 2020 that Watmore would be leaving Sunderland, bringing to an end his 7 years at the club.[21]
On 17 November 2020, Watmore signed for Middlesbrough on a short-term deal until January 2021.[22] He scored his first goals for Middlesbrough when he scored twice in a 2–0 win against Swansea City on 2 December 2020.[23] Watmore continued his goal scoring with two on 12 December in a 3–0 win against Millwall.[24] On 7 January 2021, Watmore signed a new two-and-a-half-year deal at Middlesbrough.[25] [26] Watmore's performances earned him the championship player of the month for December.[27] Watmore was Middlesbrough's top scorer for the 2020–21 season, with nine goals.
On 31 January 2023, Watmore signed for Millwall for an undisclosed fee.[28]
Watmore made his debut for England under-20s on 28 May 2015 in the 2015 Toulon Tournament, scoring England's second goal in a 3–3 draw with Morocco.[29] He was named in the Team of the Tournament and was also voted as the Revelation of the Tournament.[30] [31] He made five appearances and scored two goals for the under-20s in 2015.[32]
In August 2015, Watmore was called up to the England under-21 squad for the first time.[33] He made his debut against the United States on 3 September 2015 as a second-half substitute, and assisted James Wilson's winning goal.[34] Watmore scored his first under-21 goal and assisted two others on 14 November 2015 after coming on as a substitute against Switzerland in a 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifier.[35] He was part of the team that won the 2016 Toulon Tournament, their first such win for 22 years.[36] He scored three goals in 13 appearances for the under-21s from 2015 to 2016.[37]
Watmore plays as a winger.[38] In November 2015, Sunderland forward Jermain Defoe likened Watmore to Gareth Bale, his former Tottenham Hotspur teammate, citing a shared ability of ball control.[39]
Watmore continued studying for a degree in economics and business management after signing for Sunderland, transferring from the University of Manchester to Newcastle University.[40] He graduated with a first-class honours degree in December 2015.[41] In 2017, whilst on holiday in Barbados Watmore reportedly helped save three pensioners from the water after a boat crash.[42]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Altrincham | 2011–12[43] | Conference North | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | 12 | 1 | ||
| 2012–13[44] | Conference North | 37 | 14 | 4 | 0 | — | 5 | 0 | 46 | 14 | |||
| Total | 48 | 15 | 4 | 0 | — | 6 | 0 | 58 | 15 | ||||
| Clitheroe (loan) | 2011–12[45] | NPL Division One West | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | 4 | 0 | ||||
| Sunderland | 2013–14 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | ||
| Hibernian (loan) | 2013–14 | Scottish Premiership | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 | ||
| Sunderland | 2014–15 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2015–16 | Premier League | 23 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | — | 25 | 4 | |||
| 2016–17 | Premier League | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 17 | 0 | |||
| 2017–18 | EFL Championship | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 6 | 0 | |||
| 2018–19 | League One | 11 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 16 | 2 | ||
| 2019–20 | League One | 17 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 22 | 2 | ||
| Total | 71 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 87 | 8 | |||
| Middlesbrough | 2020–21 | EFL Championship | 30 | 9 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 30 | 9 | ||
| 2021–22 | EFL Championship | 41 | 7 | 3 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 44 | 7 | |||
| 2022–23 | EFL Championship | 21 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 23 | 5 | |||
| Total | 92 | 21 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 97 | 21 | |||
| Millwall | 2022–23 | EFL Championship | 16 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 3 | |
| 2023–24 | EFL Championship | 34 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 4 | ||
| 2024–25 | EFL Championship | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | ||
| Total | 52 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 54 | 10 | |||
| Career Total | 276 | 51 | 15 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 13 | 2 | 310 | 55 | |||
England U21
Individual