GoS: Player Details

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Greens on Screen started its life in 1999 before many of the football sites that we are familiar with today, including Plymouth Argyle's own official site. Greens on Screen is dedicated to the sights, sounds and history of Plymouth Argyle Football club. It is owned and run by the Plymouth Argyle Heritage Archive, a charity dedicated to the promotion, preservation, and display of the heritage of our great football club.

The site owes its existence to Steve Dean. Without Steve's dedication and commitment for over 25 years, GoS would not exist and be the valued and loved resource for all football fans that it is today. The site is truly the envy of many clubs, and we owe a huge debt to Steve for his tireless work, and continued support behind the scenes.

Greens on Screen's first page was published in January 1999. Its early purpose was to bring Plymouth Argyle a little closer to those unable to see their team, and whilst it has changed a great deal over the years, its core themes - sights and sounds for Westcountry exiles - still stand. The site was very lucky to take on the content of Trevor Scallan's Semper Viridis in the summer of 2007, and in 2009 launched GoS-DB, a wealth of facts and figures from PAFC's history. A year later, we embarked on a complete history of Argyle, with much-valued contributions from chapter authors. Greens on Screen was taken over by its new custodians, The Argyle Archive, in 2024.

Greens on Screen is an amateur website and proud of it. It is run by a team of volunteers from the Plymouth Argyle Heritage Archive (Argyle Archive). Without the hard work and much-valued contributions of these volunteers, running the site would not be possible. Greens on Screen is self-taught and as a result, a little bit quirky.

Greens on Screen remains advertisement free, which means we are grateful for the generous support of our donors and the work of our volunteers to help keep it free of promotions. If you would like to support the work of Greens on Screen, please consider donating to the Plymouth Argyle Heritage Archive.

GoS's sole aim is to be a service to fellow supporters, and we look forward to continuing to celebrate Argyle'ss history for many years to come.

Plymouth Argyle Heritage Archive.
April 2024

Thanks to Dave Rowntree for many of the player images after 1984.

Can you help? This page is the result of the best endeavours of all concerned. If you spot a mistake or know of facts to add, or have a better photo, please get in touch using 'Contact Us' (top, right).

Back to GoS-DB Hub Find Another Player

MATT DERBYSHIRE

Born: 14 April 1986

Came from: Blackburn Rovers Went to: Blackburn Rovers

First game: 10 September 2005 Last game: 02 January 2006

Appearances: 13 (3/10) Goals: 0

Derbyshire started his professional career at Blackburn Rovers after joining from local club Great Harwood Town. He joined Argyle on a season-long loan in 2005 but after failing to score in his 13 appearances, most of which were as a substitute, he was recalled to Blackburn in January 2006 by manager Mark Hughes, who wanted him to be given more opportunities to play first team football. He was given this chance in the final three months of the season at Wrexham, where he scored 10 goals in just 16 appearances.

After returning to Ewood Park he continued his good form and was called up to the England under-21 side for the first of his 14 caps. He was never able to secure a regular place in the Blackburn team and moved to Olympiakos on loan. He scored twice in the 2009 Greek Cup Final which smoothed the way to a permanent £3 million transfer. Whilst at the Greek giants, he earned the interesting nickname of 'The English Killer'.

Derbyshire returned in August 2010 for a season-long loan at then Premier League side Birmingham City, scoring three in 20 appearances, before joining Nottingham Forest in the summer of 2011 on a three-year contract. He played 51 times (12 goals) in his time at the City Ground, and also had half-season loan spells near his Lancashire roots at Oldham (20 games, 6 goals) and Blackpool (12 games without scoring). After his time at Forest fizzled out, Derbyshire, still only 28, signed for newly-promoted Championship team Rotherham United on a two-year deal in May 2014.

He went on to score 17 in 69 for the Millers before moving to Cypriot First Division club Omonia Nicosia in June 2016. He drew attention when he scored a hat-trick against Ethnikos Achna in 4 minutes, helping overturn a 2-0 deficit to give his side a valuable league victory. Derbyshire continued to score regularly and finished the season as the league's top scorer with 24 goals, and in August 2017, Omonia announced the extension of his contract until the summer of 2021.

YOUR CONTRIBUTION

If you can add to this profile, perhaps with special memories, a favourite story or the results of your original research, please contribute here.

APPEARANCE DETAILS [reselect competitions]

The details below reflect appearances in all first-team competitions.

I'm very grateful to many who have helped write GoS-DB's player pen-pictures, and to Dave Rowntree, the PAFC Media Team and Colin Parsons for their help with photos. Thanks also to staff at the National Football Museum, the Scottish Football Museum and ScotlandsPeople for their valuable assistance.

The following publications have been particularly valuable in the research of pen-pictures: Plymouth Argyle, A Complete Record 1903-1989 (Brian Knight, ISBN 0-907969-40-2); Plymouth Argyle, 101 Golden Greats (Andy Riddle, ISBN 1-874287-47-3); Football League Players' Records 1888-1939 (Michael Joyce, ISBN 1-899468-67-6); Football League Players' Records 1946-1988 (Barry Hugman, ISBN 1-85443-020-3) and Plymouth Argyle Football Club Handbooks.

Greens on Screen is run as a service to fellow supporters, in all good faith, without commercial or private gain. We have no wish to abuse copyright regulations and apologise unreservedly if this occurs. If you own any of the material on this site, and object to its inclusion, please get in touch using the 'Contact Us' button at the top of the page.