Wrexham AFC hit the jackpot with Blackburn transfer - player had incredible strike rate | OneFootball

Blackburn Rovers loanee paid immediate dividens for struggling Wrexham AFC squad

When you’re on a loan move, there’s an expectation, unrealistic or not, that you must make an instant impact for your new club.

That’s a lot of pressure to shoulder for a player, and, at the same time, a significant risk to the club that temporarily acquired you, even if that relationship will soon end.

Although the time is short, some can thrive in a new environment under that sort of pressure.

Such was the case for Matt Derbyshire, who only came to Wrexham AFC on the advice of his coach, who grew up in the Northern Welsh community.

Wrexham’s financial woes made it very difficult to sign players in 2005-06

In 2004-05, Wrexham were relegated from League One thanks to a 10-point deduction due to administrative debts, which, according to The Guardian, totaled £2.6 million in December 2004. The club wound up eight points short of League One safety that season despite a marvelous campaign from Juan Ugarte, who netted 23 times domestically.

Denis Smith and the club were under tremendous stress, given their financial situation, and didn’t have much money to spend in the transfer window. It was among the darkest periods in the club’s history.

Their 2005-06 League Two results from early August until the end of January were rather mixed, with Smith’s men winning no more than two consecutive league games but only suffering successive defeats once, with their longest losing run being two matches.

They had netted a goal or fewer in 18 of their first 28 domestic affairs, failing to score on five of those occasions. The club needed help in the attacking third, but without the finances to pursue a top-class number nine, Smith decided to call on an old friend for help.

Manchester United legend did Wrexham a huge favour

In February 2006, Derbyshire was a 19-year-old striker looking to make his mark. He joined Premier League side Blackburn Rovers in November 2003.

Having grown up in Great Harwood, not far from Blackburn, it was a dream come true for him to be a part of the club he’d supported as a kid. He rejected an offer from Manchester United to go to Ewood Park.

On the advice of a former Man United legend who was his coach at the time, Derbyshire decided to come to the Red Dragons in February 2006, initially on a one-month loan deal.

Following the move, Derbyshire told the Lancashire Telegraph that Mark Hughes persuaded him to come to North Wales: “He felt it would be good for me to get some games under my belt.

“I think he’s good friends with Denis Smith (the Wrexham manager), and he had a lot of positive stuff to say about Wrexham.

“Mark is a very good manager to play under. He looks after me and the other young lads.

“When he takes you into his office, he always says the right things. He is like a big dad.”

Hughes was born in Ruabon, a small village in the Wrexham County Borough, leaving school in the summer of 1980 to join the Red Devils.

At that stage of his career, Derbyshire had only made one Premier League appearance and had a difficult spell on loan in the Championship with Plymouth Argyle’s first team earlier in the 05-06 campaign, without a goal in 12 league appearances.

He needed a change, while injuries decimated Smith’s side. Hughes was happy to help Derbyshire and his hometown club.

Matt Derbyshire was an instant hit at Wrexham

Keen to make an impact for his new side, who themselves needed bodies from somewhere, it didn’t take long for Derbyshire to showcase his talents at Wrexham. According to the Wrexham archives, he officially came to the club on February 9th 2006, making his first-team debut five days later.

Derbyshire scored a brace in his debut for the club on Valentine’s Day against AFC Rushden and Diamonds in a 2-0 victory. That was just the beginning of the love affair the teenager, who turned 20 in April of 2006, would have with the Red Dragons.

He would score another two goals in their next match versus Mansfield Town, which ended in a 2-2 draw.

Five goals in his first five League Two appearances convinced Smith and the club to keep him in North Wales a little longer, extending his loan to three months in March of that year.

It proved a savvy move as Derbyshire finished that season with 10 goals in 16 League Two appearances.

He wound up second on the team in league goals that season, with only Mark Jones scoring more, though it took the latter significantly longer to reach his tally of 13.

While finishing 13th in the table is hardly worth bragging about, given all the distractions at the club that season and the number of walking wounded, without Derbyshire’s contribution, things may have been much worse.

Derbyshire’s post-Wrexham career

After his highly successful loan spell at Wrexham, Blackburn signed him to a two-year extension. He featured 22 times for them in the 2006-07 Premier League campaign, scoring five goals. He would go on to play for them in the top-flight until January 2009, when Greek giants Olympiacos acquired him on loan.

Derbyshire had struggled to get playing time under then-Blackburn boss and another former Man United player, Paul Ince, early into that season, and it wasn’t any better when Sam Allardyce took charge later in that campaign.

However, Derbyshire rediscovered his goalscoring touch in Greece, with five goals in seven league appearances during his initial loan spell before scoring six in 14 appearances in 2009-10. During his time with the club, he earned the nickname “The English Killer” from the media.

That success saw him return to England and play for numerous clubs at various levels, including 13 appearances at Birmingham City in the Premier League in 2010-11, while also making stops in Championship squads like Nottingham Forest, Blackpool and Rotherham United.

Playing overseas seemed to suit Derbyshire best though, as he enjoyed four highly successful seasons in the top flight of Cyprus at Omonia, finishing as the league’s top goalscorer on two occasions in 2016-17 and the following season.

Derbyshire might not have had the lengthy Premier League career for his favorite club that he’d dreamed about, but he excelled in various top-flight competitions for a long time.

Wrexham hit the jackpot with Matt Derbyshire

Although his time in North Wales was short-lived, his impact on that club in such a short time will be remembered. With his help, a battered and bruised side survived what could have been a second successive relegation.

It’s a shame the club couldn’t hang onto him longer as they went on to finish 19th in League Two in 2006-07 and were relegated the following season. It may have been brief, but his impact helped relieve much pressure on the club at that time; they got plenty of rewards and didn’t have to spend a fortune. With everything Smith and the club were going through, Derbyshire’s arrival must have felt like they’d hit the jackpot.

A loan spell as successful as his at Wrexham doesn’t happen often, but it shows that sometimes taking even a small risk can end with a big reward.