Following retirement, he had a spell as academy coach for the Under 16s of former club Norwich City.[2]
Club career
Lincoln City
Huckerby was born in Nottingham, England. His mother is of partial Georgian descent. Huckerby started playing professionally for Lincoln City in Football League Division Three. Huckerby was promoted to the first team at Sincil Bank by Keith Alexander, but also played under the stewardship of both Sam Ellis and Steve Wicks before being sold in 1995. He finished his spell with Lincoln having scored 5 goals in 28 league appearances.
Newcastle United
Huckerby made a three division step up by signing for Premier League title contenders Newcastle United in a £400,000 deal in 1995. Despite being highly rated by the fans and pundits, Huckerby found first team chances severely limited, especially since manager Kevin Keegan decided to scrap the reserve team, in response to a requirement from the FA that a certain percentage of home reserve fixtures be played at St James' Park. Keegan believed that this would negatively affect the pitch condition, which was already in poor state. This of course meant that, with no reserve team football, Huckerby was not match fit for the majority of his time on Tyneside. Huckerby made only two appearances for the Magpies (one in the league and one in the FA Cup),[3][4] before being loaned out to Millwall. Huckerby then joined Coventry City for £1million in time for the start of the next season, signed by then City boss Gordon Strachan.
Coventry City
The striker's pace and dribbling ability, combined with a very successful partnership with Dion Dublin saw Huckerby play a key role at Coventry. Huckerby and Dublin's partnership did not go unnoticed and earned Huckerby a call up to the England B squad, whilst Dublin managed call ups to the full squad, under Glenn Hoddle. Huckerby played a major role in Coventry's Premier League survival, culminating with a final day 2–1 win at Tottenham Hotspur in 1997. His success with the Sky Blues continued throughout the following season as Coventry enjoyed a ten-game unbeaten run and reached the quarter finals of the FA Cup, narrowly losing on penalties to Sheffield United. Huckerby scored several goals, most notably the winner in a 3–2 victory over Manchester United at Highfield Road, a dazzling run past a few defenders before slotting past Kevin Pilkington. He notched up 14 goals that season, his best Premier League return of goals.
Leeds United
He was sold to Leeds United the following summer for a reputed £6million. In his time at Elland Road, he scored two goals in 40 league games, once against former club Coventry City[5] and another against Watford.[6] He had to compete for a place in the team with some players such as Mark Viduka, Alan Smith and Michael Bridges and as a result he was never a regular, although he did score against Partizan Belgrade in the 1999–2000 UEFA Cup,[7] and in a 6–0 win against Beşiktaş in the 2000–01 Champions League.[8] In all competitions, he scored six goals in total.
Manchester City
Manchester City signed him in December 2000 for £3.38million, as they attempted to avoid relegation. Huckerby scored on his debut against Charlton Athletic, albeit in a 4-1 defeat.[9] Although the club did eventually go down, he stayed on and won a First Division championship medal, adding 26 goals in all competitions during the campaign, including two hat-tricks.
Huckerby started the new campaign as first choice, and scored the team's first goal of the season, a header against former employer Newcastle that secured a 1–0 win.[10] However, the arrivals of Nicolas Anelka and Jon Macken meant less playing time, and he eventually ended up playing out the end of the season on-loan to Nottingham Forest,[11] being part of the team that reached the Division One playoffs in 2003.
Norwich City
Huckerby spent a three-month loan spell with Norwich City, before signing permanently in December 2003, for a fee of £750,000, which rose to £1million when the Canaries were promoted at the end of the season. At Norwich, Huckerby's career settled, and he netted 14 league goals in the First Division in the 2003–04 season. He was instrumental in Norwich's march to the First Division championship in 2003–04, and came second in the supporters vote for player of the season behind Craig Fleming.
Reverting to a left wing role for much of Norwich's Premier League spell in 2004–05, Huckerby scored seven goals. He was linked with a transfer to either Liverpool or Celtic the following summer, but spoke of his intention to see out his contract in East Anglia.[12]
He was voted Norwich City player of the year by supporters in 2004–05 and 2006–07, and placed second behind Gary Doherty for the 2005–06 season, winning the award twice and adding two runner-up positions in his first four seasons. He was voted into the Norwich City Hall of Fame in 2004. On 13 April 2008, he played his 200th game for Norwich, in the East Anglian Derby against Ipswich Town.
On 4 May 2008, Huckerby scored in his final game for the club in a 4–1 defeat away at Sheffield Wednesday.[13] Two days later, it was announced that his contract would not be renewed as he could not be guaranteed a place in the first team in the 2008–09 season.[14][15] This upset fans who felt that Huckerby, a fan favourite, deserved a proper farewell. However, an opportunity was made with a special tribute at a 'Greatest Ever' event at Carrow Road held later in May.[16]
Huckerby signing autographs for San Jose Earthquakes fans
In 2012, Huckerby returned to Carrow Road to play in Adam Drury's testimonial match against Celtic, coming on in the 76th minute showing his trademark bursts of pace and skill. Former Celtic and Norwich striker John Hartson who was co-commentating on Setanta Sports claimed he looked fit and sharp enough still to be playing professionally.[17]
He made his debut on 19 July 2008 against Toronto, in a 0–0 draw, and scored his first goal against New York Red Bulls on 27 July. In a crucial match for the Earthquakes, on 3 August 2008, Huckerby scored his second goal, against Los Angeles Galaxy, in a 3–2 Earthquakes win. On 30 August, he headed in the winning goal in the side's 2–1 victory over Kansas City Wizards, extending San Jose's unbeaten streak to seven games. During this stretch, Huckerby notched three goals and three assists.
During the 2009 Major League Soccer season, Huckerby underwent surgery to eliminate his hip injury.[21] However, on 16 September 2009, at age 33, Huckerby announced that he was '99% sure' of his retirement.[22][23]
International career
Huckerby made one appearance with the England B team in 1998.
Huckerby lives in Keswick, south Norfolk.[25] His son Tom sits on the substitute bench for Wroxham.[26]
After retiring from football in 2009, Huckerby returned to playing football in the Masters Tournament in June 2011 in which he scored 8 goals in the Yorkshire Masters for his old club Leeds United. In the Grand Masters final Huckerby added a further 6 goals to his tally, making him overall tournament golden boot winner with 14 goals. Leeds were overall runners up in the tournament, losing 8–3 to Rangers in the final.[27]
On 14 April 2013, Huckerby played in a charity game at Lowestoft Town's Crown Meadow ground. He played for the ex professionals against a select eleven which included students from Lowestoft College.
Career statistics
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[28]
Dion Dublin is an English former professional footballer, television presenter and pundit. He is a club director of Cambridge United.
Craig Fleming is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender. Fleming was first team assistant Coach at Premier League club Southampton, a position he held since 2018 until his departure in 2022.
Gary McAllister MBE is a Scottish professional football coach and former player.
Adam James Drury is an English former professional footballer who is best known for his eleven-year spell at Norwich City. Joining in 2001 from Peterborough United, he later went on to captain the club, and is a member of their Hall of Fame. After leaving, he had a short spell with Leeds United, before retiring from professional football at the end of the 2013–14 season. He is assistant manager at non-League club Wroxham.
Leon Mark McKenzie is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward from 1995 to 2013 who scored in all four English professional leagues during his career. He was also a professional boxer, competing in the super middleweight class.
Peter Ndlovu is a Zimbabwean football coach and former professional player who was most recently the team manager at South African Premier Division side Mamelodi Sundowns.
Benjamin Robert Alnwick is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.
Calum Ray Paul Davenport is an English former professional footballer who plays for Tavistock in the Southern League Division One South. During his career he has played for Coventry City, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United, Southampton, Norwich City, Watford, Sunderland, Wootton Blue Cross and Elstow Abbey. He plays as a defender.
Darren O'Dea is an Irish retired professional football player, who is currently the head coach of Celtic B and professional player pathway manager at Celtic. O'Dea has played as a centre back for clubs in Scotland, England, Canada, Ukraine and India, and represented the Republic of Ireland internationally.
Darren Edward Kenton is an English former professional footballer who last played for Rochester Rhinos in the USL First Division.
Noel David Whelan is an English football coach, former professional footballer and radio co-commentator.
Billy Louis Sharp is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for EFL League Two club Doncaster Rovers.
Davide Enrico Somma is a South African former footballer who played as a striker. He played for the South Africa national team as a striker and his most notable spell was at Leeds United. In November 2010 Somma made his debut for the South Africa national side against United States. He now works as a Junior Coach for Long Island United. Somma also serves as the men’s club soccer coach for Stony Brook University.
Simeon Alexander Jackson is a Canadian semi-professional soccer player who plays as a forward for A.F.C. Sudbury.
David Cross is an English former footballer who played as a striker. He scored 223 goals in 599 appearances in the Football League and the North American Soccer League. Cross was born in Heywood, Lancashire.
José Leonardo Ulloa Fernández is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is best known for his time at Leicester City, with whom he won the Premier League.
Luciano Héctor Becchio is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is the assistant manager of Segunda División B – Group 3 side CD Atlético Baleares.
Cody Darren John McDonald is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker.
The 2000–01 season was Manchester City Football Club's 109th season playing in a division of English football, most of which have been spent in the top flight. The club spent this season playing in the Premier League after winning successive promotions from the Second Division and First Division in the previous two seasons. This was the club's fifth season playing in the Premier League since its initial formation as the top tier of English football eight years earlier, with Manchester City as one of its original 22 founding member clubs.
Adam James Armstrong is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Southampton.
References
↑ Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2008). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2008–09. Mainstream Publishing. p.211. ISBN978-1-84596-324-8.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
