![]() Watmore playing for Sunderland in 2015 | |||
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Duncan Ian Watmore [1] | ||
Date of birth | [2] | 8 March 1994||
Place of birth | Manchester, England | ||
Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) [3] | ||
Position(s) | Forward | ||
Team information | |||
Current team | Millwall | ||
Number | 19 | ||
Youth career | |||
–2006 | Manchester United | ||
2010–2011 | Altrincham | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2011–2013 | Altrincham | 48 | (15) |
2012 | → Clitheroe (loan) | 4 | (0) |
2012 | → Curzon Ashton (loan) | ||
2013–2020 | Sunderland | 71 | (5) |
2014 | → Hibernian (loan) | 9 | (1) |
2020–2023 | Middlesbrough | 92 | (21) |
2023– | Millwall | 76 | (11) |
International career | |||
2015 | England U20 | 5 | (2) |
2015–2016 | England U21 | 13 | (3) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 13 March 2025 (UTC) |
Duncan Ian Watmore (born 8 March 1994) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for EFL Championship 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. [11]
Watmore signed for Premier League club Sunderland on 24 May 2013 for an undisclosed fee on a two-year contract. [5] [12] 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. [13]
On 31 January 2014, Watmore joined Scottish Premiership club Hibernian on loan for the rest of the 2013–14 season. [14] His first goal came on 15 March 2014 in a 3–1 defeat away to Partick Thistle. [15] [16] Watmore left Hibernian at the end of the season. [17]
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. [18]
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. [19] He signed a new four-year contract with Sunderland on 22 November 2015. [20] 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. [21]
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. [22]
It was announced on 17 June 2020 that Watmore would be leaving Sunderland, bringing to an end his 7 years at the club. [23]
On 17 November 2020, Watmore signed for Middlesbrough on a short-term deal until January 2021. [24] He scored his first goals for Middlesbrough when he scored twice in a 2–0 win against Swansea City on 2 December 2020. [25] Watmore continued his goal scoring with two on 12 December in a 3–0 win against Millwall. [26] On 7 January 2021, Watmore signed a new two-and-a-half-year deal at Middlesbrough. [27] [28] Watmore's performances earned him the championship player of the month for December. [29] 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. [30]
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. [31] He was named in the Team of the Tournament and was also voted as the Revelation of the Tournament. [32] [33] He made five appearances and scored two goals for the under-20s in 2015. [34]
In August 2015, Watmore was called up to the England under-21 squad for the first time. [35] He made his debut against the United States on 3 September 2015 as a second-half substitute, and assisted James Wilson's winning goal. [36] 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. [37] He was part of the team that won the 2016 Toulon Tournament, their first such win for 22 years. [38] He scored three goals in 13 appearances for the under-21s from 2015 to 2016. [39]
Watmore plays as a winger. [40] In November 2015, Sunderland forward Jermain Defoe likened Watmore to Gareth Bale, his former Tottenham Hotspur teammate, citing a shared ability of ball control. [41]
Watmore continued studying for a degree in economics and business management after signing for Sunderland, transferring from the University of Manchester to Newcastle University. [42] He graduated with a first-class honours degree in December 2015. [43] In 2017, whilst on holiday in Barbados Watmore reportedly helped save three pensioners from the water after a boat crash. [44]
Club | Season | League | National Cup [a] | League Cup [b] | Other | Total | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Altrincham | 2011–12 [45] | Conference North | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 [c] | 0 | 12 | 1 | |
2012–13 [11] | Conference North | 37 | 14 | 4 | 0 | — | 5 [d] | 0 | 46 | 14 | ||
Total | 48 | 15 | 4 | 0 | — | 6 | 0 | 58 | 15 | |||
Clitheroe (loan) | 2011–12 [46] | NPL Division One West | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | 4 | 0 | |||
Sunderland | 2013–14 [15] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | |
Hibernian (loan) | 2013–14 [15] | Scottish Premiership | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 | |
Sunderland | 2014–15 [47] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |
2015–16 [48] | Premier League | 23 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | — | 25 | 4 | ||
2016–17 [49] | Premier League | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 17 | 0 | ||
2017–18 [50] | EFL Championship | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 6 | 0 | ||
2018–19 [51] | League One | 11 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 [e] | 1 | 16 | 2 | |
2019–20 [52] | League One | 17 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 [f] | 1 | 22 | 2 | |
Total | 71 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 87 | 8 | ||
Middlesbrough | 2020–21 [53] | EFL Championship | 30 | 9 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 30 | 9 | |
2021–22 [54] | EFL Championship | 41 | 7 | 3 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 44 | 7 | ||
2022–23 [55] | EFL Championship | 21 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 23 | 5 | ||
Total | 92 | 21 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 97 | 21 | ||
Millwall | 2022–23 [55] | EFL Championship | 16 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 3 |
2023–24 [56] | EFL Championship | 34 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 4 | |
2024–25 [57] | EFL Championship | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 5 | |
Total | 56 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 59 | 12 | ||
Career Total | 280 | 53 | 15 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 13 | 2 | 315 | 57 |
England U21
Individual