John Buckley (footballer, born 1999)

John Buckley

Buckley in action for Blackburn Rovers U18s in November 2017
Personal information
Full name	John Keaton Buckley [1]
Date of birth	(1999-10-13) 13 October 1999 (age 24)
Place of birth	Manchester, England
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) [2]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Blackburn Rovers
Number	21
Youth career
2006–2019	Blackburn Rovers
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2019–	Blackburn Rovers	115	(6)
2023–2024	→ Sheffield Wednesday (loan)	13	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 21 February 2024 (UTC)

John Keaton Buckley (born 13 October 1999) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Blackburn Rovers.

Career

Blackburn Rovers

Born in Manchester, Greater Manchester, Buckley joined the academy of then Premier League club Blackburn Rovers at the age of 6 in 2006. He signed his scholarship with Rovers in June 2015 before agreeing to his first professional contract on 26 January 2018, agreeing a deal that would run until 30 June 2020. ^[3]

On 1 March 2019, Buckley signed a new three-year-deal with Blackburn which would run until 30 June 2022. ^[4] Just over two weeks later, Buckley made his professional debut for Blackburn on 16 March, with the club being defeated 4-2 in its EFL Championship fixture against Sheffield Wednesday. ^[5]

On 2 November, Buckley scored the first senior goal of his career in his club's 2-1 win against Sheffield Wednesday at Ewood Park. His first goal came against the very same club the player had made his professional debut against at the beginning of the year. ^[6]

On 8 March 2020, Buckley received the first red card of his professional career, with the youngster being sent off in the 93rd minute against Derby County. ^[7] In his first full season with the club's first-team, Buckley made 23 competitive appearances for Blackburn, scoring twice.

Sheffield Wednesday (loan)

On 1 September 2023, Buckley joined Sheffield Wednesday on a season-long loan. ^[8] He made his debut coming off the bench against Ipswich Town on 16 September 2023. ^[9] On 2 January 2024, he was recalled from his loan spell to continue his rehabilitation at Blackburn following shoulder surgery, having played a total of 13 times for Sheffield Wednesday. ^{[10] [11]}

Career statistics

As of match played 16 December 2023

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		EFL Cup		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Blackburn Rovers	2018–19 [12]	Championship	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
	2019–20 [13]		20	2	1	0	2	0	23	2
	2020–21 [14]		28	1	1	0	1	0	30	1
	2021–22 [15]		42	3	1	0	1	0	44	3
	2022–23 [16]		21	0	3	0	4	0	28	0
	2023–24 [17]		1	0	0	0	2	3	3	3
	Total		114	6	6	0	10	3	130	9
Sheffield Wednesday (loan)	2023–24 [17]	Championship	13	0	0	0	0	0	13	0
Career total			127	6	6	0	10	3	143	9

References

1. "Club list of registered players: As at 19th May 2019" (PDF). English Football League. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
2. "John Buckley". Rovers.co.uk . Retrieved 18 December 2021.
3. Sharpe, Rich (26 January 2018). "Rovers prospect John Buckley signs his first professional contract". Lancashire Telegraph . Retrieved 18 December 2021.
4. Sharpe, Rich (1 March 2019). "John Buckley signs new Blackburn Rovers contract". Lancashire Telegraph . Retrieved 18 December 2021.
5. "Sheffield Wednesday 4-2 Blackburn Rovers: Steve Bruce's side continue play-off charge". BBC Sport . 1 March 2019. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
6. "Blackburn Rovers 2-1 Sheffield Wednesday: John Buckley's late winner sees off Owls". BBC Sport . 2 November 2019. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
7. "Derby County 3-0 Blackburn Rovers: Louie Sibley and Chris Martin on target in Rams win". BBC Sport . 8 March 2020. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
8. "Owls sign John Buckley". Sheffield Wednesday FC. 1 September 2023. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
9. "Wednesday 0-1 Ipswich". Sheffield Wednesday FC. 16 September 2023. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
10. "Buckley returns to Blackburn". Sheffield Wednesday FC. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
11. "Buckley returns to Rovers". Blackburn Rovers FC. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
12. "Games played by John Buckley in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
13. "Games played by John Buckley in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
14. "Games played by John Buckley in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
15. "Games played by John Buckley in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
16. "Games played by John Buckley in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
17. "Games played by John Buckley in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 4 September 2020.