Ayden Stuart Duffy (born 16 November 1986) is an English former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

. He played as a professional in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

for Lincoln City where he made five League appearances and was loaned out to a host of Non-League sides during his tenure at

Sincil Bank Sincil Bank Stadium, known for sponsorship reasons as LNER Stadium, is a football stadium in Lincoln, England, which has been the home of Lincoln City since 1895. Previously, Lincoln City had played at the nearby John O'Gaunts ground since t ...

which notably included a spell with

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They currently compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed the U’s, the club h ...

. He also featured on loan for Grantham Town, Bourne Town,

Buxton Buxton is a spa town in the High Peak, Derbyshire, Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, in the East Midlands region of England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.Alston, Cumbria also claims this, but lacks a regu ...

, Lincoln Moorlands Railway, Stamford and

Worksop Town Worksop Town Football Club is an English football club based in Worksop, Nottinghamshire. The team play in the . They are nicknamed ''The Tigers'' and play their home games at Sandy Lane in Worksop. History Previous clubs The club claims it w ...

. Released in 2009, Duffy went on to play for Corby Town,

Gainsborough Trinity Gainsborough Trinity Football Club is a Association football, football club based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. Established in 1873, the club became members of the English Football League, Football League i ...

Hyde United Hyde United Football Club is a semi-professional football club in Hyde, Greater Manchester, England, formed in 1919. The team's strip is red shirts and black shorts and their home ground is the 4,250 capacity Ewen Fields. Hyde United's record ...

, Staveley Miners Welfare, Shepshed Dynamo,

Retford United Retford United Football Club (also known as 'The Badgers') are an English football club based at Cannon Park in Retford, Nottinghamshire. They currently play in the . History The club was founded in 1987 by Retfordian Brian Jackson to give t ...

and

Histon Histon is a village and civil parish in the South Cambridgeshire district, in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is immediately north of Cambridge – and is separated from the city – by the A14 road (England), A14 road which runs eas ...

Career

Lincoln City

Duffy was born in

Kettering Kettering is a market town, market and industrial town, industrial town in the North Northamptonshire district of Northamptonshire, England, west of Cambridge, England, Cambridge, southwest of Peterborough, southeast of Leicester and north- ...

but brought up in

Colsterworth Colsterworth is a village and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, less than half a mile (0.8 km) west of the A1 road (Great Britain), A1, about south of Grantham, and north-west of Stamford, Lincolnshire, ...

. Involved with the Lincoln City academy, he signed a three-year scholarship with the club in the summer of 2003. During his scholarship, Duffy spent a number of periods on work experience with local non-league sides. In November 2004, he linked up with Grantham Town, celebrating his 18th birthday by keeping a clean sheet on his Grantham debut. At the turn of the year he joined Bourne Town. At the beginning of the 2005–06 season, he spent an eventful spell with

. He produced a Man of the Match display, including a penalty save, against Newcastle Town in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

only for Newcastle to protest about his eligibility; the protest was unsuccessful. In the league game against Maltby Main he was beaten by a long punt from his opposite goalkeeper. In December 2005, he assisted Lincoln Moorlands. In January 2006, he joined Stamford. He stayed at Stamford before Lincoln recalled him, to enable him to link up with

. He played twice for the Us, suffering an unfortunate debut when he palmed the ball into his own net against

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England, on Morecambe Bay, part of the Irish Sea. In 2011 the parish had a population of 34,768. Name The first use of the name was by John Whit ...

. He was, however, offered support by the then Cambridge boss Rob Newman. He returned to Stamford, helping them to promotion to the Southern League Premier Division with a play-off victory against

Wivenhoe Town Wivenhoe Town F.C. is an English association football, football club based in Wivenhoe, Essex. The club are currently members of the and play at Broad Lane. History The club was established as Wivenhoe Rangers by Frank Slaughter and students ...

. In the summer of 2006, Duffy accepted a one-year professional contract with Lincoln City. His first season saw him spend time on loan at

where a broken leg ended his season. He accepted a further one-year contract and on 12 April 2008 made his professional debut, replacing the injured Alan Marriott in the 2–1 victory against Chester City. On 19 April 2008, he made his full home debut for Lincoln in a 3–1 victory over

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

. On 5 May 2009, he was released by Lincoln City.

Non-League

On 8 July 2009, Duffy signed for Corby Town, but he was released a few weeks later. He moved on to join

on non-contract terms as cover for the injured

Phil Barnes Philip Kenneth Barnes (born 2 March 1979) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Barnes was active between 1996 and 2019, spending his first thirteen seasons in professional football in a career that began at ...

, appearing in the 2–2 friendly home draw with

Boston United Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. The club is known as 'the ...

on 1 August 2009, but was unable to play for the club in the

Conference North The National League North, officially known as Vanarama National League North for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football league in England. National League North is the second division of the National Leagues and step 2 o ...

The FA The Football Association (the FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world and is responsibl ...

ruled that Corby Town still held his registration. In September, he linked up with

, marking his debut by being sent off for conceding two penalties, in the 17th and 55th minute, in a 5–1 home defeat to

Alfreton Town Alfreton Town Football Club is a football club based in Alfreton, Derbyshire, England. The club are currently members of and play at North Street. History The club was formed in 1959 following the merger of Alfreton Miners Welfare and Alf ...

on 5 September 2009. He made a further appearance in Hyde's 1–1 home draw with Gloucester City two days later before departing the club to join Grantham Town. In February 2010, he moved to Lincoln Moorlands Railway. In September 2010, Duffy joined Sleaford Town on loan, debuting in the 3–0

United Counties Football League The United Counties League (also known after its sponsor as the ''GCE Hire Fleet Ltd. United Counties League'') is an English football league covering an area including the English counties of northern Bedfordshire, northern Buckinghamshire, m ...

Premier Division home defeat by

Irchester United Irchester United Football Club is a football club based in the village of Irchester, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Alfred Street. History The club was established as Irchester Excelsior in 1883, befo ...

on 18 September 2010. He joined Staveley Miners Welfare for the 2011–12 season, debuting in the club's 1–0

Northern Counties East League The Northern Counties East Football League is a semi-professional English football league. It has two divisions – Premier Division and Division One – which stand at the ninth and tenth levels of the English football pyramid respectively. ...

victory at Brighouse Town on 6 August 2011.

Personal life

Ayden Duffy is a

physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

teacher and is joint head of enrichment at

Hills Road Sixth Form College Hills Road Sixth Form College (commonly referred to as HRSFC, Hills Road or just Hills) is a public sector co-educational sixth form college in Cambridge, England, providing full-time A-level courses for approximately 2400 sixth form students f ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Duffy, Ayden 1986 births Living people English men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Lincoln City F.C. players Stamford A.F.C. players Grantham Town F.C. players Cambridge United F.C. players Worksop Town F.C. players Buxton F.C. players Corby Town F.C. players Gainsborough Trinity F.C. players Histon F.C. players Hyde United F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Shepshed Dynamo F.C. players Northern Premier League players People associated with Bishop Grosseteste University Lincoln Moorlands Railway F.C. players Bourne Town F.C. players Staveley Miners Welfare F.C. players United Counties League players Northern Counties East Football League players Footballers from Kettering 21st-century English sportsmen