Michael Duff turns 44-years-old years old today, and he has spent a whopping 12 of them under contract with Cheltenham Town, over a quarter of his whole life.
Playing career:
The Northern Ireland international started playing football at a young age, as he ventured into youth football for Darlington, Nottingham Forest, and Swindon Town, but was released from all three.
Duff eventually joined Carterton Town in the Hellenic League, which is where his journey with Cheltenham Town began.
A solid defender, Duff was noticed by Cheltenham scout Derek Bragg while playing for Carterton and eventually joined up with the youth set-up after being invited to join by then youth manager Mike Davis.
Upon joining, Duff was sent out on loan for a brief spell to Cirencester Town by Chris Robinson, who is now working in academy recruitment at Chelsea, to try and gain some first-team experience at a senior level.
While Duff was at Cirencester, Steve Cotterill took over at Cheltenham, starting a good relationship between the pair that lasts to this day.
Cotterill recalled Duff from his loan spell, which raised some eyebrows at Cirencester as Duff was subjected to criticism and was told that he will “never make it.”
During his first season with Cheltenham, he helped the club gain promotion out of the Southern League and into the Conference, now known as the National League.
With Duff at the heart of the defence, Cheltenham hit some stellar form under Cotterill, winning the FA Trophy in 1998, during the Robins’ first season in the Conference.
It would turn out to be a short-lived spell, as to the delight of the fans, Cheltenham gained promotion as Champions in 1999, joining the football league for the first time in the history of the club.
Duff was quickly making a name for himself at the club, cementing himself in the history books of the Robins at a very young age.
The Nothern Ireland international gained his first cap for his country while at Cheltenham, being called up in 2002, and in the process he became the first player to ever receive an international cap whilst playing for the club.
The Robins continued to fly under Cotterill, as he guided them to a play-off win in 2002, seeing both Cheltenham and Duff play at the highest level in their respective histories in League One.
Unfortunately for the club, they spent just one season in League One as it proved to be a step too far in the pyramid, relegation was their fate.
After impressing once again, Duff eventually left Cheltenham in 2004 after spending six years playing for the Robins.
Duff joined Burnley for £30,000 in 2004, following former Cheltenham boss Steve Cotterill to the Clarets who were playing in the newly formed Championship at the time. A big step up for Duff.

The defender would go on to gain promotion to the Premier League three times with Burnley, in 2009, 2014, and finally in 2016, his final season as a professional footballer.
Managerial career:
After taking two years out of football, Duff returned to the game to take charge of Cheltenham Town as manager in September 2018 and walked into a club threatened by relegation.
The Robins were in terrible form when Duff took over and it continued that way in his first few games – it took him 10 games to register their first win under his leadership.
His first positive result came in the form of a 3-0 win over Notts County, which coincided in a switch in formation from a traditional 4-4-2 to the now ever present 3-5-2 formation.
Cheltenham then pulled off a remarkable come back, eventually finishing in 16th place in League Two that season, their highest league finish in six years.
The following season was even better for the Robins, as they charged for the play-offs.
As February and March rolled around, their form hit overdrive and they ploughed towards the automatic promotion places as they hunted for League One football once again.
However, on the 21st of March 2020 disaster struck.
The global breakout of COVID-19 saw all professional sport in England stop, meaning their charge up the league came to a halt.
The EFL came to the decision that League Two and League One would not continue and all teams would remain in the position they were in, leaving Cheltenham Town in the play-offs.
The play-offs were allowed to go ahead with testing in place to ensure COVID couldn’t spread, but Cheltenham fell at the first hurdle as they failed to make the final.
However, the season marked a turning point for the club who registered their highest finish in almost a decade.
The 2020/21 season kicked off and Duff was determined to drag the club forward. A few new shrewd signings came through the door and suddenly Cheltenham were favourites for the League.
The favourites successfully prevailed, and under Duff’s tutelage, the Robins won the League and returned to League One.
This season Cheltenham have taken to League One football like a duck to water, and they glide along in mid-table, all thanks to the leadership of Duff.
His impact at Cheltenham:
Any man who has spent over a quarter of their life committed to one thing is as loyal as they come but Duff’s commitment takes loyalty to a new level.
As a player he helped them to several promotions before he even considered moving on from the club and as a manager he has essentially built something out of nothing from the point he took over, using the club’s very limited resources to pull off some ambitious signings which have propelled them up the football ladder.
When asked about Duff, two time published Cheltenham Town author Jon Palmer said: “He’s definitely a legend as a player and a now a manager too – absolutely no doubt about either.
“Three promotions as a player at the club and one as a manager, leading the club to the first EFL title in their history.”
An underappreciated story of a man who gave it all to the club he loves, Michael Duff deserves all the plaudits he gets.
Happy 44th birthday Michael.
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