Career Summary

Damien played with St. Kevin's, Lourdes and Leicester Celtic before joining Blackburn in March 1996. His amazing talent soon lit up the Premiership scene in England and in July 2003, Chelsea paid no less than 24 million euro for his services.

He continued to blossom when Jose Mourinho joined Chelsea for the 2004/'05 season and played a major role in their relentless march to the Premiership title in the manager's first season and when they retained their title in 2005/06. It came as a surprise when Chelsea agreed to transfer him to Newcastle United at the beginning of the 2006/07 season.

Damien, who won his first full cap against the Czech Republic in March '98, had helped Ireland Youths to finish third in the World Cup in Malaysia in 1997.

Was unfortunate to miss the vital World Cup qualifying match against Switzerland in October, 2005, when a draw meant elimination from competition of 2006. He played brilliantly in the European Championship qualifying ties in 2007 until injury again interrupted his season. He was injured against Slovakia in March, 2007 and made a welcome return against Brazil in February, 2008.

He Played against Serbia in Giovanni Trapattoni's first match but illness kept him out of the game against Colombia in May, 2008.

Following relegation to the Championship with Newcastle United, Duff returned to the Premier League with Fulham when Roy Hodgson brought the midfielder to Craven Cottage. Continued to play consistently well with Ireland throughout the 2010 World Cup qualifying tournament and had what many regarded as his best match for Ireland when they played France in the play-off in Paris on 18/11/'09.