‘Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy were on the bench. We watched the whole game back on YouTube. People tell you where they were when it happened’ Troy Deeney on Watford’s playoff win over future England duo
Troy Deeney packed plenty into his 20-year career, rising from non-league obscurity to the Premier League, with a CV that includes more than 700 senior appearances, two promotions to the top flight, plus an FA Cup final appearance.
The former Watford and Birmingham City striker scored more than 200 goals during this time, but when it came to the most dramatic strike of his career, one particular goal stands out.
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Troy Deeney on his Leicester City strike
Deeney’s goal came seconds after Leicester missed a penalty (Image credit: Alamy)
However, looking back at that goal now, Deeney admits it took him a while to appreciate the goal – purely as Watford did not end up winning promotion that term.
“I didn’t appreciate that goal for a long time – we lost in the play-off final,” he tells FourFourTwo, recalling the subsequent defeat to Crystal Palace at Wembley. However, the goal has remained a part of footballing folklore.
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“But with TikTok, my five-year-old recreates it around the house and celebrates it,” Deeney adds, illustrating just how deeply the moment has embedded itself into popular culture.
“I went to the Club World Cup with Talksport and my wife said she’d been mobbed by people going, ‘Oh my god, that goal’. They can tell you where they were and what they were doing when it happened.
“I’m very fortunate – there are people who had much better careers than me, but they haven’t got a moment like that, while I managed to have one.”
Leicester’s response to their near-miss that season was to win the Championship the following campaign and within three years they had claimed their historic Premier League title.
Future Premier League winner Jamie Vardy was on the bench for Leicester that sday (Image credit: Alamy)
“I take all the credit for that!” Deeney laughs. “I tell big Wes Morgan all the time that he owes me a watch or something.
“My kids are at the age now where they like to watch YouTube, and my daughter managed to find the whole game, so we watched it when we were on holiday recently.
“Harry Kane was on the bench for Leicester, Jamie Vardy was on the bench. It was two teams attacking, we both just went for it. My goal came from that.”
