Michael James Duff (born 11 January 1978) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who is the current head coach of League One club Huddersfield Town.
[3] As a boy, Duff joined the football academies of Nottingham Forest, Darlington and Swindon Town, but was released from all three due to his short stature.
[3] At age 11, Duff witnessed the Hillsborough disaster during the 1989 FA Cup semi-final between Forest and Liverpool, which he attended with his father.
[5] In Duff's first full season at the club, Cheltenham were promoted from the Southern League before winning the FA Trophy at Wembley in 1998.
[3][5] The following year, Duff scored a 93rd-minute winning goal against Yeovil Town to promote Cheltenham to the Football League.
[7] On 13 February 2002, Duff earned his first international cap for Northern Ireland, playing the final nine minutes of a 4–1 friendly loss to Poland in Cyprus.
[13] Duff retired from playing professionally at the end of the 2015–16 season, aged 38, having helped Burnley win the Championship title and promotion back to the Premier League.
[14][15] As a result, he became the second footballer, after Neil Clement of West Bromwich Albion, to be promoted to the Premier League on three occasions with the same club.
[22] The same season, Duff secured Cheltenham's first automatic promotion in the Football League with a 1–1 draw against Carlisle United on 27 April 2021.
[27] On 15 June 2022, Duff was appointed head coach of recently relegated League One side Barnsley on a three-year deal.
[33] His debut on 5 August was a 1–1 draw at home to Birmingham City; Tom Coleman of Walesonline praised him for using different tactics to predecessor Russell Martin.
[37][36] In September 2023, during the poor start to the season, Duff said that fans calling for the reintroduction of "the Swansea way" did not understand how football had changed.
[38] On 13 May 2024, Duff was appointed head coach of newly relegated EFL League One club Huddersfield Town on a three-year contract.