Buckley: William Edward (Will)

2015-2015 (Leeds Player Details) (Player Details)

Striker/Left Wing

Born: Oldham, Lancashire: 21-11-1989

Debut: Birmingham City (h): 03-10-2015

6' 0' 12st 9lb (2015)

Born in Oldham Buckley had trials with his local club Oldham Athletic at the age of fifteen but was turned down. Has was taken on by Curzon Ashton and played for their Youth team for two years being part of the team that reached the second round proper of the F.A. Youth Cup before being beaten 2-3 by Macclesfield, as Buckley scored both goals. He signed for Rochdale on a non-contract basis in August 2007, turning professional the following month. He made his first team debut as a half-time substitute for Rory McArdle in a 2-4 home defeat by Hereford United on 12th February 2008. He had another appearance as a substitute before making his starting debut in a 0-1 home defeat by Wycombe Wanderers on 23rd February 2008, in which he was replaced by Adam Le Fondre in the fifty-first minute. He went on to make one start and six games in the League from the bench, and twice sitting unused on the bench, in the 2007-08 season in which Rochdale finished fifth in League two and took part in the play-off final in which they were beaten 2-3 by Stockport County and Buckley came on as a substitute for Nathan D'Lyrea in the seventy-third minute at Wembley. He became a little more established in the 2008-09 season and, after scoring his first League goal in the fifty-first minute of a 2-2 away draw at Rotherham United on 13th September 2008, he went on to score ten goals in twenty-eight starts and nine games from the bench in the League, and also twice sat unused on the bench as Rochdale finished sixth in Leage Two but were eliminated in the two-legged play-off semi finals by Gillingham, with Buckley starting one and coming off the bench in one. He had scored three goals in twelve League starts and three substitute appearances and one start in the League Cup and one game from the bench in the F.A. Cup, without scoring, in the 2009-10 when he was signed by Championship side Watford in January 2010 on a three-and-a-half- year contract. They paid an initial £200,000 but this was later supplemented by another £39,000 for appearances and £152,200, as their share of a sell-on profit. He had scored thirteen goals in forty-one starts and eighteen games from the bench in the League and had also started one and been a substitute twice in the Play-offs, and started three and come off the bench once in the F.A. Cup and started once in the League Cup, all without scoring, while at Spotland. He had to be content with waiting for his chance at Vicarage Road and was not included in the first team squad until he was an unused substitute on the bench in a 2-1 home win over Ipswich Town on 16th March 2010 before he made his Watford Debut, as a sixty-seventh minute substitute for Don Cowie in a 1-3 away defeat at Cardiff City, on 21st March 2010. He made his starting debut on 27th March 2010 in a 1-1 home draw with Middlesbrough on 27th March 2010 and he scored his first Watford goal in a 1-1 draw at Deepdale, against Preston North End, when he scored the opening goal of the game after thirty-five minutes. It was to be his only Watford goal in the 2009-10 season in which he started four and came off the bench twice and remained unused once. It was in the 2010-11 season that Buckley started to show his true form and became a regular at Vicarage Road, scoring four League goals in twenty-seven starts and six appearances from the bench, on which he also sat nine times unused, as well as starting twice in the F.A. Cup and twice in the League Cup, without scoring. It was to be his final season with Watford as he was sold to Brighton & Hove Albion in June 2011 for an initial £1 million, which was later supplemented by a fifteen per cent sell on profit. He had scored five goals in thirty-one starts and eight games from the bench in the League, and made two appearances in each of the F.A. Cup and League Cup. He made a big impact on his Brighton debut in the first game of the 2011-12 season, when after coming on as a seventy-fifth minute substitute for Matt Sparrow in a 2-1 win over Doncaster Rovers at the Amex Stadium on 6th August 2011, he scored both goals for his new club, equalising in the eighty-third minute, before getting the winner in the eighth minute of time added at the end of the game. That performance ensured a start in the subsequent League fixture in a 1-0 win at Portsmouth, on 13th August 2011, but he was replaced by Craig Noone after limping off after just twenty-five minutes. He had to be content with the occasional game from the bench as Gus Poyet played him in a right midfield role. In his fifth such appearance he came on in place of Craig Noone, with fourteen minutes left on the clock, on 3rd December 2011 at home to Nottingham Forest and scored the only goal of the game in the second minute of added time. He established himself as a more regular player in the second half of the season in which he went on to score eight League goals in sixteen starts and thirteen games from the bench, and four starts in the F.A. Cup and two in the League Cup, without scoring in either competition. He added another eight goals in the 2012-13 season as he became an established regular, in which Brighton finished fourth but were eliminated by Crystal Palace in the play-off semi-finals, starting twenty-eight and coming from the bench in eight and remaining unused in one, while in the Play-offs he started both games and in the F.A. Cup he started once and remained unused on the bench once, without scoring. He signed a new four-and-half-year contract with Brighton, on 4th January 2013 effectively tying him to the club until the end of the 2016-17 season. He only managed three goals in the 2013-14 season as Brighton finished sixth, but were again eliminated on a 2-6 aggregate in the play-off semi-finals by Derby County. He started twenty and came off the bench in ten more in the League, while starting one in each of the F.A. Cup and League Cup competitions and both play-off games. On 14th August 2014 his former Brighton boss Gus Poyet came back to sign him on a three year contract for a reported fee of £2.5 million, which saw Watford benefit by £225,000 from the sell-on clause of their previous contract with Brighton. He played just one game for Brighton in the 2014-15 season as a sixty-first minute substitute for Shamir Fenelon in a 0-1 home defeat by Sheffield Wednesday in the opening game of the season on 9th August 2014. This brought his record with Brighton & Hove Albion to nineteen goals in sixty-four starts and thirty-two games from the bench as well as four starts in the play-offs, six in the F.A. Cup and three in the League Cup, without scoring. The winger made his Sunderland debut against West Bromwich Albion as a seventy-third minute substitute for Adam Johnson in the left midfield position, on 16th August 2014. He started in the following match against Manchester United on 23rd August at the Stadium of Light and gave a "Man of the Match" performance before being substituted in the seventy-ninth minute for Liam Bridcutt, as the Black Cats held on for a 1-1 draw. Despite being sidelined for the months of February and March with a knee injury, he still managed to start nine and come off the bench thirteen times in and be unused in eight League games and come on as a substitute once and remain on the bench once in the F.A. Cup and start once and come off the bench once in the League Cup in his first season but noticeably fell out of favour after recovering from the injury, which almost co-incided with the sacking of Gus Poyet. He had not featured in the first team squad in the 2015-16 season when Leeds United, with whom he had been linked in the close season, but not proceeded with due to Buckley's wage expectations, struck a deal on 21st September 2015 to take Buckley on a ninety-three day loan, but not until Friday 2nd October, which would make him available for the game at Birmingham City the following day. This would ensure that Buckley would be available for the whole of the Christmas fixture programme, but he started training with his future club later in the week of 21st September. Whatever obstacles were in place due to Buckley's wage expectations had then been overcome as the deal had been concluded. At that point he had started nine and had come on as a substitute thirteen in the League, started one F.A. Cup tie and had one appearance as a substitute in the League Cup, but had yet to open up his goal account with Sunderland. He made his Leeds debut against Birmingham City on 3rd October 2015, which saw Leeds go down 0-2. He lasted for fifty-seven minutes before he was replaced by Jordan Botaka. He was on the bench for the rest of his period with Leeds, coming on for Stuart Dallas after sixty-two minutes in the 1-2 home defeat by Brighton, for Chris Wood after seventy minutes in the 1-1 draw at Fulham and again for Stuart Dallas afterseventy-four minutes in the 1-1 draw at Bolton Wanderers but sat unused in the final four games which terminated on 21st November with the 0-1 loss at home to Rotherham United. He was loaned to Birmingham City on 15th January 2016, on a one month loan and made his debut, as an eighty-eighth minute substitute, in a 3-0 away win at Derby County on the following day. He made his home debut a week later and gave an outstanding display, giving Birmingham the lead in the twenty-third minute as they beat Ipswich Town 3-0 at home. His loan was extended to the end of the season and he went on to score once in five starts and five more League from the bench before returning to Sunderland at the end of the season.