Delron Buckley

Delron Buckley

Personal information
Full name	Delron Sebastian Buckley
Date of birth	December 7, 1977 (1977-12-07) (age 33)
Place of birth	Durban, South Africa
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Winger
Club information
Current club	Karlsruher SC
Number	39
Youth career
1994–1995	Butcherfille Rovers Durban
1995–	VfL Bochum
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
0000–1998	VfL Bochum II
1995–2004	VfL Bochum	177	(20)
2004–2005	Arminia Bielefeld	29	(15)
2005–2009	Borussia Dortmund	62	(1)
2006–2007	→ FC Basel (loan)	22	(1)
2008	Borussia Dortmund II	2	(0)
2008–2009	Mainz 05	11	(1)
2009–2010	Anorthosis Famagusta	20	(2)
2011–	Karlsruher SC	1	(1)
National team‡
1998–2008	South Africa	72	(10)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of January 15, 2011[1]. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of February 2, 2009

Delron Sebastian Buckley (born December 7, 1977 in Durban) is a South African footballer playing for Karlsruher SC.

Club career

Buckley's soccer career began with his local team Butcherfille Rovers Durban, but when he was 17 years old he was signed by German club VfL Bochum. Buckley spent most of his career in Germany, going through Bochum's youth teams and debuting in the Bundesliga in 1995. Buckley finally broke into the first squad in 1998 and remained a starter for much of his time at Bochum.

Having spent nine professional seasons with Bochum, Buckley left in 2004 for Arminia Bielefeld where he enjoyed his most successful season personally, scoring 15 goals and helping the team avoid relegation. Buckley quickly picked up interest from higher-rated clubs. After only one season at Bielefeld, Buckley joined Borussia Dortmund for a reported transfer fee of €425k, and signed a four-year contract.

Buckley's first season at Borussia Dortmund was largely unsuccessful as he failed to score in 28 league matches. Widely regarded as bad signing, Buckley was loaned to Swiss club FC Basel 1893 for the 2006–07 season. After returning in July 2007, Buckley was able to regain his place in the Borussia squad for the 2007–08 season, but fell out of favour after the arrival of new manager Jürgen Klopp.^[2]

In February 2009, he signed for 1. FSV Mainz 05 for the remainder of the season and was released on 30 June 2009.^[3] He moved then to Cyprian club Anorthosis Famagusta FC where he played until the end of 2010–11 season.

In January 2011 he transferred to German 2. Bundesliga team Karlsruher SC.

Position

His preferred position is on the left wing although he can play in the centre of midfield or as a striker.

International career

Buckley made his international debut in a friendly against Zambia on May 20, 1998. He has played 72 games and scored 10 goals for the South African national team. Buckley represented his country at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, 2002 FIFA World Cup and the 2004 African Nations Cup.

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	June 18, 2000	Witbank, South Africa	Swaziland	1–0	2–0	COSAFA Cup
2	June 18, 2000	Witbank, South Africa	Swaziland	2–0	2–0	COSAFA Cup
3	July 9, 2000	Harare, Zimbabwe	Zimbabwe	1–0	2–0	World Cup qualifier
4	July 9, 2000	Harare, Zimbabwe	Zimbabwe	2–0	2–0	World Cup qualifier
5	January 13, 2001	Belle Vue, Mauritius	Mauritius	1–0	1–1	African Nations Cup qualifier
6	March 27, 2002	Tbilisi, Georgia	Georgia	1–2	1–4	Friendly match
7	October 12, 2002	Bloemfontein, South Africa	Burundi	2–0	2–0	African Nations Cup qualifier
8	June 4, 2005	Praia, Cape Verde	Cape Verde	2–0	2–1	World Cup qualifier
9	August 17, 2005	Reykjavik, Iceland	Iceland	1–1	1–4	Friendly match
10	March 24, 2007	Ndjamena, Chad	Chad	2–0	3–0	African Nations Cup qualifier

Personal

Buckley is married and has two daughters. He holds a German passport.

Trivia

In the summer of 2007, Delron was nicknamed "Martin" and "Martinus" by fans after it was announced that "Martin Buckley" of Borussia Dortmund was to join English Premier League club Sunderland AFC. The move broke down due to assurances over first team football.

References

1. ^ "Delron Buckley" (in German). fussballdaten.de. http://www.fussballdaten.de/spieler/buckleydelron/. Retrieved 15 January 2011. 
2. ^ Delron Buckley at National-Football-Teams.com
3. ^ "Kein Harakiri mit teuren Spielern" (in German). Rhein-Zeitung. May 27, 2009. http://rhein-zeitung.de/on/09/05/27/sportsline/fussball/zweitebundesliga/news/t/rzo574082.html?a. Retrieved June 3, 2009. 

External links

• Delron Buckley at kicker.de (German)

Persondata
Name	Buckley, Delron
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1977-12-07
Place of birth	Durban, South Africa
Date of death
Place of death