THE man who launched Matt Derbyshire on the road to fame and fortune today said he always knew the striker would be a big hit in Blackburn Rovers' first team.

John Hughes, the former manager of Great Harwood, gave Derbyshire his big chance to shine when he handed him his debut as a 16-year-old in the North West Counties League Second Division.

Now four years on, Derbyshire is scoring goals in the Premiership, which is nine rungs higher up the football ladder than the level Harwood used to play at, and Hughes insists that meteoric rise could not have happened to a nicer guy.

A chance conversation with Andy McNally, the former manager of Darwen Youth team, first alerted Hughes to Derbyshire's precocious talents, and after signing him for the Robins he quickly realised that he might have something special on his hands.

"He was playing under Andy at Darwen, but they were getting rid of their youth team so he asked if they could come to Great Harwood instead," recalls Hughes.

"I thought it would be a good idea to get some youth players through and Matty came to train with us."

It wasn't long before Derbyshire graduated from Harwood's youth team to the first team.

Blessed with electric pace, an impressive spring, and a predator's eye for goal, the gifted young striker was soon blazing a trail at the top of the North West Counties League scoring charts as he repeatedly embarrassed defenders twice his age.

"We had to ease him in gently at first because he was playing against grown men," said Hughes.

"It was like Mark Hughes is doing now. I'd put him on for 15 minutes for the first couple of games and then for the last half hour, and he was popping up with goals.

"The second year I started him and I think in the first five games he scored 18 goals.

"His problem though was that he kept running offside all the time.

"Because he was so quick he didn't have to do that, so we taught him to time his runs better, and he learnt how to go back before going forwards."

With the goals raining in at an alarming rate, scouts began flocking to The Showground, eager to check out the red-hot teenager.

Manchester United, Everton and Burnley all showed interest in the player who, by then, was 17 and working as a coach in Rovers' Football in the Community scheme.

"I spoke to people at Manchester United, Everton and Burnley," said Bill Holden, who was chairman of the now defunct Harwood at the time.

"David Moyes rang me personally to ask about him.

"But there was only one club he really wanted to join - Blackburn Rovers because he's a Blackburn lad."

Aware of the growing interest in Derbyshire, Rovers sent scouts to watch him on a number of occasions.

Tony Hartley was the first to see him, then Martin Glover and Rob Kelly, the former Academy coach who is now the Leicester manager, went to watch Derbyshire play against Padiham.

It was then that the striker was invited for a trial with the Academy, and he impressed when playing up front in a 4-0 win at Bolton, prompting Rovers to sign him in a £20,000 deal.

Academy director Bobby Downes, who sanctioned the transfer, recalls: "I remember him playing at Bolton and we decided to sign him after that.

"He was raw but he was the kind of guy who wanted to do it.

"He had a great attitude, he was very quick, he was also good in the air for his size, and very brave as well.

"But most importantly he was a natural goalscorer, and they are few and far between."

After graduating from Rovers' Academy to the first team, via the reserves and two loan spells at Plymouth and Wrexham, for whom he scored 10 goals in 16 appearances last season, Derbyshire's transfer fee is starting to look like a bargain.

He grabbed his first senior goal in Rovers' 3-0 Premiership win at Wigan on New Year's Day, then seven days later he was on target again in the 4-1 FA Cup victory over Everton.

That win at Goodison was particularly satisfying for the staff of Our Lady and St John's High School in Blackburn because Derbyshire and fellow scorer Paul Gallagher are both ex-pupils, albeit in different year groups.

Their former PE teacher, Dave Mooney, said: "It's great to see two of our lads playing up front together for Blackburn Rovers.

"Matt was tiny at school. He never played for the town team because people thought he was too small.

"But he always scored goals and we used to play one of the biggest lads in his year group up alongside him to try and help him out.

"When he left school and got involved in the Non-League scene he started playing with better players and people who could take the weight off him, and that's when his eye for goal came through."

John Shannon, who also taught Derbyshire, added: "Matt was a really good lad, he was keen to listen and, in terms of his striking ability, I remember doing lots of drills with him during his GCSEs and he was a class above everyone else.

"He reminded me of Andy Cole or Gary Lineker, in terms of he always knew where the back of the net was.

"I'm immensely proud of him, it's a fantastic achievement for him to break into the first team, and I just hope he goes on and continues to develop in the future."

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