Duncan Ferguson

Duncan Cowan Ferguson (born 27 December 1971) is a Scottish football manager and former player.

He began his career at Dundee United in 1990, and moved to Rangers in 1993 for what was then a British transfer record fee. He spent the remainder of his career in England, moving to Everton in 1994 before a stint with Newcastle United between 1998 and 2000, after which he returned to Everton, where he retired in 2006.

During his career, Ferguson won the FA Cup with Everton in 1995. He was capped for Scotland seven times, playing at UEFA Euro 1992, but made himself unavailable for selection for the national team from 1997 due to a dispute with the Scottish Football Association (SFA). He has scored more goals than any other Scottish player in England's Premier League since its creation in 1992.

Ferguson's aggressive style of play resulted in a career total of nine red cards, as well as a three-month prison sentence following an on-field assault of Raith Rovers' John McStay in 1994. Eight of those red cards were in the English Premier League, where he holds the joint record for dismissals alongside Patrick Vieira and Richard Dunne. He is known by the nicknames "Big Dunc" and "Duncan Disorderly".

Ferguson was promoted to the first-team coaching staff at Everton in 2014. Following the dismissal of Everton manager Marco Silva in December 2019, he was named as the team's caretaker manager until Silva's replacement Carlo Ancelotti was appointed manager a few weeks later, at which point Ferguson was made assistant manager. Ferguson left Everton after a second stint as caretaker manager in 2022. After a brief spell as Forest Green Rovers manager, he was appointed manager of Inverness Caledonian Thistle in September 2023 and was sacked when the club went into administration in October 2024.

Club career

Dundee United

Born in Stirling, Ferguson played for the juvenile side Carse Thistle, initially as a left-back. Dundee United signed him as a schoolboy, and he went on to win the BP Youth Cup in 1990. Later that year, on 10 November, Ferguson made his professional debut for them against Rangers at Ibrox Stadium. His first goal was an extra-time winner against East Fife in the Scottish Cup on 29 January 1991.

The following season saw him become a first-team regular. With 41 appearances and 16 goals, he became the club's top scorer. His good form continued in 1992–93 with 33 appearances and 15 goals. The form he displayed at Dundee United also saw him win a call-up to the Scotland national team.

Rangers

A 22-year-old Ferguson moved to Rangers in 1993 for a transfer fee of £4 million, which set a new British record. During a match with Raith Rovers in April 1994, Ferguson headbutted the visitors' John McStay in the south-west corner of the Ibrox pitch. Referee Kenny Clark did not see the incident, but Ferguson was subsequently charged and found guilty of assault. As it was his third conviction for assault, he received a three-month prison sentence in October 1995. The SFA banned Ferguson for 12 matches before the court case was heard.

Ferguson scored a last-minute winner against Motherwell, from a Brian Laudrup pass, in the first game of the season. Four days later, he scored a hat-trick in a 6–1 win over Arbroath.

Of Ferguson's time at Rangers, one of his strike partners Mark Hateley said: "Duncan was a really good player, but I think he came to Rangers a couple of years too early. Walter Smith wanted me to take him under my wing. He was a boisterous young lad who wanted to play all the time. It was a period in his career where he'd gone from being a big fish in a small pond to being a small fish in the big pond at Rangers. He probably found that a bit difficult." Smith was the assistant manager at Dundee United when he spotted a young Ferguson in Tayside youth football. Smith had moved on to Rangers by the time Ferguson arrived at Tannadice.

Everton

In October 1994, Everton were struggling under the management of Mike Walker and looking for options to reinvigorate their faltering season. The solution enacted was to take two Rangers players on a loan deal, Ian Durrant for one month and Ferguson for three. Ferguson's move to Everton was later made permanent by Walker's successor Joe Royle, and Ferguson played a key role in saving Everton from relegation, and also helping them win the 1994–95 FA Cup. The subsequent 1995–96 season was less successful for Ferguson. A persistent hernia problem caused him to be unavailable for large amounts of time, as did his prison sentence during the first half of the season.

On 28 December 1997, Ferguson scored a hat-trick against Bolton Wanderers in a 3–2 victory, the first time that a trio of headers had been scored in the Premier League. Everton finished the season surviving relegation only on goal difference.

Ferguson was sold to Newcastle United for a fee of £8 million in November 1998. The deal was done to sell Ferguson by the Everton chairman, Peter Johnson, without the knowledge of Walter Smith. Ferguson wrote a two-page goodbye letter in the club magazine to fans, stating his sadness at leaving and that he would never forget them.

Newcastle United

After bringing Ferguson to Newcastle, manager Ruud Gullit was rewarded when Ferguson scored twice on his debut against Wimbledon in the Premier League. The final result was a 3–1 victory to Newcastle. At the start of 1999, Ferguson suffered a hernia injury, meaning that he played only seven times in the 1998–99 season. He made his comeback on 11 April, coming on as a substitute in a 2–0 extra-time FA Cup semi-final win over Tottenham Hotspur, and did the same in the 1999 FA Cup Final, which Newcastle lost to Manchester United.

In 1999–2000, Ferguson scored in three rounds of the FA Cup as Newcastle beat Tottenham 6–1, Sheffield United 4–1 and Tranmere Rovers 3–2, before a semi-final elimination by Chelsea. He scored six league goals, including two in a 5–0 home win over Southampton on 16 January 2000.

Return to Everton

2000-01 season

On 17 August 2000, Ferguson moved back to Everton for a fee of £3.75 million. The transfer had previously been close to collapse as he sought a £1 million "loyalty payment" from Newcastle for not personally asking for a transfer; he had made the same amount of money from Everton when he transferred in 1998 on the same basis.

Ferguson's return came at a time when Everton were facing the prospect of being without their goalscoring hero Kevin Campbell for the early months of the season due to injury. The £3.75 million fee was later revealed to have been financed through a media deal with NTL that was never completed.

Two days after signing, he played his first game in a 2–0 loss at Leeds United, coming on for Stephen Hughes after 56 minutes. On 23 August, on his return to Goodison Park, he scored twice in a 3–0 win over Charlton Athletic after coming on for Mark Hughes in the 67th minute. Ferguson settled the match with a low driven shot from a Thomas Gravesen pass before adding a second goal from a deflection in the dying seconds to complete the victory.

Ferguson was injured in only the second appearance of his return spell with the Blues and was in and out of the team that season with recurrent injury problems that required surgery. Despite this, he managed six goals in 13 appearances to help Everton avoid relegation. His first goal since the Charlton match came on 7 February 2001 against Leeds United, when his 23rd-minute scuffed right-foot shot found its way into the net, though he appeared to aggravate an arm injury while scoring and was substituted in the first half.

Ferguson's other crucial goals during the relegation battle included an equaliser against Manchester City on 8 April, created through a move involving Niclas Alexandersson crossing from the left for Campbell to head down before Ferguson slotted home despite lucky deflections.

In the Merseyside derby against Liverpool on 16 April, Ferguson scored in the 42nd minute after Kevin Campbell caused confusion in the penalty box, with Ferguson arriving to smash his effort beyond Sander Westerveld in a 2–3 defeat.

His final goal of the season helped secure Premier League survival, scoring just 47 seconds into the second half against Bradford City on 28 April by latching onto a long throw from Campbell, controlling it well and driving it fiercely past the goalkeeper in a crucial 2–1 victory.

Ferguson played under manager Walter Smith during his initial return, though their relationship was strained by chairman Peter Johnson's decision to sell Ferguson to Newcastle in 1998 without Smith's knowledge.

2001-02 season

The 2001-02 season began promisingly for Ferguson, who scored from the penalty spot in Everton's opening match away to Charlton Athletic on 18 August 2001. After Charlton took the lead through Jonatan Johansson, Ferguson equalised from the penalty spot in the 64th minute after Kevin Campbell was fouled in the box, helping Everton to a 2-1 victory. The penalty was significant as Ferguson had previously avoided penalty-taking responsibility in a League Cup match against Sunderland three years earlier.