Delron Buckley


Delron Sebastian Buckley is a South African former footballer. His preferred position was on the left wing although he could play in the centre of midfield or as a striker.

Club career

Born in Durban, Buckley's football career began with his local team Butcherfille Rovers Durban. At the age of 17 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 €425,000, 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. He played his team debut for Basel on 10 September 2006 as Basel won 2–1 at home against FC Zürich in the St. Jakob-Park. 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.
In February 2009, he signed for 1. FSV Mainz 05 for the remainder of the season and was released on 30 June 2009. 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.
On 26 June 2012, he signed for Maritzburg United, playing for the first time in his career in South Africa.

International career

Buckley made his international debut in a friendly against Zambia on 20 May 1998. He has played 73 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.

Personal life

Buckley is married and has three 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.

Career statistics

International goals

#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
118 June 2000Johann van Riebeeck Stadium, Witbank, South Africa1–02–02000 COSAFA Cup
218 June 2000Johann van Riebeeck Stadium, Witbank, South Africa2–02–02000 COSAFA Cup
39 July 2000National Sports Stadium, Harare, Zimbabwe1–02–02002 World Cup qual.
49 July 2000National Sports Stadium, Harare, Zimbabwe2–02–02002 World Cup qual.
513 January 2001Sir Anerood Jugnauth Stadium, Belle Vue, Mauritius1–01–12002 African Nations Cup qual.
627 March 2002Lokomotivi Stadium, Tbilisi, Georgia1–21–4Friendly match
712 October 2002Vodacom Park, Bloemfontein, South Africa2–02–02004 African Nations Cup qual.
84 June 2005Estádio da Várzea, Praia, Cape Verde2–02–12006 World Cup qual.
917 August 2005Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland1–11–4Friendly match
1024 March 2007Stade Omnisports Idriss Mahamat Ouya, N'Djamena, Chad2–03–02008 African Nations Cup qual.

Honours

Club

Borussia Dortmund