Amidst the melee of the football world, once in a while, an indistinct English figure prances nervously onto our radar - meet Stephen Duke-McKenna. An English born soul of a certain year, 2000 to be precise, who decided, bless him, that he would commit his comings and goings to the pitch, stepping into a life of central midfieldery, under the glorious shade of St Johnstone's jersey, number 21. Not a burly man, Duke-McKenna stands at a modest 5ft 6in (1.7 m), and carves out a slender silhouette with his 10st 3lb (65kg) frame.
Our dear Duke-McKenna hasn't exactly been encrusted in a shroud of riches, to put it bluntly. His current market value hovers around a rather unremarkable £125k, if we're to believe Transfermarkt. The clock is ticking on his present contract with St Johnstone, set for its expiry date on 31 May 2025, an expiry with nary a whisper of lament.
The journey of Duke-McKenna commenced in July 2016, when he stepped into Everton’s territory as a naïve trainee. His traction was less than stellar, forcing him to seek refuge in the League One terraces of Bolton Wanderers, then off to the Championship den of Queens Park Rangers. A career with more hops than a kangaroo on a trampoline, his path took a detour to Torquay United, before boomeranging back to Queens Park Rangers. Mind you, all of this before hopping over to Leyton Orient, back to Queens Park Rangers (again), and then to Sutton United. His nomadic yarn continued with a short spell at Harrogate Town.
Finally, Duke-McKenna drifted north of the border, arriving at Scotland's Premiership with St Johnstone on loan in the dreary days of February 2025. Let us forget not, with his total of 1 appearance in the debut season at Queens Park Rangers, 5 appearances in the 2023-24 season at the same club, a bag of 8 games at Leyton Orient, and another 8 at St Johnstone, Duke-McKenna boasts an impressive total of 22 first-team appearances in league matches over the years. Numbers that reek of promise, don't they?
Even amidst our perpetual cynicism, we grudgingly acknowledge his participation in the Scottish Cup 2024-2025 for St Johnstone with one start and one cameo off the bench. So, there strides Stephen Duke-McKenna: a soccer soldier with a narrative peppered with multiple transfers, occasional game time, and an endless quest for a footballing home.
