Middlesbrough: Duncan Watmore on his 'special feeling at Boro'

Without a club and without any UK offers on the table, the former England Under-21 international was destined for the Indian Super League.

Watmore had battled through some extremely "dark times". Two identical cruciate knee injuries had sidelined him for two years, stopping the talented forward in his tracks after he burst onto the Premier League scene. The sky had once seemed the limit for Watmore and yet during those long, arduous hours of rehab at Sunderland, he considered whether he'd have to retire. He wondered whether he'd ever again play at a high level in the UK.

Four months after his Sunderland release in the summer of 2020 and still without a club, those doubts deepened.

Then one day, the phone rang. It was Ronnie Jepson, a trusted member of Neil Warnock's coaching team at Middlesbrough.

"That was an amazing opportunity," recalls Watmore, in conversation with The Northern Echo.

"I was without a club, it was covid, I'd had my injuries. So it was one of those where I didn't know exactly how it would pan out but obviously I just went in, thought I'd be myself and do everything I can."

Watmore trained for a couple of weeks but the contract offer wasn't immediately forthcoming. What followed was what he deems the best decision he's made in his career. The offer in India was still on the table but if Watmore was going to go he needed to accept it. Boro boss Warnock told him to reject it, to hold off one more week while he tried to negotiate a contract for the forward.

"I had to trust him (Warnock)," says Watmore.

"I had a contract there in India and didn't know if Boro would be able to do anything but because of the faith I had in Warnock and how honest he was with it, I though I'd throw all my eggs in that basket. I'm so glad it worked out how it did."

Watmore initially signed a short-term deal but with five goals in his first full month on Teesside, earned an extension. In the next two and a half years, he played almost 100 times for Boro, scoring more than 20 goals.

He left this week for Millwall with his career firmly back on track. At 28, he still has plenty of years ahead of him but whatever happens in the future, Watmore says he'll be forever grateful to all associated at Boro for giving him a chance and giving him the most enjoyable two and a half years of his career.

"The club will always genuinely have a place in my heart because they took a chance on me when nobody else would," he says.

"The last two years have genuinely been the happiest time on a football pitch for me. And not just on the pitch, everyone at the club has made it so special to me. Those who know me know how much I love the club. Boro gave me a chance.

"It's difficult to say how things would have worked out but if Boro wasn't there I would have gone to India.

"That spell before I came to Boro was so difficult. It was hard to come to terms with what had happened to me, the injuries and everything.

"I just wasn't the same player mentally and physically. At one point I thought retirement might have to be an option. I was thinking about how I rebuild my career and wondered whether I'd ever get back to a level I wanted to play at.

"Then Boro came in for me and gave me that chance. And straight away at the club, I can't really explain it, but I could just feel there was something there.

"I just felt like it clicked and I belonged at the club. That's such a special feeling to have and I'll never forget that.

"I don't have social media but my wife and friends were sending me some of the reaction when I left this week and I feel so blessed and grateful to have that love."

Having twice battled back from career threatening injury, Watmore was grateful for every day at Boro.

"Life can be tricky and I've experienced that," he says.

"'I've been very lucky as well, I know that, but I've always experienced the other side, where there's really dark times.

"It's important for me to try and treat people well. It's important to always look out for others because you never know what people are going through. I'm not perfect by any means but I like to do what I can where I can."

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Watmore is still in touch with former boss Warnock.

"I haven't spoken to him since the move but I've been in touch the last couple of months. He's a brilliant man manager, he's such a character. He showed a lot of faith in me and I'll always be grateful," he says.

Watmore will also always have the Boro memories, his highlight being the FA Cup victory at Old Trafford and his rather controversial assist for Matt Crooks.

"There have been so many highlights but it has to be Man United," he says.

"I grew up as a United fan, I had a season ticket there, me and Crooksy came through the academy. For me to set up Crooksy, even it was a questionable handball! If I had scored myself it wouldn't have counted but because it was an assist it did, even though I didn't know that rule at the time.

"Ever since, I've told people it was a deliberate assist. But the truth is at the time I was celebrating and really enjoying it but in the back of my mind I was thinking this is going to be disallowed. That was a special moment. And seeing the Boro fans, they were amazing that night, as they have been all through my time there.

"I've had some amazing memories, the cup run, the last minute winner at Blackpool, I've scored some good goals that I've really enjoyed. There have been so many highs.

"It's been a strange couple of days for me, my first experience of a deadline day move and it was all very frantic. I'm sad to be leaving because it's such an amazing club but I'm excited for my new challenge and wish everyone at Boro completely the best."