Et voilà - Stephen Duke-McKenna, a man born under the brutally inclement English skies on the 17th of August 2000, who has gallantly shouldered the burdensome task of fronting up the midfield line of St Johnstone. The lad, not quite touching 5ft 6in (1.7m), a modest stature in the lexicon of the beautiful game, masquerades behind jersey number 21, holding steady at 10st 3lb (65kg).
Blessed with a market value snugly in the region of £125k – comprehensively researched and validated by Transfermarkt, mind you - his klaxon call at St Johnstone has a mere three-month countdown, projected to echo in the financial boardrooms by the 31st of May 2025.
Cast your minds back to those halcyon days of July 2016. Our archetypal journeyman Duke-McKenna cut his teeth at the big boys’ table, joining Premier League outfit Everton as a fresh-faced trainee. In a startling twist of fate, or a shuffle in the managerial deck perhaps, he bid farewell to Merseyside for Bolton Wanderers in the summer of 2018.
Just when you thought he’d found a home amid the Bolton faithful, Stephen decided to test the waters of the Championship, packing his bags for Queens Park Rangers in August 2019. His triumphant debut season rewarded him with one – yes, you read it right, one – appearance on the pitch. The 2023-2024 season was marginally more fruitful: he was permitted to revel in the glory of five first team match appearances.
They say all that glitters is not gold. Stephen discovered this cruel truth in January 2022, opting for a decidedly less glamorous sojourn at Torquay United, tucked away in the National League South, all arranged as part of a temporary loan agreement. Upon the loan’s completion in June 2022, he dutifully returned to QPR for another go, only to be scooped up on another loan spell by Leyton Orient in September, thus testing the waters of League One fervour.
The well-worn path from Leyton Orient led him back to Rangers come June 2023. Haven’t we heard that before? But wait, there’s more… Another loan came a-calling in January 2024; this time, Sutton United of the National League took up his services. This footballing nomad then danced his way to League Two's Harrogate Town in July 2024 before eventually finding a visiting role at St Johnstone, the Premiership bearers from our own Scottish top flight, in February 2025.
Here, in the misty, mysterious lands of Caledonia, Duke-McKenna took to the field in six first-team league matches, participating once from the start and once from the bench in the Scottish Cup for the 2024 - 2025 season, grand milestones for the Englishman’s footballing yarn as it intertwines with our beloved home soil.
