Our subject, Stephen Duke-McKenna, hails from England and first drew breath on this earth on the 17th day of August in the year 2000, which makes the lad a mere twenty-four years old. Standing at a neat five-foot-six inches (or 1.7 metres for those who have a preference for the metric system) and tipping the scales at 10st 3lb (if you indeed believe in precise measurements, that's 65kg), Duke-McKenna has carved out an existence in the chaotic world of football as a central midfielder, currently plying his trade up here in the stark beauty of Scotland for St Johnstone. His torso sports the number 21 jersey.
Now, if one were to speculate on the economic value of such a player, the esteemed gents over at Transfermarkt put a tag of £128,000 upon his services. His contract with St Johnstone, mind you, is set to meet its end in a mere two months, with the sands of his current employment running out come 31st of May, 2025.
His story is a long and winding road, beginning with Everton, where he was unceremoniously thrust into the world of Premier League football as a mere trainee back in the July of 2016. A couple of seasons passed before he was handed over to Bolton Wanderers in 2018, where he paddled through the less glamorous waters of League One.
In what must have been a dizzying journey for the lad, Duke-McKenna found himself uprooted once again in August 2019, this time transplanted into the soil of Queens Park Rangers in the Championship League. Here, he flashed once or twice in the pan, making single-digit appearances in the 2020-2021 and 2023-2024 seasons.
What followed was a series of further transfers, first on loan to the beautiful seaside town of Torquay United, followed by an equally brief sojourn to Leyton Orient and finally Sutton United - all within a span of two years. As if that wasn't disorienting enough, he made a stint with Harrogate Town in 2024 before finally landing in our beloved, if not exactly balmy, Scotland. Here, with St Johnstone, he has made eight first team appearances in the current 2024-2025 season, and contrived to put in his best foot forward in the Scottish Cup with two starts and a substitute appearance.
One might infer from this near-constant shifting of clubs that Duke-McKenna's football journey has been anything but straightforward. Indeed, one might huff that it appears more akin to a demented game of musical chairs than a traditional football career. Yet, like all men but particularly those in the merciless world of football, he perseveres, hoping to find some measure of success in this corner of our cold northern isle.
