Former Watford striker to make debut in UK Open Pool Championships in May

Watford legend Troy Deeney is set to make an unforeseen change of sport this year - he has officially entered as a wildcard in the UK Open Pool Championship in May.

The competition will be held from May 7 to May 12 in Telford and will be broadcasted live on Sky Sports. Deeney says he ‘fancied himself’ as a skilled Pool player and is ‘absolutely buzzing’ to be taking part in the tournament. While he has never played Pool at a competitive level before, Deeney is excited to put himself ‘to the test against some of the world's top players’.

On his entry into the UK Open Pool Championship, Deeney said [via TalkSPORT]: “I am absolutely buzzing to play at the UK Open Pool Championship. I always fancied myself on the table at the training ground with the boys so when this opportunity came up, I jumped at the chance to put myself to the test against some of the world's top players and can't wait to compete on 7th May."

As a football player, Deeney turned out for clubs such as Birmingham City, Walsall and Chelmsley Town - he is best known for his time at Watford, spending 11 years with the Hornets - six of which were in the Premier League - and scoring a total of 131 league goals for them. Additionally, he also helped guide the club to an FA Cup final in 2019, where they were defeated by Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.

Deeney made a brief foray into management during the ongoing 2023/24 football season. He was sacked after just six League Two games on January 18 - not only did he fail to win any of them, he also came under scrutiny for publicly berating one of his players at the time, Fankaty Dabo, in a scathing interview.