Early career Deeney was invited by the
Aston Villa academy to take part in a four-day summer trial at the age of 15 with a view to earning a youth contract; however, he missed the first three days as he "knew there was a game on the last day" and was not offered terms by Villa. After leaving school in 2004 he had begun training as a bricklayer, earning £120 a week, and joined
Chelmsley Town. He made his debut on 9 October 2004 in a 2–1 victory against
Mile Oak Rovers, only coming into the first team as several players were unavailable because the game was an early kick-off – it had been brought forward to avoid clashing with
England's 2006 World Cup Qualifier against Wales. After holding down a regular place in the team, Deeney went on to win Chelmsley Town's Player of the Year for the 2005–06 season.
Walsall Deeney was spotted by
Walsall's Head of Youth Mick Halsall, who only attended the match because his son was also playing, and because the match he was scheduled to attend had been postponed. Deeney was playing while drunk, but scored seven goals in an 11–4 win. He was offered a trial by the then
League Two club, but only attended after his Chelmsley manager got him out of bed and paid for his taxi. He scored his first professional competitive goal for Walsall against
Millwall in a 2–1 win in September 2007. In the 2009–10 season, Deeney scored 14 goals to finish as Walsall's top scorer and was awarded the club's Player of the Year award.
Watford 2010–2012 in 2012 On 4 August 2010, Deeney handed in a written transfer request amid interest from several Championship clubs. He had been told he was to leave Walsall earlier in the summer, and had slackened his pre-season training in protest at the club's hardline stance when trying to sell him. On the same day Deeney signed for Watford, he played a part in their 3–2 win against
Norwich City on the opening day of the season, coming on for
Marvin Sordell in the second half. Deeney found his poor pre-season meant he struggled for fitness in comparison to his new teammates. Deeney went on to make 40 appearances for Watford in his first season, scoring three goals from 20 starts, although he was mainly deployed on the wing by
Malky Mackay. In March, Deeney signed a new contract to the end of the
2012–13 season. He finished 2011–12 as Watford's top goalscorer with 12 goals in all competitions and also won the Goal of the Season Award for his goal against
Ipswich Town in March 2012.
2012–2015 Deeney made his first appearance for Watford, after his release from prison, against
Bristol City at
Vicarage Road on 22 September 2012. The match finished 2–2, with Deeney coming on in the second half and hitting the post. He started the next match against
Huddersfield Town on 29 September, and scored the winner from a spot kick in the 3–2 away win. He scored a memorable double against his boyhood club, Birmingham City, as Watford ran out 4–0 winners on 16 February 2013. In March 2013, Deeney signed a new contract with Watford, keeping him at the club until 2016. Deeney netted another
brace in a 4–0 win over
Blackburn Rovers on 20 April 2013, taking his tally to 18 for the season. Six days later, he scored his 19th goal of the season in the next match against
Leicester, scoring the first goal in an important 2–1 away win for Watford. On 12 May 2013, Watford faced
Leicester City in the play-off semi-final second leg at Vicarage Road, having lost the first leg 1–0 at the
King Power Stadium. One of the most dramatic moments in play-off history occurred in injury time. With the scores level on aggregate at 2–2,
Manuel Almunia saved a
penalty taken by
Anthony Knockaert and a rebound. Watford subsequently charged to the other end, where Deeney lashed in the winning goal; ecstatic, he
celebrated the goal by taking his shirt off and jumping into the crowd. On 27 May, Deeney started for the play-off final against
Crystal Palace, which Watford lost 1–0 in extra-time. After scoring 20 goals in the 2012–13 season, Deeney scored the only goal as Watford beat
Birmingham City 1–0 in the opening match of the 2013–14 season. A week later on 10 August, Deeney scored a hat-trick as Watford thrashed
Bournemouth 6–1 at Vicarage Road. In doing so, he became the first Watford player to score a hat-trick in a match since
Michael Chopra in 2003, and the first one to do so at Vicarage Road since
David Connolly on 7 December 1996. It was also Deeney's first career hat-trick. Netting a brace in a 4–1 win away against
Sheffield Wednesday on 29 March 2014, Deeney took his
2013–14 season tally to 20 goals. In the process, he became the first Watford player to score 20 or more goals in consecutive seasons in all competitions since
Luther Blissett managed the feat in 1983. Deeney scored again, this time against
Burnley in a 1–1 draw on 5 April 2014, to become the first Watford player to score 20 league goals in consecutive seasons since
Cliff Holton managed the feat in 1961. The striker won both the Watford Player of the Season award for 2013–14 and also won the Players' Player of the Year at the end of season awards on 2 May 2014. Following the departure of Manuel Almunia, Deeney was named the Watford
captain by manager
Giuseppe Sannino prior to the
2014–15 campaign. During the course of the
2014–15 Championship season, Deeney helped Watford earn promotion to the Premier League. In the process he became the first player in Watford history to score 20 or more goals in three consecutive seasons (2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15).
2015–2020: Premier League years in 2019 On 8 August 2015, Deeney made his
Premier League debut, captaining Watford in their
2015–16 season opener, a 2–2 draw with
Everton at
Goodison Park. On 24 October, he scored his first Premier League goal as Watford defeated
Stoke City 2–0 at the
Britannia Stadium. On 21 November, Deeney scored a penalty against
Manchester United in the 87th minute to equalise; just after that, he scored an own goal in the 90th minute to help Manchester United secure a 2–1 victory over Watford in a dramatic change of events at
Vicarage Road. Deeney would extend his goal streak to five in six matches with the opener in a 2–0 win against
Norwich City on 5 December 2015. On 13 February 2016, he scored twice in a 2–1 away win over
Crystal Palace and in the process extended the Eagles' winless run in the league to nine matches. On 1 July 2016, Deeney signed a new five-year deal with Watford. He opened his
2016–17 goalscoring account on 10 September at
West Ham United's new home venue, the
London Stadium, equalising in a 4–2 comeback victory. Deeney scored his 100th Watford goal in all competitions on 26 December 2016 with a penalty in a 1–1 home draw against Crystal Palace, ending a ten-match goalless run. He became the fifth player to reach a century of goals for Watford. Since summer 2018 he has given up gambling entirely and alcohol in weeks Watford are playing. In April 2019, Deeney, alongside Watford teammates
Adrian Mariappa and
Christian Kabasele were subjected to
racist comments on social media. In May 2020, following the
Premier League's suspension due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, Deeney initially refused to return to non-contact training with his teammates. He said he did not wish to put his five-month-old child at risk, who has breathing difficulties, saying "it only takes one person to get infected within the group and I don't want to be bringing that home." Deeney eventually returned to training and captained Watford in their first game back against
Leicester City, playing the full 90 minutes. On 11 July, he scored two second-half penalties to come from behind and win at home against
Newcastle United, giving Deeney his first goals of the restarted season. Deeney revealed after the game he had been suffering from a right knee injury since the restart, but vowed to see out the end of the season as club captain and try to save Watford from relegation. Following this announcement, Deeney was often substituted in the second half of most games for the remainder of the season to ease the workload on his knee. He scored again in a 3–1 loss against
West Ham United on 17 July, later coming off in the second half. In Watford's final game of the 2019–20 season against
Arsenal, Deeney played the full 90 minutes and scored a penalty in the first half, but was unable to prevent Watford losing 3–2, finishing in 19th and suffering relegation to the
EFL Championship. After this loss, it was highly speculated that Deeney had played his last game for the club; Deeney commented, saying he was "unsure" about his future at Watford.
2020–21: Championship return Despite widespread rumours of his impending departure and reported interest from
Tottenham Hotspur,
West Bromwich Albion and
Fenerbahçe, Deeney remained with Watford throughout the summer transfer window and came off the bench during their 1–0 win over
Luton Town on 26 September 2020. Watford secured immediate promotion back to the Premier League on 24 April 2021, after a 1–0 home victory over
Millwall.
Immediate Premier League return and final games and departure Deeney came on as a 79th-minute substitute for
Tom Cleverley in Watford's first match since their return to the top flight on 14 August 2021, helping secure a win after beating
Aston Villa 3–2 at home Deeney made his final appearance for Watford as a 78th-minute substitute, replacing
Ken Sema in a 2–0 away loss to
Brighton & Hove Albion on 21 August. On 30 August 2021, it was announced that Deeney had left Watford as a
free agent after spending eleven years with the club; he had made 419 appearances for the team and scored 140 goals. He left the club as their top scorer in the Premier League with 47 goals and ranks fourth for most goals scored for Watford in all competitions, behind
Luther Blissett (186),
Tommy Barnett (163) and
Ross Jenkins (142).
Birmingham City On 30 August 2021, Deeney signed a two-year contract with
Birmingham City, the team he had supported since childhood. He made his debut, as a 67th-minute substitute for
Lukas Jutkiewicz in a 2–0 home victory over
Derby County on 10 September, and five days later scored his first Birmingham goal, a late penalty in a 4–1 loss at home to
Fulham. Over the two years he spent with Birmingham, he scored 11 goals from 56 appearances in all competitions, He was one of six senior professionals released at the end of the 2022–23 season. ==Coaching career==