Karl Duguid

English footballer (born 1978)

Duguid's status with the Colchester fans was demonstrated when he was voted the club's best ever player in a poll to mark the centenary of the Professional Footballers' Association. He made nearly 450 appearances for the U's in midfield or on the right side of defence in his first stint with the club.

On 24 June 2008, Duguid ended his 14 year association with Colchester by signing a two year contract with Championship club Plymouth Argyle, for an undisclosed fee.

Having spent time back with Colchester United for pre season training, Duguid signed a one year contract with the club on 20 July 2011. "It was not something that was in our minds – mine or Karl's – when he came here to train at the start of pre season," said manager John Ward. "But we've had a chat and agreed on a one year deal for Karl to bolster the squad." On 14 February 2012, Duguid made his 400th league appearance for Colchester United in a home tie against Brentford which finished 2–1 to Colchester. One day after his 34th birthday, the U's veteran put pen to paper, signing a new one year contract extension until summer 2013. In December 2012, Duguid was appointed player coach, helping manager Joe Dunne establish a link between the first team squad and the youth team and their development. On his 36th birthday, Duguid announced that he was to retire from playing at the end of the 2013–14 season. Until this point, he had not made a first team appearance since a 2–2 draw with Shrewsbury Town in October 2012. Duguid called time on his playing career in the 2013–14 season, and ended it by coming on as a substitute for Dominic Vose in a 1–0 win against Walsall on 3 May 2014. In October 2014, Duguid decided to step down from his coaching role at the club in a bid to return to playing. Duguid was inducted to the Colchester United Hall of Fame at the annual Former Players' Dinner on 30 January 2016.

After leaving his coaching position at Colchester on 22 October 2014, Duguid signed for Eastern Counties Football League side Stanway Rovers on 30 October. He made his debut for the club in an extra time victory over Hertford Town in the FA Vase, playing the full 120 minutes.

On 28 January 2015, Duguid signed for Conference side Welling United. He made his debut on 31 January in Welling's 3–1 home defeat by Chester and went on to make two more appearances in defeats for Welling in February.

Duguid made a return to Stanway Rovers in March 2015 after three Conference appearances for Welling. He went straight back into the Rovers squad for their 3–1 home defeat by Hadleigh United.

Needham Market signed Duguid on 15 May 2015, three weeks after becoming champions of the Isthmian League Division One North. Duguid made eleven appearances for the club before being named as head coach of Needham's north site academy on 8 October 2015 alongside former Colchester teammate Kemal Izzet who was head coach of the south site academy, taking over the role from former Northern Ireland international Kevin Horlock.

Duguid joined Needham Market's divisional rivals Heybridge Swifts in May 2016. He left Needham Market after the club restructured its academy, effectively removing his role. He made no competitive appearances for Heybridge.

During the 2016 17 season, Duguid made two league appearances for Stanway Rovers; he added three more during the following season In June 2018 he joined Heybridge Swifts as assistant manager. In July 2019 he became manager of the club. He left Heybridge in April 2020. He subsequently became assistant manager at Stanway in July 2021. In October 2021 he was appointed joint manager of Coggeshall Town alongside Stuart Nethercott. He left the role in May 2022 to return to Stanway. He resigned from the Stanway job in September 2023.