Troy Deeney will probably be remembered as the most obviously old-school English footballer of the 21st century. He was a hardened, tough footballer who loved a fight on the pitch and was ready to literally bulldoze past defenders to score goals. He actually enjoyed a pretty decent career, making over 350 appearances for Watford and scored 47 goals in the Premier League.
But Deeney particularly loved being the ‘bad guy’ that opposition fans hated. Most of the hate stemmed from how aggressive the Englishman can be during matches and not afraid of clamping players with reckless challenges. Not only that, but the 35-year-old’s tendency to make controversial statements hasn’t helped him.
Earlier this year, before being sacked as the Forest Green Rangers manager, he thrashed his players by claiming he’d ‘rather watch Antiques Roadshow’ than his team play football. Deeney has a real old-school vibe to him, starting from his bullish playing style to how he looks. The Englishman has refused to ‘beautify’ himself to earn more fans and also refused to fix his clearly disfigured teeth.
Deeney has a strange jawline with weird jagged teeth. His teeth are weirdly small and almost come off as tiny ‘boxed houses’ whenever he smiles for the camera. The ex-Watford forward has been at the butt of many jokes for his teeth, with fans repeatedly taking aim at his unusual condition to take jabs and criticize him for looking like a homeless person.
In fact, a lot of fans have even wondered why he doesn’t get his teeth’s structure fixed. Being a footballer to have played in the Premier League for five seasons, he definitely has enough money to get proper dental care. Well, what most people don’t know is the back story behind Deeney’s jawline being in such a poor shape throughout his professional career.
It’s like he isn’t aware of the jokes on his teeth and people wanting it to be fixed. But for the Englishman, his dental state is a reminder of his roots and the struggles he’s had to overcome in his life. In an interview with the Daily Mail in 2021 before the release of his autobiography, Deeney revealed that it was his abusive father Paul Anthony Burke who disfigured his teeth like this. Burke used to often beat him up when Troy was still a child and before his mother was able to separate from him when Deeney was 11.
Troy’s father was often dealing with criminals and worked as a drug dealer in the Birmingham area where his family used to live before the separation. Deeney revealed why he doesn’t fix his teeth in the interview, explaining: “The scars I was given as a kid are evident and they have made me who I am today and that’s the reason why I’m so aggressive in my delivery when I’m playing or how I talk.
“It’s relevant to what I know as a child. All in all, I am proud of who I am. The scars have left me proud, whether that be the jagged teeth I got when my dad hit me or whatever. I am who I am. I don’t want to come away from that person but I know everything moving on now is about happiness. It is a different style of life I am looking for. I started off as an innocent kid and then I changed and now I am changing again.”
Deeney also revealed that his father Paul had threatened to kill his mother and him in one of his fiery moods when he was a child. Despite that, Troy still maintains a relationship with his dad after gaining fame as a footballer. After enduring all his troubles in his childhood and also getting expelled from school as a 14-year-old, Troy found solace in football. He began his football career at the age of 16 at Chelmsley Town before climbing the ranks slowly. His professional career saw him play in the Midland Football Combination second division, League Two, League One, Southern League, Championship and the Premier League!
He doesn’t really care about how he looks or if his teeth makes other people cringe. The 35-year-old’s happy with his flaws, as he stated to The Times in 2018: “Too many people just want to be told how great they are. Just be happy with yourself. We’ve all got flaws. I’ve got a big head and teeth like a shark. So what? It is what it is.”
Despite whatever joke is thrown at him, Deeney is quite proud of the scars that he considers his teeth to be. Knowing the fighter that he is, he’ll probably carry his deshaped jawline to his grave and continue making fans cringe by smiling widely for the cameras and showing off his ‘ugly’ features.