Michael became Steve Cotterill's second signing at Turf Moor in July 2004, when he arrived from his first and only previous club Cheltenham Town.
Burnley paid a fee of £30,000 for the versatile defender, who became Cheltenham's first ever international player when he represented Northern Ireland in 1999. His signing was described as a 'calculated risk' by Cotterill, but it proved to be anything but as Duff quickly adapted to life in the Championship. He played a major role in the successful Clarets back line which kept so many teams at bay throughout the season and it was only an injury that he picked up early in the new year that set him back by a few weeks. All in all though, everyone at Turf Moor was pleased with Michael's contribution to the season given the fact that he had only played for one season outside of the basement division in his career prior to joining Burnley.
Duff came through the ranks at Whaddon Road as a teenager and with Cotterill at the helm, became a first team regular as the Robins won promotion from the Doctor Martens League, into the Conference and then into the Football League, with Duff scoring the goal that secured their promotion to the professional game.
As Cheltenham established themselves in the League, Duff became one of the team's key players and a highly rated young star.
That was accentuated when Cotterill took the club to the next stage by winning promotion to the Second Division, with Duff again playing a key role in the team.
Duff was also part of the Cheltenham team that knocked Burnley out of the FA Cup in 2002, but after more than 200 League games for the Robins and in the last year of his contract he felt it was a good time to move on and try his luck at a higher level and add more international caps to his name.
A tall and strong player, Duff can play in a variety of roles in the team whether this is in the centre of defence or on the right side of defence or midfield.
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