Tom King (footballer)

Thomas Lloyd King (born Plymouth; 9 March 1995) is a professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Newport County. He represented England at youth level and received his first call-up to the Wales senior squad in November 2019.

Tom King
Personal information
Full name Thomas Lloyd King[1]
Date of birth (1995-03-09) 9 March 1995
Place of birth Plymouth, England
Height 6 ft 4 in (1.94 m)[2]
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Club information
Current team
 Newport County
Number 1
Youth career
2004–2008 Manchester United (Gibraltar)
0000–2011 Portsmouth
2011–2014 Crystal Palace
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2019 Millwall 11 (0)
2015 → Welling United (loan) 20 (0)
2016 → Braintree Town (loan) 16 (0)
2018 → Stevenage (loan) 18 (0)
2018 → AFC Wimbledon (loan) 12 (0)
2019– Newport County 35 (1)
National team
2011 England U17 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16:55, 23 January 2021 (UTC)

Club career

Millwall

King signed a one-year contract with Millwall in August 2014, having left the Crystal Palace youth team earlier in the year.[3]

He joined National League club Welling United on an initial one-month youth loan on 24 July 2015.[4] He went on to make 20 appearances for the "Wings", before he was recalled by Millwall on 21 December.[5]

King returned to the National League on 19 February 2016, joining Braintree Town on an initial 28-day emergency loan.[6] He was involved in a controversial incident in only his second appearance for the club, during a 1–1 draw with Guiseley at Nethermoor Park.[7] He conceded the equalising goal after Oliver Norburn broke a fair play protocol and lobbed him from 30-yards out rather than passing the ball to him, after Braintree had kicked the ball into touch to allow an injured Braintree player to receive treatment; a five-minute fracas followed but the goal was allowed to stand after security staff separated the players and management, and Guiseley manager Mark Bower refused to allow Braintree to walk through and score.[8][9][10][11] Bower went on to say: "Their keeper stood there with his arms in the air and allowed the ball to into the net. It put us in a really difficult position whether we should allow them to score or not but we decided no. I think their keeper was trying to be clever and had simply let the ball go in."[12] King said he was "bewildered" by Bower's statement, and speaking on the incident itself said that: "It is one of those things that will be remembered for a long time, I'll be remembered for a long time and it will carry on forever".[13] The incident was described as "one of the biggest on-field controversies seen in non-league football", and Braintree manager Danny Cowley said that: "it's the worst thing I've seen on a football pitch and it was disgraceful unsporting behaviour on their part".[14] The following week, Guiseley chairman Phil Rogerson released a statement recognising the fair-play convention had not been followed: "... myself, Mark [Bower] and the club find the situation most regrettable and not in line with the general ethos of Guiseley AFC. Fair play is and always has been at the heart of the club. The decision to continue playing as normal after the goal was taken on the spur of the moment and under extreme pressure, not helped at all by the heated atmosphere."[9] King went on to extend his loan at Cressing Road until the end of the 2015–16 season, and Braintree qualified for the play-offs, losing out to Grimsby Town at the semi-final stage following a 2–1 aggregate defeat.[15]

King made his first team debut for Millwall in a 2–1 defeat to Nottingham Forest in an EFL Cup Second Round match at The Den on 23 August 2016.[16]

King signed an 18-month contract extension with Millwall on 4 January 2018.[17] On the same day, he joined League Two side Stevenage on loan for the rest of the 2017–18 season.[17] King made his debut for Stevenage two days after signing, keeping a clean sheet in the club's 0–0 home draw with Reading in the Third Round of the FA Cup.[18]

On 27 June 2018 King joined AFC Wimbledon on a season long loan.[19]

Newport County

On 7 June 2019, King joined League Two club Newport County on a two-year contract.[20] On 3 August 2019 he made his debut for Newport in a 2–2 draw against Mansfield Town, saving a second half penalty.[21] In September 2019, King was nominated for the August PFA League Two Player of the Month Award, after five successive clean sheets, and more than 500 minutes of football played without conceding for the South Wales side, who had climbed to second place in the league.[22]

King scored the first goal of his career on 19 January 2021, with a wind-assisted goal kick in the 12th minute of Newport's 1–1 League Two draw at Cheltenham Town.[23][24] On 21 January 2021, his goal was confirmed to have broken the Guinness World Record for longest football goal, with a distance of 96.01 metres (105 yd), a record previously held, since November 2013, by Asmir Begović.[25]

International career

King was capped by England at under-16 and under-17 level.[26] He also qualifies for Wales as his mother was born in Cardiff[27] as well as being eligible for Gibraltar through residency, having spent several years there as a child, where he first started playing football in the youth ranks at Manchester United (Gibraltar).[28]

On 7 November 2019, King was called up to the Wales national football team squad for the first time for the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying matches against Azerbaijan and Hungary.[29]

Career statistics
As of match played 23 January 2021
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Millwall 2014–15[30] Championship 000000—00
2015–16[31] League One 0000000000
2016–17[32] League One 11010104[lower-alpha 1]0170
2017–18[33] Championship 000020—20
2018–19[34] Championship 000000—00
Total 110103040190
Welling United (loan) 2015–16[31] National League 20000—00200
Braintree Town (loan) 2015–16[35] National League 16000—2[lower-alpha 2]0180
Stevenage (loan) 2017–18[33] League Two 180200000200
AFC Wimbledon (loan) 2018–19[34] League One 12000202[lower-alpha 1]0160
Newport County 2019–20[36] League Two 31020002[lower-alpha 1]0350
2020–21[37] League Two 4120102[lower-alpha 1]091
Total 351301040441
Career total 112160601201361
  1. Appearances in the EFL Trophy
  2. Appearances in the National League play-offs

Honours

Millwall

References
  1. "Retained List 2015–16" (PDF). English Football League. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 December 2016. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  2. "Tom King". AFC Wimbledon. Archived from the original on 11 November 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  3. "Millwall sign keeper Tom King". millwallfc.co.uk. 30 August 2014. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  4. "Millwall youngster Tom King joins Welling on loan". millwallfc.co.uk. 24 July 2015. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  5. "King recalled by Lions". wellingunited.com. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  6. "Braintree Town sign Millwall goalkeeper Tom King on loan". BBC Sport. 19 February 2016. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  7. "BBC Sport". BBC Sport. 27 February 2016. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  8. Harris, Matt (29 February 2016). "Braintree Town NEWS: Guiseley AFC chairman says controversial Norburn goal was 'most regrettable'". Essex Chronicle. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  9. Shepka, Phil (29 February 2016). "Guiseley v Braintree events around Ollie Norburn goal 'regrettable'". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  10. Spurgeon, Simon (27 February 2016). "Guiseley boss Bower explains why his team didn't allow Braintree Town a walk-in goal as game ends in controversy". Daily Gazette. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  11. Spurgeon, Simon (27 February 2016). "Unpalatable ending for Braintree as controversial Guiseley goal denies them eighth away victory". Braintree and Witham Times. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  12. Ward, David (29 February 2016). "Guiseley 1–1 Braintree Town MATCH REPORT: Iron boss -". Essex Chronicle. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  13. "Braintree Town NEWS: Millwall loanee Tom King baffled by claim he could have stopped Guiseley goal". Essex Chronicle. 3 March 2016. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  14. Ward, David (28 February 2016). "Braintree boss describes Guiseley incident as the 'worst thing he's seen' on a football pitch". Green 'Un 24. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  15. "National League: Braintree Town 0–2 Grimsby Town (agg: 1–2, aet)". BBC Sport. 8 May 2016. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  16. "Millwall 1–2 Nottingham Forest". BBC Sport. 23 August 2016. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  17. "Tom King: Stevenage sign Millwall goalkeeper on loan". BBC Sport. 4 January 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  18. "Stevenage 0–0 Reading". BBC Sport. 6 January 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  19. King joins Wimbledon
  20. King joins Newport
  21. Newport County debut
  22. "Newport County's clean sheet King up for PFA August award". South Wales Argus. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  23. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gX1RHXqjjjg
  24. "Cheltenham Town 1–1 Newport County". BBC Sport. 19 January 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  25. "British goalkeeper Tom King breaks record for longest football goal". Guinness World Records. 21 January 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  26. "Introducing the squad". millwallfc.co.uk. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  27. King Welsh qualification
  29. "Tom King: Newport County goalkeeper added to Wales squad for Euro 2020 qualifiers". BBC Sport. 7 November 2019. Retrieved 8 November 2019.
  30. "Games played by Tom King in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  31. "Games played by Tom King in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  32. "Games played by Tom King in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  33. "Games played by Tom King in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
  34. "Games played by Tom King in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  35. Tom King at Soccerway
  36. "Games played by Tom King in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  37. "Games played by Tom King in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  38. Hunt, Josh (20 May 2017). "Bradford City 0–1 Millwall". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
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