Tom Lockyer (footballer)

Thomas Alun Lockyer (born 3 December 1994) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Championship club Luton Town and the Wales national team.

Tom Lockyer

Lockyer playing for Wales in 2019
Personal information
Full name	Thomas Alun Lockyer[1]
Date of birth	3 December 1994[2]
Place of birth	Cardiff, Wales
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[3]
Position(s)	Centre-back[4]
Club information
Current team	Luton Town
Number	15
Youth career
2006–2011	Cardiff City
2011–2012	Bristol Rovers
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2012–2019	Bristol Rovers	255	(6)
2019–2020	Charlton Athletic	43	(1)
2020–	Luton Town	17	(0)
National team^‡
2015–2016	Wales U21	7	(0)
2017–	Wales	13	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21:12, 30 January 2021 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 21:12, 30 January 2021 (UTC)

Club career

Bristol Rovers

Lockyer playing for Bristol Rovers in 2016

Lockyer was born and raised in Cardiff.[5] He joined Cardiff City as a youth aged 11, but was released aged 16, as Cardiff deemed him to be too small to play his preferred position of centre-back.[6] Lockyer then signed a scholarship for Bristol Rovers in 2011[7] and went on to make his debut on 12 January 2013, replacing Ellis Harrison, 85 minutes into a 3–0 win over Fleetwood Town at Highbury Stadium.[8] He made his home debut two months later on 12 March 2013, replacing Oliver Norburn in the 74th minute in a 2–0 win over Port Vale.[9] He signed his first professional contract in May 2013, after making his previous appearances whilst still a youth team player.[10]

Lockyer scored his first league goal in a 1–0 win for Bristol Rovers over Northampton Town on 31 August 2013.

On 17 March 2014, Lockyer signed a new two-year contract extension with Rovers.[11] After Rovers were relegated out of League Two in the 2013–14 season, Lockyer became a very important part of a very successful season after seeing the club get promoted first time of asking. In that season he managed to score one goal vs Grimsby Town.[12] As Rovers returned to League Two, he was a first-team regular and was rewarded by being named the Football League Young Player of the Month for December 2015 after consistent good performances.[13]

He made his 200th appearance for Rovers on 19 August 2017, in a 3–2 victory over Bury, in which he scored the opener.[14]

He departed Bristol Rovers following the expiration of his contract at the end of the 2018–19 season.[15]

Charlton Athletic

Lockyer joined Charlton Athletic, who were newly promoted to the Championship, on 28 June 2019 on a two-year contract.[16] After playing every minute of 43 league appearances in the 2019–20 season and missing only three matches due to suspension, Lockyer triggered a relegation release clause in his contract in August 2020, allowing him to join another club for free.[17]

Luton Town

Lockyer signed for another Championship club, Luton Town, on 1 September 2020 on a free transfer.[18]

International career

In October 2015, Lockyer made his Wales under-21 debut in a 0–0 draw against Denmark.[19]

Lockyer was called up to the Welsh senior team in June 2017, remaining an unused substitute during a 1–1 draw with Serbia.[20] He received his second call-up for the senior squad on 25 August 2017, for the upcoming qualifiers against Austria and Moldova.[21] He made his debut for the senior team on 14 November 2017 as a half-time substitute during a 1–1 draw with Panama.[22]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 30 January 2021

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Bristol Rovers	2012–13[23]	League Two	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
	2013–14[24]	League Two	41	1	4	0	1	0	1[lower-alpha 1]	0	47	1
	2014–15[25]	Conference Premier	44	1	2	0	—		3[lower-alpha 2]	0	49	1
	2015–16[26]	League Two	43	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	45	0
	2016–17[27]	League One	46	0	3	0	2	0	0	0	51	0
	2017–18[28]	League One	37	1	1	0	3	0	0	0	41	1
	2018–19[29]	League One	40	3	2	0	2	0	4[lower-alpha 3]	1	48	4
	Total		255	6	13	0	9	0	8	1	285	7
Charlton Athletic	2019–20[30]	Championship	43	1	0	0	0	0	—		43	1
Luton Town	2020–21[31]	Championship	17	0	1	0	2	0	—		20	0
Career total			315	7	14	0	11	0	8	1	348	8

1. Appearance in Football League Trophy
2. Appearances in Conference Premier play-offs
3. Appearances in EFL Trophy

International

As of match played 12 November 2020[32]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Wales	2017	1	0
	2018	4	0
	2019	5	0
	2020	3	0
Total		13	0

Honours

Bristol Rovers

• Conference Premier play-offs: 2015[33]
• Football League Two third-place promotion: 2015–16[34]

Individual

• Football League Young Player of the Month: December 2015[13]

References

1. "EFL: Club retained and released lists published". English Football League. 23 June 2016. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
2. "Tom Lockyer". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
3. "Tom Lockyer". Bristol Rovers F.C. Archived from the original on 28 August 2018.
4. Piercy, James (16 May 2019). "Tom Lockyer in talks with four Championship clubs as he claims he stayed at Bristol Rovers for 'two years too long'". Bristol Live. Local World. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
5. "Tom Lockyer named Football League Young Player of the Month". Bristol Rovers F.C. 17 January 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
6. Hassan, Nabil (17 January 2016). "Tom Lockyer: Bristol Rovers defender on relegation & promotion". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
7. "Bristol Rovers FC Player Profiles: Tom Lockyer". Bristol Rovers F.C. Archived from the original on 3 May 2017.
8. "Fleetwood 0–3 Bristol Rovers". BBC Sport. 12 January 2013. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
9. "Bristol Rovers 2–0 Port Vale". BBC Sport. 12 March 2013. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
10. "Tom Lockyer signs". Bristol Rovers F.C. 13 May 2013. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
11. "Tom Lockyer signs contract extension". Bristol Rovers F.C. 17 March 2014. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
12. "Grimsby Town 0–1 Bristol Rovers". BBC Sport. 14 February 2015. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
13. "Tom Lockyer named Football League Young Player of the Month". The Football League. 17 January 2016. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
14. "Reaction: Tom Lockyer post Bury". Bristol Rovers F.C. 20 August 2017. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
15. "Bristol Rovers: Chris Lines heads list of nine players to leave League One club". BBC Sport. 8 May 2019. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
16. "Charlton Athletic: Chuks Aneke and Tom Lockyer join on two-year contracts". BBC Sport. 28 June 2019. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
17. Cawley, Richard (10 August 2020). "Exclusive: Tom Lockyer activates release clause at Charlton Athletic". South London Press. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
18. Simmonds, Mike (1 September 2020). "Town chief thrilled to sign 'ambitious' Lockyer from Addicks". Luton Today. JPIMedia Publishing. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
19. "Denmark U21 0–0 Wales U21". BBC Sport. 9 October 2015. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
20. Pritchard, Dafydd (11 June 2017). "Serbia 1–1 Wales". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
21. "Tom Lockyer called up to Wales senior squad". Bristol Rovers F.C. 25 August 2017. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
22. Pritchard, Dafydd (14 November 2017). "Wales 1–1 Panama". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
23. "Games played by Tom Lockyer in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
24. "Games played by Tom Lockyer in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
25. "T. Lockyer: Summary". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
26. "Games played by Tom Lockyer in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
27. "Games played by Tom Lockyer in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
28. "Games played by Tom Lockyer in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
29. "Games played by Tom Lockyer in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
30. "Games played by Tom Lockyer in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
31. "Games played by Tom Lockyer in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
32. "Lockyer, Tom". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
33. Mitchell, Brendon (17 May 2015). "Bristol Rovers 1–1 Grimsby Town". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
34. Anderson, John, ed. (2016). Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2016–2017. London: Headline Publishing Group. pp. 90–91. ISBN 978-1-4722-3395-0.

External links

• Profile at the Luton Town F.C. website
• Tom Lockyer at Soccerbase