Conor Townsend

Conor Townsend

Personal information
Full name	Conor Stephen Townsend [1]
Date of birth	(1993-03-04) 4 March 1993 (age 31)
Place of birth	Hessle, England [2]
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) [3]
Position(s)	Left back
Team information
Current team	West Bromwich Albion
Number	3
Youth career
2001–2011	Hull City
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2011–2016	Hull City	0	(0)
2011–2012	→ Grimsby Town (loan)	27	(1)
2012–2013	→ Chesterfield (loan)	20	(1)
2013	→ Carlisle United (loan)	11	(0)
2014	→ Carlisle United (loan)	1	(0)
2014–2015	→ Dundee United (loan)	17	(0)
2015	→ Scunthorpe United (loan)	6	(0)
2015	→ Grimsby Town (loan)	9	(1)
2016–2018	Scunthorpe United	74	(5)
2018–	West Bromwich Albion	188	(3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 08:12, 17 March 2024 (UTC)

Conor Stephen Townsend (born 4 March 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a left-back for EFL Championship club West Bromwich Albion.

He began his career with Hull City, from whom he had loan spells with Grimsby Town, Chesterfield, Carlisle United, Dundee United and Scunthorpe United before joining the latter permanently in 2016.

At the start of the 2018–19 season, Conor Townsend joined West Brom.

Club career

Hull City

Townsend came through the youth ranks at Hull City after joining the club at the age of eight, ^[4] and was promoted to the club's first team during the 2011–12 season.

Townsend's breakthrough of sorts, at the start of the 2013–14 season, occurred when he made his Hull City debut on 27 August 2013, coming on as 55th-minute substitute in a League Cup game against Leyton Orient. ^[5]

He signed a one-year contract extension with Hull in June 2015. ^[6]

4 years on loan

He joined Grimsby Town on loan on 25 October 2011, initially for one month. ^[7] He made his debut on 29 October, playing in a 5–0 win against Ashington in the fourth qualifying round of the FA Cup, and was named man-of-the-match. ^[8] He made his league debut on 5 November, playing the full 90 minutes of a 2–2 draw against Bath City. ^[9] After making 5 appearances, his loan was extended by a further month. ^[10] On 29 December, the loan was extended until the end of the season. ^[11] He scored his first professional goal, from a free kick, in a 2–1 win against Forest Green Rovers. ^[12] He made 27 league appearances, as well as five in the FA Cup. At the end of the 2011–12 season Townsend was awarded the club's "Supporters Young Player of the Season" award. ^[13]

On 20 November 2012, he joined Chesterfield on a month-long loan. ^[14] He made his debut on 15 December, replacing Jay O'Shea after 85 minutes of a 1–1 draw at home to Burton Albion. ^[15] On 29 December, he scored his first goal for Chesterfield and was then sent off later in the game, during a 1–1 draw against Morecambe. ^[16] The loan was eventually extended to the end of the season. ^[17] In total, he played 20 games for Chesterfield and scored once. On 29 April, his loan deal ended and he returned to Hull City. ^[18]

After making his first appearance for Hull, Townsend moved on a month-long loan to Carlisle United on 2 September 2013. ^[19] The loan was extended for two months on 26 September 2013. ^[20] Here, he played twelve league games, three FA Cup games and two Football League Trophy games. He was sent off in a 0–0 draw against Rotherham United. ^[21]

Townsend moved to Dundee United on loan in July 2014. ^[22] He made his debut on 10 August 2014, as Dundee United beat Aberdeen 3–0 in the opening game of the 2014–15 season. ^[23] Following transfer deadline day moves he returned to Hull City early on 3 February 2015. ^[24]

On 28 February 2015, Townsend joined Scunthorpe United on a month-long loan, ^[25] which was later extended to the end of the season. ^[26] He debuted the same day, in a 0–0 draw against Yeovil Town. ^[27] He played six times for Scunthorpe, before going back to Hull.

Having signed a one-year contract extension with Hull in 2015, ^[28] Townsend was again loaned to Grimsby Town, joining for one month on 12 October 2015. ^[29] This was later extended until 1 January 2016. ^[30] He scored twice, once in a 5–1 win against St Albans, ^[31] in the FA Cup and again in a 3–1 win against Welling United, in the league. ^[32]

Scunthorpe United

On 6 January 2016, Townsend signed for Scunthorpe United on a free transfer. ^[33] Townsend scored his first goal for the club in a 6–0 win over Swindon Town on 28 March 2016. ^[34] He played 88 games for Scunthorpe, scored five goals and was a crucial part of their push for play-offs in 2015–16, 2016–17 (where they lost to Millwall in the semi-finals) and 2017–18 (where they lost to Rotherham in the semi-finals).

West Bromwich Albion

On 28 July 2018, Scunthorpe sold Townsend to West Bromwich Albion for £1,500,000 with 50% going to Hull City, ^[35] after Scunthorpe rejected a bid from Ipswich Town and Hull City decided not to activate their first option to buy. ^[36] He signed a three-year deal. ^[37] In his first season with West Brom, Townsend was the second choice left back, behind Kieran Gibbs and only managed 12 league appearances in his debut season. ^[38] Townsend made his debut for West Brom in a 4–3 victory over Norwich City, where he came off the bench at half time for Gibbs. ^[39] In his second season, Townsend was used more often, making 27 league appearances – including 19 starts. On 25 January 2020, Townsend scored his first goal for West Brom in a 1–0 victory over Premier League side, West Ham, in the FA Cup. ^[40] In a successful season for West Brom, they finished second and were promoted to the Premier League. ^[41]

In the 2020–21 season, Townsend was the preferred choice, when available, but missed the whole of December and January after suffering an knee injury in a 1–0 win over Sheffield United. ^{[42] [43]} Townsend would play in 25 league games as The Baggies were relegated, after finishing 19th. ^[44] With Kieran Gibbs leaving West Brom before the start of the 2021–22 season, ^[45] Townsend became first choice and started 43 league games across the season. With a season of good performances, fans began making playful comparisons to Roberto Carlos – which led to the joke nickname 'Conor Carlos'. ^{[46] [47] [48]} For his good performances, Townsend was rewarded with a new contract, extending until 2025. ^[49]

In the 2022–23 season, Townsend played in all 46 league matches. In a 3–2 victory against Luton Town, Townsend scored his first league goal for West Brom, which completed the comeback after being 2–0 down at halftime. ^[50] Townsend would go on to score two more goals in the season – one against Watford and one against Norwich. ^{[51] [52]} With captain Jake Livermore out of the starting 11 and vice-captain Dara O'Shea injured, ^[53] Townsend was nominated as stand-in captain for the final few games of the season. ^[54] For the 2023–24 season, Townsend was named third captain, standing in for Jed Wallace and Okay Yokuslu.

Career statistics

As of 23 September 2023

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Hull City	2011–12 [55]	Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	2012–13 [56]	Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	2013–14 [57]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	1	0	—		1	0
	2014–15 [58]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Total		0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
Grimsby Town (loan)	2011–12 [55]	Conference Premier	27	1	4	0	—		0	0	31	1
Chesterfield (loan)	2012–13 [56]	League Two	20	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	20	1
Carlisle United (loan)	2013–14 [57]	League One	12	0	3	0	—		2 [lower-alpha 1]	0	17	0
Dundee United (loan)	2014–15 [58]	Scottish Premiership	17	0	1	0	1	0	—		19	0
Scunthorpe United (loan)	2014–15 [58]	League One	6	0	0	0	0	0	—		6	0
Grimsby Town (loan)	2015–16 [59]	National League	9	1	3	1	—		0	0	12	2
Scunthorpe United	2015–16 [59]	League One	20	1	—		0	0	0	0	20	1
	2016–17 [60]	League One	24	0	1	0	2	0	5 [lower-alpha 2]	0	32	0
	2017–18 [61]	League One	30	4	1	0	2	0	[lower-alpha 3] |0	36	5
	Total		74	5	2	0	4	0	8	0	88	5
West Bromwich Albion	2018–19 [38]	Championship	12	0	3	0	3	0	—		18	0
	2019–20 [62]	Championship	27	0	2	1	1	0	—		30	1
	2020–21 [63]	Premier League	25	0	0	0	2	0	—		27	0
	2021–22 [64]	Championship	43	0	1	0	0	0	—		44	0
	2022–23 [65]	Championship	46	3	1	0	1	0	—		48	3
	2023–24 [66]	Championship	8	0	0	0	1	0	—		9	0
	Total		161	3	7	1	8	0	0	0	176	4
Career total			326	11	20	2	12	0	10	0	370	14

1. Appearances in the Football League Trophy
2. Three appearances in the Football League Trophy and two in the League One play-offs
3. One appearance in the Football League Trophy and two in the League One play-offs

References

1. "2020/21 Premier League squads confirmed". Premier League. 20 October 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
2. "Conor Townsend" Sky Sports.com. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
3. "West Bromwich Albion Player Profile Conor Townsend". West Bromwich Albion. 2023. Archived from the original on 19 December 2023. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
4. "Hull City transfer talk: Stephen Quinn Reading rumour, Huddlestone 'snubs Villa'". Hull Daily Mail. 20 June 2015. Archived from the original on 20 June 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
5. "Leyton Orient 0–1 Hull". BBC Sport. BBC. 27 August 2013. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
6. "2014–15 Hull City A.F.C. season". Free Journal. Archived from the original on 18 January 2022. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
7. "Grimsby Town sign Hull City's Conor Townsend on loan". BBC Sport. 25 October 2011. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
8. "Grimsby Town: Conor focused on Mariners as Hull manager saga rumbles on". This is Grimsby. 12 November 2011. Archived from the original on 14 November 2011. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
9. "Bath City 2–2 Grimsby". BBC Sport. 5 November 2011. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
10. "Grimsby Town extend loan of Hull City's Conor Townsend". BBC Sport. 23 November 2011. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
11. "Hull City's Conor Townsend to stay at Grimsby Town for season". BBC Sport. 29 December 2011. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
12. "A stunning free-kick in the last minute secured all three points for Grimsby against a spirited Forest Green side". BBC Sport. 10 March 2012. Archived from the original on 18 January 2022. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
13. "Connor Townsend shooting for Hull City starting spot". This is Hull and East Riding. 19 July 2012. Archived from the original on 22 July 2012. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
14. "Chesterfield sign Jay O'Shea and Conor Townsend". BBC Sport. 20 November 2012. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
15. "Chesterfield 1–1 Burton". BBC Sport. 15 December 2012. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
16. "Chesterfield 1–1 Morecambe". BBC Sport. 29 December 2012. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
17. "Chesterfield extend Conor Townsend loan from Hull City". BBC Sport. BBC. 25 January 2013. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
18. "Seven released by Spireites". skysports.com. Sky Sports. 29 April 2013. Archived from the original on 15 June 2013. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
19. "Carlisle United sign Hull City defender Conor Townsend". BBC Sport. BBC. 2 September 2013. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
20. "Carlisle: Hull defender Conor Townsend extends loan stay". BBC Sport. BBC. 26 September 2013. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
21. "Rotherham United 0–0 Carlisle United". BBC Sport. 23 November 2013. Archived from the original on 9 July 2019. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
22. "Andrew Robertson completes transfer from Dundee United to Hull". STV Sport. 29 July 2014. Archived from the original on 30 July 2014. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
23. McLeod, Liam (10 August 2014). "Aberdeen 0–3 Dundee Utd". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
24. "It's a Dun deal as Celtic complete deadline day swoop for United duo Stuart Armstrong and Gary Mackay-Steven". Daily Record. 3 February 2015. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
25. "Townsend Joins Scunthorpe On Loan". The Tigers Official Website. Hull City A.F.C. 28 February 2015. Archived from the original on 10 March 2015. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
26. "Hull City man Conor Townsend extends Scunthorpe United loan". BBC Sport. BBC. 25 March 2015. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
27. "Scunthorpe United 1–1 Yeovil Town". BBC Sport. 28 February 2015. Archived from the original on 21 December 2019. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
28. "Townsend Pens New Deal". Hull City A.F.C. 19 June 2015. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
29. "Conor Townsend: Grimsby Town sign Hull City defender". BBC Sport. BBC. 12 October 2015. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
30. "Conor Extends Town Stay". Grimsby Town F.C. 5 November 2015. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
31. "Grimsby Town 5–1 St Albans City". BBC Sport. 7 November 2015. Archived from the original on 24 October 2018. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
32. "Grimsby Town 3–1 Welling United". BBC Sport. 14 November 2015. Archived from the original on 11 September 2018. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
33. "Conor Townsend: Scunthorpe sign Hull City full-back". BBC Sport. BBC. 6 January 2016. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
34. "Scunthorpe 6–0 Swindon". BBC Sport . 28 March 2016. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
35. Maher, Matt (28 July 2018). "West Brom sign Conor Townsend from Scunthorpe". Express and Star. Archived from the original on 3 June 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
36. Buckingham, Philip (28 July 2018). "Conor Townsend joins West Brom to leave Hull City boss Nigel Adkins frustrated". Hull Daily Mail. Archived from the original on 29 July 2018. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
37. "Conor Townsend: West Bromwich Albion sign Scunthorpe United defender for undisclosed fee". BBC Sport. 28 July 2018. Archived from the original on 24 May 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
38. "Games played by Conor Townsend in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
39. "Norwich City 3 4 West Bromwich Albion". BBC Sport. 11 August 2018. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
40. Bevan, Chris (25 January 2020). "West Ham United 0 1 West Bromwich Albion". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
41. "West Brom win promotion to the Premier League". Premier League. 22 July 2020. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
42. Maher, Matt (4 December 2020). "West Brom defender Conor Townsend ruled out for up to six weeks". Express & Star. Archived from the original on 4 December 2020. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
43. Rose, Gary (28 November 2020). "West Bromwich Albion 1 0 Sheffield United". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
44. Corkhill, Barney. "West Bromwich Albion relegated from Premier League". SportsMole. Archived from the original on 18 June 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
45. "Transfer news: West Brom defender Kieran Gibbs to join MLS side Inter Miami at end of the season". Sky Sports. 23 March 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
46. Masi, Joseph (26 October 2021). "'Conor Carlos' is proving to be Mr Reliable for West Brom". Shropshire Star. Archived from the original on 26 October 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
47. Madeley, Steve (17 November 2021). "West Brom's Conor Townsend signs new deal until 2025". The Athletic. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
48. Chapman, Joseph (18 November 2021). "The 'massive compliment' West Brom have paid Conor Townsend". Birmingham Live. Archived from the original on 22 November 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
49. "TOWNSEND SIGNS CONTRACT EXTENSION". West Bromwich Albion. 17 November 2020. Archived from the original on 28 June 2022. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
50. "Conor Townsend: First league goal for West Brom 'very special' for Baggies left-back". BBC Sport. 15 January 2023. Archived from the original on 8 April 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
51. Walker, Ron (20 February 2023). "Watford 3–2 West Brom: Ken Sema's goals in either half lift Hornets into play-offs with narrow victory". Sky Sports. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
52. Long, Dan (29 April 2023). "West Brom 2–1 Norwich City: Jed Wallace winner keeps Baggies' play-off hopes alive and ends those of the Canaries". Sky Sports. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
53. Horgan, Andrew (31 March 2023). "Dara O'Shea confirms he will miss the rest of the season through injury". Irish Examiner. Archived from the original on 1 April 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
54. Cox, Lewis (25 April 2023). "Stand-in West Brom skipper Conor Townsend eyeing late play-off charge". Express & Star. Archived from the original on 2 May 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
55. "Games played by Conor Townsend in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
56. "Games played by Conor Townsend in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
57. "Games played by Conor Townsend in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
58. "Games played by Conor Townsend in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
59. "Games played by Conor Townsend in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
60. "Games played by Conor Townsend in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
61. "Games played by Conor Townsend in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
62. "Games played by Conor Townsend in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
63. "Games played by Conor Townsend in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
64. "Games played by Conor Townsend in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
65. "Games played by Conor Townsend in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
66. "Games played by Conor Townsend in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 September 2023.

External links

• Conor Townsend profile at Sky Sports.
• Conor Townsend at Soccerbase