![]() Willock playing for Arsenal in 2018 | |||
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Joseph George Willock [1] | ||
Date of birth | [2] | 20 August 1999||
Place of birth | Waltham Forest, England | ||
Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.86 m) [3] | ||
Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
Team information | |||
Current team | Newcastle United | ||
Number | 28 | ||
Youth career | |||
2014–2017 | Arsenal | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2017–2021 | Arsenal | 40 | (1) |
2021 | → Newcastle United (loan) | 14 | (8) |
2021– | Newcastle United | 105 | (6) |
International career | |||
2014 | England U16 | 2 | (1) |
2017–2018 | England U19 | 6 | (0) |
2018–2019 | England U20 | 7 | (4) |
2019–2020 | England U21 | 4 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:59, 25 May 2025 (UTC) |
Joseph George Willock (born 20 August 1999) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Newcastle United.
A youth product of Arsenal, Willock joined Arsenal at age four-and-a-half, having been allowed to play alongside his older brothers. [4] He made his first-team debut for the club on 20 September 2017 in the EFL Cup against Doncaster Rovers. [5]
Willock made his Premier League debut against Newcastle United on 15 April 2018. [6] He scored his first senior goal on 29 November 2018 in a 3–0 UEFA Europa League victory away at Vorskla Poltava. [7] He then scored his first brace in a 3–0 FA Cup victory away at Blackpool on 5 January 2019. [8]
On 12 September 2019, it was announced that Willock had signed a new long-term contract with Arsenal. [9] [10] On 19 September 2019, he played as Arsenal won 3–0 against Eintracht Frankfurt by scoring a deflected effort to open the scoring in the opening matchday of the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League. [11] Willock scored his first goal at the Emirates Stadium on 24 September 2019 after tapping-in Arsenal's third goal in a 5–0 EFL Cup win over Nottingham Forest, set-up by Héctor Bellerín. [12] On 25 June 2020, he scored his first Premier League goal in a 2–0 win over Southampton. [13]
On 1 February 2021, Willock joined Newcastle United on loan for the remainder of the 2020–21 season. [14] On 6 February, Willock scored in the 16th minute on his debut in a 3–2 win over Southampton. [15] After scoring in three consecutive substitute appearances against Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United and Liverpool, [16] [17] [18] Willock was rewarded with a start against Leicester City, where he was once again on target, scoring the opening goal in a 4–2 win. [19] On 14 May, Willock scored in a 4–3 defeat against Manchester City. [20] On 19 May, he scored in his sixth consecutive league game, becoming the youngest player in Premier League history to do so at the age of 21 years and 272 days, a record previously held by Romelu Lukaku. [21] This was surpassed by Rasmus Højlund on 18 February 2024. [22] Four days later, on the final day of the Premier League season, he scored again to equal the club record of consecutive games scored in, set by Alan Shearer. [23]
On 13 August 2021, Newcastle confirmed the signing of Willock on a six-year contract. [24] The fee was reported to be £25 million. [25] On 19 February 2022, Willock scored his first goal since signing permanently for the club, in a 1–1 draw against West Ham United. [26] The following week, he scored Newcastle's second goal in a 2–0 win over Brentford. [27]
On 16 March 2025 Joe Willock came off the bench to appear in the 2025 EFL Cup final and become part of the first Newcastle United team to win a major domestic honour in 70 years. [28] Willock had scored the team's only goal against Nottingham Forest in the second round of the tournament to help the club's to the final. [29]
Willock scored for the England under-16 team against Scotland in the 2014 Victory Shield. [30] He also represented the England under-19 team but was one of a number of players withdrawn from selection for the 2018 UEFA European Under-19 Championship by their club. [31]
Willock represented the England under-20 team in the 2018–19 Under 20 Elite League and scored the winning goals in games against Italy [32] and Germany. [33] Willock was a member of an England Under-20 side at the 2019 Toulon Tournament and scored in group stage defeats against Portugal [34] and Chile. [35]
On 30 August 2019, Willock was included in the England under-21 squad for the first time [36] but had to withdraw due to injury. [37] He eventually made his U21 debut on 11 October 2019 during a 2–2 draw with Slovenia in Maribor. [38]
Willock was born in Walthamstow [39] which is located in Waltham Forest, Greater London. [40] His brothers, Chris and Matty, are also footballers. All three brothers shared a pitch when Manchester United played a reserve game against Arsenal in May 2017. [41] He is of Montserratian descent. [42]
Club | Season | League | FA Cup | EFL Cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Arsenal | 2017–18 [43] | Premier League | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 [a] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
2018–19 [44] | Premier League | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 [a] | 1 | — | 6 | 3 | ||
2019–20 [45] | Premier League | 29 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 8 [a] | 2 | — | 44 | 5 | ||
2020–21 [46] | Premier League | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 [a] | 3 | 1 [b] | 0 | 17 | 3 | |
Total | 40 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 21 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 78 | 11 | ||
Arsenal U21 | 2018–19 [44] | — | — | — | — | 2 [c] | 3 | 2 | 3 | |||||
Newcastle United (loan) | 2020–21 [46] | Premier League | 14 | 8 | — | — | — | — | 14 | 8 | ||||
Newcastle United | 2021–22 [47] | Premier League | 29 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 31 | 2 | ||
2022–23 [48] | Premier League | 35 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | — | — | 43 | 3 | |||
2023–24 [49] | Premier League | 9 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 [d] | 0 | — | 14 | 2 | ||
2024–25 [50] | Premier League | 32 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 1 | — | — | 41 | 3 | |||
Total | 105 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 16 | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | 129 | 10 | |||
Career total | 159 | 15 | 14 | 4 | 24 | 4 | 23 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 223 | 32 |
Arsenal
Newcastle United
Individual