Tom Hitchcock

Tom Hitchcock

Personal information
Full name	Thomas Joseph Hitchock [1]
Date of birth	(1992-10-01) 1 October 1992 (age 31)
Place of birth	Hemel Hempstead, England
Height	1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Real Bedford F.C.
Youth career
	Watford
2007–2011	Blackburn Rovers
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2011–2012	Blackburn Rovers	0	(0)
2011	→ Plymouth Argyle (loan)	8	(0)
2012–2014	Queens Park Rangers	1	(1)
2012	→ Bristol Rovers (loan)	17	(3)
2013–2014	→ Crewe Alexandra (loan)	6	(3)
2014	→ Rotherham United (loan)	11	(5)
2014–2016	Milton Keynes Dons	12	(0)
2014–2015	→ Fleetwood Town (loan)	6	(1)
2015	→ Stevenage (loan)	10	(2)
2016	→ Crewe Alexandra (loan)	7	(0)
2017	Boreham Wood	11	(0)
2017–2018	Chelmsford City	11	(1)
2018	Biggleswade Town
2018	Chesham United	5	(0)
2018–2019	Harlow Town	24	(8)
2019	Cheshunt	7	(3)
2019–2021	Bedford Town	25	(11)
2020	→ Cambridge City (loan)	2	(1)
2021–2022	Cambridge City	1	(1)
2022–	Real Bedford	0	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22:56, 14 August 2021 (UTC)

Thomas Joseph Hitchcock (born 1 October 1992) is an English footballer who plays as a forward for Real Bedford F.C.

Club career

Blackburn Rovers

Hitchcock progressed through the youth system at Blackburn Rovers academy after officially joining in 2007, after being recommended by his father Kevin Hitchcock who was then goalkeeping coach at the club. He made his breakthrough into the Blackburn Rovers reserve team in 2009, scoring his first goal that year.

On 19 July 2011, following a successful pre-season trial, Hitchcock joined then League Two side Plymouth Argyle on an initial three-month loan, eventually making 10 appearances for the club before returning to his parent club. ^[2]

On 2 February 2012, Hitchcock became a free agent following the mutual cancellation of his contract with Blackburn. ^[3]

Queens Park Rangers

On 4 March 2012 Hitchcock signed a one-year deal with Queens Park Rangers. ^[4] On 17 August 2013, Hitchcock made his debut for the club as an 83rd-minute substitute for Bobby Zamora, scoring a 90th-minute winner in a 1–0 win over Ipswich Town. ^[5]

Following limited first team opportunities, Hitchcock signed on loan for League One side Crewe Alexandra. He went on to make 6 appearances for the club, scoring 3 goals. ^[6]

On 10 January 2014, Tom joined Rotherham United on a month-long loan. ^[7] He scored his first goal for the club on his second appearance, opening the scoring in a 3–0 win against Shrewsbury Town. ^[8] On 5 April, he scored his first professional career hat-trick in a 4–3 win against Gillingham. ^[9]

Milton Keynes Dons

On 1 July 2014, Hitchcock joined Milton Keynes Dons on a three-year contract following his release from Queens Park Rangers. ^[10]

On 31 October 2014, Hitchcock signed on loan for Fleetwood Town, ^[11] and scored just three minutes into his debut in a 1–0 win against Gillingham. He went on to make seven appearances for the club, before returning to Milton Keynes Dons in January 2015. ^{[12] [13] [14]}

On 7 August 2015, Hitchcock signed for League Two side Stevenage, initially on a one-month loan ^[15] which was later extended. ^[16] Hitchcock made his debut for Stevenage against Notts County but was sent off on his debut. Hitchcock scored his first goal for Stevenage in a 1–1 away draw to Dagenham & Redbridge. Hitchcock scored his second goal for the club on 19 September 2015 in a 3–2 away defeat to Barnet before returning to Milton Keynes Dons. ^[17] On 23 February 2016, Hitchcock returned to League One side Crewe Alexandra on loan for the rest of the 2015–16 season. ^[18]

On 9 August 2016, Hitchcock left Milton Keynes Dons, becoming a free agent following the mutual termination of his contract. ^[19] He joined Port Vale on trial in January 2017. ^[20]

Non-league

On 11 September 2017, Hitchcock signed for Chelmsford City. ^[21]

Following departing Chelmsford in March 2018, Hitchcock joined Biggleswade Town on 31 August 2018. ^[22] He then joined Chesham United and Harlow Town in quick succession. ^{[23] [24]} Hitchcock joined Cheshunt at the start of the 2019–20 season, ^[25] before joining Bedford Town. ^[26] Hitchcock signed for Cambridge City for the 2021–22 season, having played for the Lilywhites on loan the previous year. ^[27]

Personal life

Hitchcock is the son of former Chelsea goalkeeper Kevin Hitchcock. ^[28] While attending Kingshott School in Hitchin, he was a member of the Watford academy along with classmate Ben Nugent, combining his studies and appearances for the school's first XI with his Academy commitments. When his father was appointed as goalkeeping coach at Blackburn Rovers as part of Mark Hughes' coaching team in 2004, Hitchcock and his family moved north and Tom transferred to the Blackburn youth teams.

Career statistics

As of match played 9 December 2017 ^[29]

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
Blackburn Rovers	2011–12	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	Total		0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
Plymouth Argyle (loan)	2011–12	League Two	8	0	0	0	1	0	1 [lower-alpha 1]	0	10	0
	Total		8	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	10	0
Queens Park Rangers	2012–13	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	2013–14	Championship	1	1	0	0	1	0	—		2	1
	Total		1	1	0	0	1	0	—		2	1
Bristol Rovers (loan)	2012–13	League Two	17	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	17	3
Crewe Alexandra (loan)	2013–14	League One	6	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	3
Rotherham United (loan)	2013–14	League One	11	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	11	5
	Total		34	11	0	0	0	0	0	0	34	11
Milton Keynes Dons	2014–15	League One	12	0	0	0	1	0	1 [lower-alpha 1]	0	14	0
	2015–16	Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	Total		12	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	14	0
Fleetwood Town (loan)	2014–15	League One	6	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	7	1
Stevenage (loan)	2015–16	League Two	10	2	0	0	0	0	1 [lower-alpha 1]	0	11	2
Crewe Alexandra (loan)	2015–16	League One	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	0
	Total		23	3	1	0	0	0	1	0	25	3
Boreham Wood	2016–17	National League	11	0	0	0	—		2 [lower-alpha 2]	0	13	0
Chelmsford City	2017–18	National League South	8	0	2	0	—		0	0	10	0
Career total			97	15	3	0	3	0	5	0	108	15

1. Appearances in the Football League Trophy
2. Appearances in the FA Trophy

References

1. "The Football League Limited: Club list of registered players as at 16th May 2015" (PDF). The Football League. 16 May 2015. p. 51. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 June 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
2. "Bristol Live – latest local news, sport & business from Bristol".
3. "Hitchcock leaves Blackburn – Number of League One clubs eyeing up a move for young striker". Sky Sports. 2 February 2012. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
4. Tom Hitchcock wins QPR deal after Blackburn exit; Tribal Football, 4 March 2012
5. "QPR 1–0 Ipswich". BBC Sport. 17 August 2013. Retrieved 15 August 2013.
6. "Crewe Alex: QPR striker Tom Hitchcock moves to Gresty Road on loan | Stoke Sentinel". stokesentinel.co.uk. Archived from the original on 30 November 2013.
7. "Millers land striker Hitchcock". Rotherham United FC. 10 January 2014.
8. "Shrewsbury Town 0–3 Rotherham United" BBC Sport. 18 January 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
9. "Gillingham 3–4 Rotherham United" BBC Sport. 5 April 2014. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
10. "MK Dons: Tom Hitchcock joins on three-year deal after leaving QPR". BBC Sport. 1 July 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
11. "Tom Hitchcock: Fleetwood sign MK Dons striker on loan" BBC Sport. 31 October 2014. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
12. "Fleetwood Town 1-0 Gillingham" BBC Sport. 1 November 2014. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
13. "Games played by Tom Hitchcock in 2014/2015" Soccerbase. 5 January 2015. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
14. "Hitchcock makes MK Dons return" Sky Sports. 5 January 2015. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
15. "Stevenage sign McCombe and Hitchcock". BBC Sport.
16. "Stevenage extend Hitchcock loan". BBC Sport.
17. "Barnet 3-2 Stevenage". BBC Sport.
18. "Crewe Alex line up loan move for MK Dons man Tom Hitchcock". 23 February 2016.
19. "Hitchcock departs".
20. Baggaley, Mike (10 January 2017). "Trialists Eagles and Hitchcock help Port Vale reserves win 4-0". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
21. "Clarets improve attack with signing". Chelmsford City F.C. 11 September 2017. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
22. "Tom Hitchcock joins the Waders!". Biggleswade Town F.C. 31 August 2018. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
23. "Tom Hitchcock Profile | Aylesbury United FC".
24. "Appearances | Tom Hitchcock | Football Web Pages.co.uk". footballwebpages.co.uk. Archived from the original on 12 November 2018.
25. "Cheshunt | Appearances | Tom Hitchcock | Football Web Pages". footballwebpages.co.uk. Archived from the original on 10 August 2019.
26. "Bedford Town | Appearances | Thomas Hitchcock | Football Web Pages".
27. Cambridge City land two signings including former Blackburn Rovers, QPR and MK Dons striker
28. "Clarets improve attack with signing". The Herald . Plymouth. 13 July 2011. Archived from the original on 14 June 2012. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
29. "Games played by Tom Hitchcock". Soccerbase. Retrieved 8 August 2016.

External links

• Tom Hitchcock at Soccerbase