Tom Lockyer

For other people with similar names, see Thomas Lockyer.

Tom Lockyer

Lockyer with Wales in 2019
Personal information
Full name	Thomas Alun Lockyer [1]
Date of birth	(1994-12-03) 3 December 1994 (age 30) [2]
Place of birth	Cardiff, Wales
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) [3]
Position(s)	Centre back [4]
Team information
Current team	Luton Town
Number	4
Youth career
	Radyr Rangers
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	102	(5)
International career‡
2015–2016	Wales U21	7	(0)
2017–	Wales	16	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17:10, 15 December 2023 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22:33, 21 November 2023 (UTC)

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

Lockyer played for Radyr Rangers, Cardiff City and Bristol Rovers at youth level before making his senior debut for Bristol Rovers in 2013. He joined Charlton Athletic in 2019, before departing the club a season later for Luton Town. Having been Luton's captain since the 2022–23 season, he was part of the squad that won Luton the first promotion to the Premier League in the club's history. During a Premier League match on 16 December 2023, Lockyer suffered a cardiac arrest on the pitch; he was resuscitated and was later fitted with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator.

Club career

Bristol Rovers

Lockyer playing for Bristol Rovers in 2016

Lockyer was born and raised in Cardiff. ^[5] Lockyer started his career at Radyr Rangers. ^[6] 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. ^[7] Lockyer then signed a scholarship for Bristol Rovers in 2011 ^[8] 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. ^[9] 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. ^[10] He signed his first professional contract in May 2013, after making his previous appearances whilst still a youth team player. ^[11]

Lockyer scored his first league goal in a 1–0 win for Bristol Rovers over Northampton Town on 31 August 2013. ^[12]

On 17 March 2014, Lockyer signed a new two-year contract extension with Rovers. ^[13] 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. ^[14] 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. ^[15]

He made his 200th appearance for Rovers on 19 August 2017, in a 3–2 victory over Bury, in which he scored the opener. ^[16]

He departed Bristol Rovers following the expiration of his contract at the end of the 2018–19 season. ^[17]

Charlton Athletic

Lockyer joined Charlton Athletic, who were newly promoted to the Championship, on 28 June 2019 on a two-year contract. ^[18] His first and only goal for the club was the equaliser in a 2–2 home draw with West Bromwich Albion on 11 January 2020. ^[19] 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. ^[20]

Luton Town

Lockyer signed for another Championship club, Luton Town, on 1 September 2020 on a free transfer. ^[21] His debut came two weeks later in a 1–0 EFL Cup second round victory over Reading. ^[22] In January 2022, Lockyer scored his first goal for the club with his side's first in a 2–1 win over Bristol City, ^[23] saying after the match that he had dreamed of scoring against his old rivals. ^[24]

During the 2022–23 season, Lockyer continued to grow as a player, earning the captaincy following an injury to Sonny Bradley. As the season developed, he earned comparisons from his management team to legendary defenders Franco Baresi ^[25] and Franz Beckenbauer. ^[26] On 23 April 2023, Lockyer was named in the EFL Championship Team of the Season. ^[27] At Luton's end of season awards, he took home five awards, most notably the Player of the Season award. ^[28] On 16 May 2023, he scored Luton's all important second goal to defeat Sunderland and send the club to Wembley Stadium for the Championship play-off final. ^[29]

Lockyer was in the starting line-up for the 2023 Championship play-off final against Coventry City, but was stretchered off the pitch after collapsing in the 11th minute of the first half and taken to hospital. During Luton's victory celebrations following the penalty shoot-out, the Luton players paraded a Lockyer named playing shirt as they received the trophy and the club posted a photo of Lockyer celebrating in his hospital bed. Luton's manager Rob Edwards admitted after the game that it felt wrong to celebrate and his thoughts were primarily with Lockyer. ^[30] On 31 May, it was confirmed by the club that he would be leaving hospital the following day, ^[31] with a follow-up report a week later stating that Lockyer had suffered atrial fibrillation of the heart, but he was given the all clear to resume his playing career following surgery. On 6 July 2023, it was confirmed that Lockyer had renewed his contract with Luton Town, one week after his previous contract ran out. ^[32]

On 12 August 2023, Lockyer captained Luton in the club's first Premier League match as they lost 4–1 to Brighton & Hove Albion on the opening day of the 2023–24 season. ^[33] On 30 September, Lockyer scored his first Premier League goal in a 2–1 win at Everton ^[34] – Luton's first win in the competition and first top division win in 31 years. ^[35]

During a match against AFC Bournemouth on 16 December 2023, Lockyer was stretchered off the pitch after collapsing in the second half, having suffered a cardiac arrest. ^[36] Bournemouth player Philip Billing was the first person to summon assistance to the defender before the arrival of the medical staff, ^[37] who managed to resuscitate him in two minutes. ^[38] The match was subsequently abandoned with the scoreline at 1–1. Luton later released a statement confirming that Lockyer was in a stable condition. ^[36] After being discharged from the hospital, having had an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator fitted, he began a period of rehabilitation at home. ^{[37] [38]}

On 13 August 2024, Luton Town announced that Lockyer had returned to the club's training ground to begin the next phase of his rehabilitation. ^[39] In December 2024, just one week before his scheduled return to development squad action, he suffered ankle ligament damage in training, requiring surgery. ^[40]

International career

In October 2015, Lockyer made his Wales under-21 debut in a 0–0 draw against Denmark. ^[41]

Lockyer was called up to the Welsh senior team in June 2017, remaining an unused substitute during a 1–1 draw with Serbia. ^[42] He received his second call-up for the senior squad on 25 August 2017, for the upcoming qualifiers against Austria and Moldova. ^[43] He made his debut for the senior team on 14 November 2017 as a half-time substitute during a 1–1 draw with Panama. ^[44] In May 2021 he was selected for the Wales squad for the delayed UEFA Euro 2020 tournament. ^[45]

On 9 November 2022, more than a year since he last played for his country, Lockyer was called up to the Wales squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. ^[46] On 21 November 2023, Lockyer played the full 90 minutes in a 1–1 draw against Turkey, his first competitive game for his country in over three years. ^[47]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 10 December 2023

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 [48]	League Two	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
	2013–14 [49]	League Two	41	1	4	0	1	0	1 [a]	0	47	1
	2014–15 [50]	Conference Premier	44	1	2	0	—		3 [b]	0	49	1
	2015–16 [51]	League Two	43	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	45	0
	2016–17 [52]	League One	46	0	3	0	2	0	0	0	51	0
	2017–18 [53]	League One	37	1	1	0	3	0	0	0	41	1
	2018–19 [54]	League One	40	3	2	0	2	0	4 [c]	1	48	4
	Total		255	6	13	0	9	0	8	1	285	7
Charlton Athletic	2019–20 [19]	Championship	43	1	0	0	0	0	—		43	1
Luton Town	2020–21 [55]	Championship	20	0	1	0	2	0	—		23	0
	2021–22 [56]	Championship	29	1	2	0	1	0	1 [d]	0	33	1
	2022–23 [57]	Championship	39	3	3	0	1	1	3 [d]	1	46	5
	2023–24 [58]	Premier League	14	1	0	0	1	0	—		15	1
	2024–25 [59]	Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	Total		102	5	6	0	5	1	4	1	117	7
Career total			400	12	19	0	14	1	12	2	445	15

1. Appearance in Football League Trophy
2. Appearances in Conference Premier play-offs
3. Appearances in EFL Trophy
4. Appearance(s) in Championship play-offs

International

As of match played 21 November 2023 ^[60]

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
	2021	1	0
	2022	0	0
	2023	2	0
Total		16	0

Honours

Bristol Rovers

• Football League Two third-place promotion: 2015–16 ^[61]
• Conference Premier play-offs: 2015 ^[62]

Luton Town

• EFL Championship play-offs: 2023 ^[63]

Individual

• Football League Young Player of the Month: December 2015 ^[15]
• EFL Championship Team of the Season: 2022–23 ^[64]
• PFA Team of the Year: 2022–23 Championship ^[65]
• Luton Town Player of the Season: 2022–23 ^[28]

References

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32. Lockyer 2023 Deal, LutonTown.co.uk
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38. Garrick, Omar (31 December 2023). "Lockyer issues positive health update following cardiac arrest". The Athletic. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
39. "Tom Lockyer returns to The Brache". www.lutontown.co.uk. 13 August 2024. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
40. "Lockyer sidelined after ankle operation". www.lutontown.co.uk. 19 December 2024. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
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55. "Games played by Tom Lockyer in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
56. "Games played by Tom Lockyer in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
57. "Games played by Tom Lockyer in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
58. "Games played by Tom Lockyer in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
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60. "Lockyer, Tom". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
61. Anderson, John, ed. (2016). Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2016–2017. London: Headline Publishing Group. pp. 90–91. ISBN   978-1-4722-3395-0.
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63. "Luton win shootout to reach Premier League". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
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External links

• Profile at the Luton Town F.C. website