Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Thomas James Soares [1] | ||
Date of birth | 10 July 1986 | ||
Place of birth | Reading, England | ||
Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) [2] | ||
Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
Youth career | |||
2000–2003 | Crystal Palace | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2003–2008 | Crystal Palace | 149 | (11) |
2008–2012 | Stoke City | 7 | (0) |
2009 | → Charlton Athletic (loan) | 11 | (1) |
2009–2010 | → Sheffield Wednesday (loan) | 25 | (2) |
2012 | → Hibernian (loan) | 10 | (2) |
2012–2017 | Bury | 164 | (22) |
2017–2019 | AFC Wimbledon | 69 | (1) |
2019–2020 | Stevenage | 15 | (0) |
2021–2022 | Dorchester Town | 25 | (1) |
2023–2024 | Marlow | 19 | (2) |
International career | |||
2005–2007 | England U21 | 4 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 15:02, 21 April 2025 (UTC) |
Thomas James Soares (born 10 July 1986) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder. He has previously played for Crystal Palace, Stoke City, Bury, AFC Wimbledon and Stevenage.
Born in Reading, Berkshire, Soares came up through the Crystal Palace academy, playing in central midfield.[ citation needed ] When he made the Palace first team he was used as a winger.[ citation needed ] Under the management of Neil Warnock, however, Soares was played in central midfield.[ citation needed ] His driving runs, combined with his best goalscoring season to date, meant that he was a key performer in the 2007–08 season for Palace.[ citation needed ]
In August 2008 Soares joined Premier League newcomers Stoke City for a fee of £1.25 million. [3] He made an impressive start, as in his second match for Stoke he won two penalty kicks in a 2–1 win against Tottenham Hotspur at the Britannia Stadium. [4] Soares played a few more matches for Stoke, against Sunderland, Manchester City, Portsmouth and West Bromwich Albion. [5] After playing against Hartlepool United in the FA Cup, however, Soares failed to make a league appearance. [5] He was loaned out to Charlton Athletic for the remainder of the 2008–09 season, [6] but failed to help keep them in the Championship. [7] Soares scored one goal for Charlton, on 3 February against Bristol City. [8]
Back at Stoke, he failed to make a Premier League appearance in the 2009–10 season. [9] On 26 November 2009 Soares joined Sheffield Wednesday, initially on a month-long loan deal, [10] but he remained there until the end of the season. As with Charlton, Soares was part of a team who were relegated from the Championship. [11] His misery was compounded by it coming at the hands of former club Crystal Palace, who stayed up at Wednesday's expense. [12] Soares had now been relegated three times in his short career. [13] In March 2011, Soares played for Stoke for the first time in almost 18 months, against Cardiff City in the FA Cup. [14] Soares again failed to make a single Premier League appearance for Stoke during the 2010–11 and 2011–12 seasons. [14] [15] His last league appearance for Stoke was in December 2008. [5]
On 23 January 2012, Soares joined Scottish Premier League club Hibernian on loan until the end of the 2011–12 season. [16] He scored two goals in a 3–1 win against Kilmarnock on 25 February. [17]
He was released by Stoke at the end of the 2011–12 season. [18]
On 16 August 2012, it was reported by The News that Soares was training with Portsmouth. [19]
On 9 November 2012, Soares joined Bury on non-contract terms. [20] He re-signed for Bury on a two-year deal on 2 July 2013. [21] Soares scored the winning goal against Tranmere Rovers on the last day of the 2014–15 season that gained Bury 3rd place and automatic promotion to League One. [22] [23]
On 31 January 2017, Soares left Bury and signed for fellow League One side AFC Wimbledon. [24] He scored his first goal for the club on 1 January 2018 against Southend United. [25]
After spending the pre-season with Stevenage FC he officially signed for the club on 2 August 2019. [26]
In July 2021, Soares joined Southern Football League side Dorchester Town, [27] where he went on to make 25 league appearances. [28]
His brother Louie is also a footballer, who has represented Barbados.
Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other [A] | Total | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Crystal Palace | 2003–04 [29] | First Division | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
2004–05 [30] | Premier League | 22 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 1 | |
2005–06 [31] | Championship | 44 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 49 | 1 | |
2006–07 [32] | Championship | 37 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 3 | |
2007–08 [33] | Championship | 39 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 42 | 6 | |
2008–09 [5] | Championship | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | |
Total | 149 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 162 | 12 | ||
Stoke City | 2008–09 [5] | Premier League | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ― | 8 | 0 | |
2009–10 [9] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ― | 3 | 0 | ||
2010–11 [14] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ― | 1 | 0 | ||
2011–12 [15] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
Total | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 0 | ||
Charlton Athletic (loan) | 2008–09 [5] | Championship | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 |
Sheffield Wednesday (loan) | 2009–10 [9] | Championship | 25 | 2 | 1 | 0 | ― | 0 | 0 | 26 | 2 | |
Hibernian (loan) | 2011–12 [15] | Scottish Premier League | 10 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 2 |
Bury | 2012–13 [34] | League One | 23 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 2 |
2013–14 [35] | League Two | 30 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 6 | |
2014–15 [22] | League Two | 43 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 48 | 8 | |
2015–16 [36] | League One | 42 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 50 | 4 | |
2016–17 [37] | League One | 26 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 32 | 2 | |
Total | 164 | 22 | 12 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 187 | 22 | ||
AFC Wimbledon | 2016–17 [37] | League One | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 |
2017–18 [25] | League One | 31 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 35 | 1 | |
2018–19 [38] | League One | 23 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 29 | 1 | |
Total | 69 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 79 | 2 | ||
Stevenage | 2019–20 [39] | League Two | 15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 20 | 0 |
Dorchester Town | 2021–22 [40] | Southern League Premier Division South | 25 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ― | 1 | 0 | 27 | 1 | |
Marlow | 2022–23 [41] | Isthmian League South Central Division | 9 | 1 | ― | ― | 1 | 0 | 10 | 1 | ||
2023–24 [42] | Isthmian League South Central Division | 10 | 1 | 3 | 0 | ― | 2 | 0 | 15 | 1 | ||
Total | 19 | 2 | 3 | 0 | ― | 3 | 0 | 25 | 2 | |||
Career total | 494 | 42 | 33 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 22 | 1 | 563 | 44 |