Tom Soares
Thomas James Soares (born 10 July 1986) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for League Two club Stevenage. He has previously played for Crystal Palace, Stoke City, Bury and AFC Wimbledon.
| 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] | ||
| Playing position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Stevenage | ||
| Number | 6 | ||
| 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– | Stevenage | 15 | (0) |
| National team | |||
| 2005–2007 | England U21 | 4 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 04:16, 5 May 2020 (UTC) | |||
Career
Crystal Palace
Born in Reading, Berkshire, Soares came up through the Crystal Palace academy, playing in central midfield. When he made the Palace first team he was used as a winger. Under the management of Neil Warnock, however, Soares was played in central midfield. 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.
Stoke City
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. After playing against Hartlepool United in the FA Cup, however, Soares failed to make a league appearance. He was loaned out to Charlton Athletic for the remainder of the 2008–09 season[5] but failed to help keep them in the Championship. Soares scored one goal for Charlton, on 3 February against Bristol City.[6]
Back at Stoke, he failed to make a Premier League appearance in the 2009–10 season. On 26 November 2009 Soares joined Sheffield Wednesday, initially on a month-long loan deal,[7] 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. His misery was compounded by it coming at the hands of former club Crystal Palace, who stayed up at Wednesday's expense.[8] Soares had now been relegated three times in his short career. In March 2011, Soares played for Stoke for the first time in almost 18 months, against Cardiff City in the FA Cup.[9] Soares again failed to make a single Premier League appearance for Stoke during the 2010–11 and 2011–12 seasons. His last league appearance for Stoke was in December 2008.
On 23 January 2012, Soares joined Scottish Premier League club Hibernian on loan until the end of the 2011–12 season.[10] He scored two goals in a 3–1 win against Kilmarnock on 25 February.[11]
He was released by Stoke at the end of the 2011–12 season.[12]
On 16 August 2012, it was reported by The News that Soares was training with Portsmouth.[13]
Bury
On 9 November 2012, Soares joined Bury on non-contract terms.[14] He re-signed for Bury on a two-year deal on 2 July 2013. 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.
AFC Wimbledon
On 31 January 2017, Soares left Bury and signed for fellow League One side AFC Wimbledon.[15] He scored his first goal for the club on 1 January 2018 against Southend United.[16]
Stevenage
After spending the pre-season with Stevenage FC he officially signed for the club on 2 August 2019.[17]
Personal life
His brother Louie is also a footballer, who has represented Barbados.
Career statistics
- As of 5 May 2020[18]
| 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 | First Division | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 2004–05 | Premier League | 22 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 1 | |
| 2005–06 | Championship | 44 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 49 | 1 | |
| 2006–07 | Championship | 37 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 3 | |
| 2007–08 | Championship | 39 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 42 | 6 | |
| 2008–09 | 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 | Premier League | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 8 | 0 | |
| 2009–10 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | – | 3 | 0 | ||
| 2010–11 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2011–12 | 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 | Championship | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 |
| Sheffield Wednesday (loan) | 2009–10 | Championship | 25 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 2 |
| Hibernian (loan) | 2011–12 | Scottish Premier League | 10 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 2 |
| Bury | 2012–13 | League One | 23 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 2 |
| 2013–14 | League Two | 30 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 6 | |
| 2014–15 | League Two | 43 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 48 | 8 | |
| 2015–16 | League One | 42 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 50 | 4 | |
| 2016–17 | 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 | League One | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 |
| 2017–18 | League One | 31 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 35 | 1 | |
| 2018–19 | 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 | League Two | 15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 20 | 0 |
| Career total | 450 | 39 | 29 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 18 | 1 | 511 | 41 | ||
- A. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the Football League play-offs, UEFA Europa League and EFL Trophy
References
- "Notification of shirt numbers: Stevenage" (PDF). English Football League. p. 68. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
- "Premier League Player Profile Tom Soares". Premier League. Retrieved 25 April 2011.
- "Soares delighted to be at Stoke". BBC Sport. BBC. 20 March 2011.
- "Stoke City 2–1 Tottenham". Stoke City official site. Stoke City. 19 October 2008. Archived from the original on 2 October 2009. Retrieved 19 July 2009.
- "Soares makes Charlton loan switch". BBC Sport. BBC. 20 March 2011.
- "Bristol City 2–1 Charlton". BBC Sport. BBC. 3 February 2009. Retrieved 20 December 2009.
- "Stoke allow duo to leave on loan". BBC Sport. BBC. 20 March 2011.
- "Wednesday 2 – 2 Palace". BBC Sport. BBC. 2 May 2010.
- "Cardiff 0 – 2 Stoke". BBC Sport. BBC. 20 March 2011.
- "Soares Signs For Hibs". Stoke City. Archived from the original on 25 January 2012. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
- "Kilmarnock 1–3 Hibernian". BBC Sport. BBC. 25 February 2012. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
- "FREE TRANSFER LIST 2011/12" (PDF). Premier League. Retrieved 1 June 2012.
- Allen, Neil (16 August 2012). "Williamson and Soares train with Pompey". The News (Portsmouth). Johnston Press. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
- "Soares soars in". Bury FC. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38814751
- "AFC Wimbledon 2-0 Southend". BBC. 1 January 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
- "Tom Soares completes Stevenage move". www.stevenagefc.com. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
- Tom Soares at Soccerbase
External links
- Tom Soares at Soccerbase
