Gavin Glenrick Tomlin (born 21 August 1983) is an English former professional footballer. He was a versatile player who could play as a

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

, on both left and right wings and attacking midfield. A former Gillingham youth team player, he played

non-League football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

for

Ashford Town (Kent) Ashford United F.C. are an English football club based in Ashford, Kent. The 'new' United was formed in 2011, resurrecting the name used by the town's football club between 1891 and 1907. Following the demise of the original Ashford United cl ...

, Aylesbury United,

Staines Town Staines Town Football Club was a semi-professional football club based in Staines-upon-Thames, Middlesex. History Early days Staines Town FC was founded in 1892 and was known under various names including ''Staines F.C.'',''Staines Albany F ...

, St Albans City, Yeading and Windsor & Eton, before having a brief spell in the

English Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engl ...

with

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

in 2006. He returned to the non-League scene with

Fisher Athletic Fisher Athletic F.C. were a semi-professional football club from South East London, which last played in the Conference South, which is one of the two leagues that form the sixth tier of the English football league system. The Bermondsey-based ...

, before winning a

contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tran ...

Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to: * Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset * Yeovil Town L.F.C., an English women's football team affiliated with Yeovil Town F.C. * Yeovil Town railway station Yeovil Town railway station w ...

in June 2008. Two years later he switched to

Dagenham & Redbridge Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club is a professional association football club based in Dagenham, Greater London, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Often known simply as Dag ...

, but was not a success at his new club, and was

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...

ed out to

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

and Gillingham. He signed with Southend United in July 2012, and played in the club's defeat in the

2013 Football League Trophy final The 2013 Football League Trophy Final was the 30th final of the English domestic football cup competition for teams from Football Leagues One and Two, the Football League Trophy. The final was played at Wembley Stadium in London on 7 April 2013 ...

. He joined

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

in June 2013, and stayed with the club for one season before moving on to Crawley Town. Following two seasons with Crawley, he joined

Dulwich Hamlet Dulwich Hamlet Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in East Dulwich in south-east London, England. They are currently members of and play at Champion Hill. History The club was formed in 1893, by Lorraine 'Pa' Wilson. T ...

in summer 2016 and went on to help the club win promotion out of the

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

Premier Division via the play-offs in 2018, before moving on to Cray Valley Paper Mills in January 2019. Mills won the

Southern Counties East League The Southern Counties East Football League is an English football league established in 1966, which has teams based in Kent and Southeast London. Until 2013, it was known as the Kent League. There was a previous Kent League, that existed from ...

Premier Division title in the 2018–19 season and reached the

2019 FA Vase final The 2019 FA Vase Final was the 45th final of the Football Association's cup competition for teams at levels 9–11 of the English football league system. The match was contested between Chertsey Town, of the Combined Counties Premier Division, ...

Career

Early career

Tomlin was a youth team player at Gillingham. He subsequently joined

Tooting & Mitcham United Tooting & Mitcham United Football Club is an association football club based in the London Borough of Merton. They are currently members of the and play at Imperial Fields in Morden. Their nickname is "the Terrors" or "the Stripes". History ...

and from there joined Southern League Eastern Division club

on 17 January 2002 and later day scored the winning goal in a 3–2 league victory over

Tonbridge Tonbridge ( ) is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, south west of Maidstone and south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Malling, it had an estimated population ...

. Tomlin joined Aylesbury United the following season and on 26 November 2002 he scored a goal in a 4–0 win over Wokingham Town in the Berks & Bucks Senior Cup. He then played one

match on 14 December, in a 1–1 draw with Basingstoke Town. He signed with

in December 2003, having spent some time out of the game after breaking his leg during a trial at

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) * Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...

. He scored 11 minutes into his "Swans" debut. He had a trial with Notts County in June 2004. He scored 13 goals in the 2004–05 season, but left Staines in March to go on trial at Exeter City. The following month, he joined

Conference South The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...

club St Albans City on

. He moved on to Conference South side Yeading, but made only five starts and eight substitute appearances in the 2005–06 season. He went on to have a brief stay at Isthmian League side Windsor & Eton. Tomlin signed a one-year

with

Leroy Rosenior Leroy De Graft Rosenior (born 24 August 1964) is a football coach and pundit. He is a former footballer whose clubs included Fulham, Queens Park Rangers (for whom he appeared as a substitute in the 1986 League Cup Final), Bristol City and Wes ...

in July 2006. He failed to break into the "Bees" first team (despite a

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

performance against

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

early in the 2006–07 season) and his contract was terminated by mutual consent on 30 January 2007. He joined Conference South club

in February 2007. He helped the "Fish" to secure a play-off place in the 2007–08 season with a fourth-place finish.

Yeovil Town

Tomlin joined League One club

on trial in June 2008. His trial was successful as he impressed enough to win a two-year contract from Russell Slade; Tomlin stated that "this is my third chance at league football and I am not going to let it slip this time." He finished the 2008–09 season as the "Glovers" leading goalscorer with nine goals. Included in this tally was a goal against

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

side

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

in a 5–1 defeat at the Riverside Stadium. He found the net seven times in 35 league games in the 2009–10 campaign. On 16 June 2010, he agreed to sign a new contract with Yeovil boss Terry Skiverton, though he later changed his mind and left

Huish Park Huish Park is a football stadium located in Yeovil, Somerset, England. The stadium has been home to Yeovil Town F.C. since its completion in 1990, following their relocation from Huish. Huish Park has a capacity of 9,565 (of which two stands ...

on a free transfer.

Dagenham & Redbridge

In June 2010, Tomlin signed a three-year deal with League One newcomers

. However, he made only 16 starts in the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

season, scoring just two goals as

John Still John Still (c. 1543 – 26 February 1607/1608) was Master of two Cambridge colleges and then, from 1593, Bishop of Bath and Wells. He enjoyed considerable fame as an English preacher and disputant. He was formerly reputed to be the author of an ...

's "Daggers" were relegated in 21st-place. He joined Paul Buckle's

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

side

on a one-month loan in March 2011, which was later extended until the end of the season. He played in the

play-off final The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

, as the "Gulls" were beaten 1–0 by

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a large town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevena ...

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

. He played 22 matches for Dagenham in the 2011–12 without scoring a goal at Victoria Road. In January 2012 he signed for Gillingham on loan until the end of the season. He scored six goals in ten League two games for

Andy Hessenthaler Andrew Hessenthaler (born 17 August 1965) is an English football manager and former player who is head of recruitment at club Gillingham. He began his career in non-league football and did not turn professional until he joined Watford at ...

's "Gills", but was sidelined from March onwards after picking up a hamstring injury.

Southend United

In July 2012, Tomlin signed for Southend United on a one-year contract after being tracked by

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

Paul Sturrock for a period of five years. He scored 16 goals in 42 games in the

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

season for the "Shrimpers" and finished joint-top-scorer with strike partner

Britt Assombalonga Britt Curtis Assombalonga (born 6 December 1992) is a Congolese professional footballer who plays as a striker for Watford and the DR Congo national team. He played in the Football League for Watford, Southend United, Peterborough United, No ...

. He did though go 13 games without a goal, and thanked Paul Sturrock for sticking by him during this spell before the start of the

despite the fact that Sturrock had by then been replaced by Phil Brown. Southend were beaten 2–0 by Crewe Alexandra in the

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

final.

Port Vale

He signed with newly-

promoted Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

League One club

in June 2013. Upon joining the club he stated that he was expecting to play as a striker, rather than as a utility forward, though he admitted he faced a challenge in dislodging either of free-scoring duo Tom Pope and Lee Hughes. He was dropped from the starting line-up after failing to find the net in his first few games, and then spent a month out injured with ankle, hamstring and toe troubles. He returned to action in December, and scored in four consecutive games. He finished the 2013–14 campaign with six goals in only 27 appearances; in the summer Southend United manager Phil Brown confirmed that he was attempting to re-sign Tomlin. Tomlin decided to move back to his native

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, and determined on a move South from the Midlands.

Crawley Town

Tomlin joined League One side Crawley Town for an undisclosed fee in June 2014 as "Reds" manager John Gregory stated "I have always admired Gavin". He scored three goals in 40 appearances in the 2014–15 season as Crawley were relegated into League Two. He was released by new manager

Dermot Drummy Dermot Drummy (16 January 1961 – 27 November 2017) was an English association football, football coach and professional player. He was the head coach of Crawley Town F.C., Crawley Town, a position he took up in April 2016 after serving three ...

after making just 17 appearances in the 2015–16 campaign.

Later career

Tomlin joined

Premier Division club

in August 2016, following a successful trial ahead of the 2016–17 season. He went on to score 19 goals in 60 appearances across all competitions in his first season at the club, and helped Hamlet to the play-off final, where they were beaten 2–1 by Bognor Regis Town. The Hamlet again qualified for the play-offs with a second-place finish in the 2017–18 campaign, and Tomlin scored the equalising goal in the final against

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the Borough of Barnet, North-West London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has been part of Great ...

at Imperial Fields before Hamlet secured promotion with a victory in the penalty shoot-out. On 23 January 2019, Tomlin joined Southern Counties East League Premier Division club Cray Valley Paper Mills. He scored on his debut for the club against Lordswood on 23 January 2019. The "Millers" won the league title at the end of the 2018–19 season and reached the

. Tomlin scored in the final at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

, but Mills were beaten by 3–1 Chertsey Town after

extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...

. The

2019–20 Isthmian League The 2019–20 season was the 105th season of the Isthmian League, which is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from London, East and South East England. This was the second season to consist of four division ...

season was formally abandoned on 26 March, with all results from the season being expunged, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in England The COVID-19 pandemic was first confirmed to have spread to England with two cases among Chinese nationals staying in a hotel in York on 31 January 2020. The two main public bodies responsible for health in England are NHS England and Public ...

. He did not feature in the

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

season, but scored one goal from twelve appearances in the 2021–22 campaign.

Style of play

In June 2010, Dagenham & Redbridge manager

stated Tomlin to be "a clever striker with good movement who links play well. He's a hard worker who is equally adept playing as a forward or wide." Speaking in March 2011, Torquay manager Paul Buckle described Tomlin as a player that was "big, strong and has plenty of pace".

Personal life

As a boy he supported

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

and looked up to

Andy Cole Andrew Alexander Cole (born 15 October 1971) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. His professional career lasted from 1988 to 2008, and is mostly remembered for his time with Manchester United, who paid a Briti ...

Career statistics

Honours

St Albans City *

Herts Senior Cup The Herts Senior Cup, officially titled the Hertfordshire County Football Association Senior Challenge Cup, is the oldest County-based football Cup competition based exclusively in Hertfordshire, England. It was first contested in the 1886-87 se ...

: 2004–05 Dulwich Hamlet *

Premier Division play-offs:

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

Cray Valley Paper Mills *

Premier Division: 2018–19

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tomlin, Gavin 1983 births Living people Sportspeople from Gillingham, Kent Footballers from Kent English men's footballers Black British sportsmen Men's association football wingers Men's association football forwards Tooting & Mitcham United F.C. players Ashford United F.C. players Aylesbury United F.C. players Staines Town F.C. players St Albans City F.C. players Yeading F.C. players Windsor & Eton F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Fisher Athletic F.C. players Yeovil Town F.C. players Dagenham & Redbridge F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Gillingham F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Crawley Town F.C. players Dulwich Hamlet F.C. players Cray Valley Paper Mills F.C. players Southern Football League players Isthmian League players National League (English football) players English Football League players