Luke Garrard (born 22 September 1985) is an English former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who manages

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

club

Boreham Wood Borehamwood (, historically also Boreham Wood) is a town in southern Hertfordshire, England, from Charing Cross. Borehamwood has a population of 31,074, and is within the London commuter belt. The town's film and TV studios are commonly known ...

Career

Garrard started his career as a trainee at

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

but was released as a schoolboy. He went on to sign as an apprentice for

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...

, making his professional league debut against

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic be ...

on 26 April 2003. Between 2002 and 2005, Garrard made 17 appearances for Swindon, before being released on 19 April 2005. Garrard went on to have spells with Bishop's Stortford,

and Northwood, before joining AFC Wimbledon in March 2006. A popular figure with Wimbledon's fans, he made over 100 appearances for the club, mainly in a right side defensive role, but in November 2008 Garrard picked up an injury during training that kept him out for the rest of that season. From the start of the 2009–10 season, he made only occasional appearances for the team and eventually in January 2010, he was allowed to re-join

after his request for regular first team football could not be guaranteed.

Coaching career

On 14 October 2015, Garrard was appointed manager, following the resignation of

Ian Allinson Ian James Robert Allinson (born 1 October 1957) is an English football manager and former player and former manager of St Albans City. In his playing career, Allinson amassed over 300 league appearances for Colchester United in two spells, an ...

, making him the youngest boss in all of England's top five divisions. In Garrard's third season in charge, he led Boreham Wood to the National League play-offs for the first time. His side defeated

AFC Fylde AFC Fylde is a professional football club based in Wesham in the Borough of Fylde, Lancashire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Mill Farm. Originally known as Kirkham & Wesham following a merger of Kirkham Town and Wesh ...

and

Sutton United Sutton United Football Club is a professional football club in Sutton, South London, England, who play in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They play home games at Gander Green Lane in Sutton about 11 miles so ...

to set up a play-off final with

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ado ...

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 original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...

in which Garrard's side were defeated 2–1. Also in this season, Boreham Wood defeated Football League opposition for the first time in their history when they defeated

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

side Blackpool in the FA Cup first round. In the 2021–22 season, Boreham Wood reached the fifth round of the FA Cup for the first time in their history. Having reached the third round, his side defeated League One side AFC Wimbledon 2–0 before winning away at

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

promotion chasers AFC Bournemouth 1–0. His side were eventually defeated 2–0 at

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 Fo ...

club Everton.

Managerial Statistics

Honours

Player

AFC Wimbledon * Conference South: 2008–09 * Isthmian League Premier Division play-offs:

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

East Barnet Old Grammarians * Old Boys Veteran's Cup: Finalist (losing) 2021-22 Individual * AFC Wimbledon Young Player of the Year: 2006–07

Manager

Boreham Wood * Herts Senior Cup: 2017–18, 2018–19 *

National League Play-offs The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...

runner up:

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 Unit ...

Individual * National League Manager of the Month: February 2022, December 2020

References

External links

* (Swindon Town) * (AFC Wimbledon & Boreham Wood) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Garrard, Luke 1985 births Living people English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Bishop's Stortford F.C. players Northwood F.C. players AFC Wimbledon players Boreham Wood F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Isthmian League players Southern Football League players English football managers Boreham Wood F.C. managers National League (English football) managers Footballers from the London Borough of Barnet