Luke Anthony Hubbins (born 11 September 1991) is a retired English

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 le ...

. He began his career with

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

, but made his professional debut in August 2010 in the

Football League Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

while on

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 ...

to Notts County, and also spent a brief spell on loan to

Conference National 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 ...

club Tamworth. He never played for Birmingham's first team, and was released at the end of the 2011–12 season, when he signed for AFC Telford United of the Conference. He plays either as a winger or at

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

Playing career

Early career

Hubbins, from the

Weoley Castle Weoley Castle is a residential suburban district in south-west Birmingham, England. The area is part of the Weoley local authority electoral ward, and also comes under the Northfield local council constituency. The suburb of Weoley Castle is ...

district of Birmingham, played for junior club Cadbury Athletic from under-9s to under-13s before joining Birmingham City's Academy in 2003. As a 16-year-old he appeared for the club's

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

, and in 2009 he scored the late goal which took the academy team through to the semi-final of the

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

for the first time since 1985. According to the '' Birmingham Mail'', he "won a 50–50 and broke down the inside-right channel and placed a shot high into the net, making light of the difficulty caused by the ball bobbling up as he went through." Described as "a pacey, tricky winger who is not afraid of taking on a full-back while still having an eye for goal", Hubbins was included in the first-team squad for

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

es before the 2009–10 season. In July 2010, Hubbins signed his first one-year professional contract.

Notts County (loan)

Prior to the 2010–11 season, Hubbins joined Notts County, newly promoted to League One, on trial. He was recommended by Birmingham Academy coach, and former player for both clubs, Phil Robinson. The trial was successful and the player joined

on loan In sports, a loan involves a particular player being able to temporarily play for a club other than the one to which they are currently contracted. Loan deals may last from a few weeks to a full season, sometimes persisting for multiple seasons ...

until 18 January 2011, linking up with Birmingham teammate

Jake Jervis Jake Mario Jervis (born 17 September 1991) is an English professional footballer who plays as a winger or striker for Indian Super League club East Bengal. Jervis made his first-team debut for Birmingham City in the FA Cup in January 2010, fi ...

, also on loan at County. Hubbins made his debut for the club on 24 August 2010 in the starting eleven for the

second-round tie away to

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

. He played 59 minutes as his club won 2–1. He started in the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

defeat to

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

the following week, but made no more first-team appearances before the loan expired.

Return to Birmingham

At the end of the 2010–11 season, Hubbins signed a six-month contract extension. He was named among the substitutes for four first-team matches in the early part of the campaign in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

and the Championship, never taking the field. His performances for the reserves earned him a further contract extension for the remainder of the season. On 24 January 2012, Hubbins joined

club Tamworth on loan until 19 February. He made his debut the same day in a 3–0 league defeat to

Ebbsfleet United Ebbsfleet United Football Club is a professional football club based in Northfleet, Kent, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the club competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club was formed in 1946 from ...

, and was the '' Tamworth Heralds "star man" despite having to leave the field after an hour with a hamstring injury predicted to keep him out for a month. He made no further first-team appearances, and was released by Birmingham when his contract expired at the end of the 2011–12 season.

AFC Telford United

Hubbins signed for

club AFC Telford United on 18 May 2012. He left the club on 2 May 2013.

Worcester City

Hubbins signed for another Conference National club,

Worcester City Worcester City Football Club is an English football club based in Worcester, Worcestershire. The club play in the Midland Football League, the ninth tier of English football. Established in 1902, the club play at Claines Lane. Worcester City's ...

, on 31 July 2013, but in mid-September he decided to leave and take a break from the game.

Leamington

On 11 August 2014, Hubbins made a return to football, and signed for Conference North side Leamington. He left the club at the end of that season after the expiry of his contract.

Personal life

Hubbins converted to Islam in 2007 and became a Muslim although he was a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

before.

Notes

A. Several different published dates of birth exist for Mr Hubbins. Soccerbase and UEFA list 17 December 1992. ESPN lists 12 May 1992, and the Birmingham City F.C. website also ''used to'' list that date, but they later changed it to 11 September 1991. Soccerway also lists 11 September 1991.

References

External links

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Profile
at Birmingham City F.C. website {{DEFAULTSORT:Hubbins, Luke 1991 births Living people Footballers from Birmingham, West Midlands English men's footballers Men's association football wingers Birmingham City F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Tamworth F.C. players AFC Telford United players Worcester City F.C. players Leamington F.C. players National League (English football) players English Muslims Converts to Islam from Christianity