Luke Molyneux (born 29 March 1998) is an English 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 le ...

who plays as a winger for Doncaster Rovers.

Career

Sunderland

Molyneux came through the ranks with Sunderland and played his first professional games for the under-23 squad in the

2016–17 EFL Trophy The 2016–17 EFL Trophy, known as the Checkatrade Trophy for sponsorship reasons, was the 33rd season in the history of the competition and the first since being rebranded from Football League Trophy. It was played as a knock-out tournament for E ...

. He later went on to make his first-team debut in a 3–0 victory over

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

on 6 May 2018.

Loan to Gateshead

After a handful of substitute appearances early in the 2018–19 season, Molyneux went on a half-season loan to

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 s ...

side

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...

. Molyneux scored his first career goal in a 4–0 victory over Dunston UTS on 20 October 2018 in the fourth qualifying round of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

. He later went on to score his first league goals against

Maidstone United Maidstone United Football Club is a professional football club based in Maidstone, Kent, England. The team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league system. The current club filled the void left by the ol ...

on 22 December 2018, netting two goals in a 3–2 win. Molyneux made 18 appearances for Gateshead during his loan spell, scoring three goals.

Loan to Hartlepool United

Following his return to Sunderland, Molyneux went on a further loan to another local National League side

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded in 1908 as Hartle ...

on 18 January 2019. Molyneux made 16 appearances for Hartlepool during his loan spell, scoring the winning goals in victories over

Dover Athletic Dover Athletic Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in the town of Dover, Kent, England. The club currently competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club was formed in 198 ...

and FC Halifax Town.

Hartlepool United

Following his release by Sunderland, Molyneux signed permanently for Hartlepool permanently on 12 June 2019. Unfortunately for Molyneux, his first full season with the club was cut short after suffering an ankle injury during a pre-season friendly at York City. On 1 January 2020, Molyneux made his return from injury as a late substitute in a 1–0 defeat against

Harrogate Town Harrogate Town A.F.C. is a professional association football club in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, which competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed the Sulphurites, due to the ...

. On 8 February 2020, Molyneux made his first start of 2019–20 season as he scored and assisted in Hartlepool's 2–0 victory over Aldershot Town. In October 2020, Molyneux contracted

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, forcing him to miss the opening fixtures of 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. In the

2021 National League play-off Final The 2021 National League play-off final, known as the Vanarama National League Promotion Final for sponsorship reasons, was an association football match played on 20 June 2021 at the Ashton Gate Stadium in Bristol between Torquay United and Har ...

, Molyneux was a late substitute in

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 ...

against

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 ...

. In the resulting penalty shoot-out, he scored Hartlepool's fifth penalty as Hartlepool were promoted back to

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 ...

. On 20 July 2021, Molyneux signed a contract extension with Hartlepool. On 25 September 2021, Molyneux scored his first

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 Engla ...

goal in a 1–1 draw with Exeter City. On 25 January 2022, Molyneux scored the equaliser against

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

three minutes after coming off the bench as Hartlepool progressed to the semi-finals of the

EFL 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 Le ...

. He also scored in the resulting penalty shoot-out. This performance earned him player of the round for the quarter-finals. Molyneux picked up three awards at Hartlepool's 2021–22 Awards ceremony. He won the Players' and Fans' Player of the Year Award, along with the Goal of the Season Award for his long range strike in a 2–1 win against

. On 21 June 2022, it was announced that Molyneux had turned down the offer of a new contract and would be leaving the club. He left for Doncaster Rovers.

Doncaster Rovers

On 21 June 2022, the same day as his impending departure from Hartlepool was announced, Molyneux agreed to join recently relegated League Two club Doncaster Rovers on a two-year deal. Molyneux later revealed that he had been in talks with League One sides Milton Keynes Dons and Bristol Rovers in the weeks prior to him joining Doncaster. In February 2023, Molyneux scored a brace in a 2–0 victory at Swindon Town, his first goals for the club.

Style of play

Molyneux has been described as a versatile performer who is comfortable on either flank or even in a more central position, and is known for his direct style, pace and trickery.

Career statistics

Honours

Hartlepool United *

play-offs:

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

Individual *

Players' Player of the Year: 2021–22 *

Fans' Player of the Year: 2021–22

References

1998 births Living people Sportspeople from Bishop Auckland Footballers from County Durham English footballers Association football midfielders Sunderland A.F.C. players Gateshead F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players {{England-footy-midfielder-1990s-stub