Luke Mathew Waterfall (born 30 July 1990) 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

centre-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 ...

for club

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in ...

. He has previously played 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 ...

for

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they ...

, Lincoln City and

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...

and at non-league level for

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population o ...

, Ilkeston Town,

Gainsborough Trinity Gainsborough Trinity Football Club is a football club based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. Established in 1873, the club became members of the Football League in 1893 and remained members of the Second Division until 1912, making Gainsbo ...

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional association football, football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was liquidation, wound-up after a High Court of Justice, High Court ruling on 16 September 2020. Initially kno ...

and

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

. He was part of the Lincoln team that won the

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 ...

and

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

and the Grimsby Town team that was promoted to the EFL via the play-offs in 2022.

Career

Early career

Born in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

, South Yorkshire, Waterfall started his career with

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

and was a regular for their

youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood ( maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as being a young adult. You ...

and reserve teams in the 2007–08 season. After being released, he signed for League One club Tranmere Rovers on 18 July 2008 after a successful trial. He made his debut on 12 August after coming on as a 63rd-minute substitute in a 2–0 defeat away to

in the League Cup. He made his first start on 2 September in a 1–0 victory over Accrington Stanley in the Football League Trophy. He joined Conference Premier club

on 14 October 2008 on loan, and made one appearance in the league as a substitute and three cup starts. He was released by Tranmere at the end of 2008–09. He had unsuccessful trials with Conference Premier clubs Oxford United and York City before signing for Conference North club Ilkeston Town in August 2009 after a successful trial. He finished 2009–10 with 43 appearances and two goals. He signed for Ilkeston's divisional rivals

in May 2010.

Scunthorpe United

Waterfall signed for newly relegated League Two club

on 4 June 2013 on a one-year contract for an undisclosed fee. On 5 August 2014, he moved to League Two

on a one-month loan, with manager

John Askey John Colin Askey (born 4 November 1964) is an English professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of club York City. He is the son of former Port Vale player Colin Askey. Able to play as a winger or as ...

requiring him to cover during the search for a new defender, with several trialists failing to be up to his standard. On 7 November, he moved to

on loan until January 2015. He made seven appearances for ''The Stags'' before his loan expired.

Wrexham

Waterfall signed for Conference Premier club

on 15 January 2015 on a one-and-a-half-year contract. Wrexham approached him late into negotiations with two unnamed clubs, causing Waterfall to "make an easy decision" by signing for ''The Dragons''.

Lincoln City

He spent only half a season with Wrexham before signing for their National League rivals Lincoln City on 2 June on a two-year contract. He was appointed club captain. Waterfall made 55 appearances and scored seven goals in 2016–17 as Lincoln were promoted to

EFL 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 ...

as National League champions, as well as leading Lincoln to the Quarter finals of the FA Cup by defeating Guiseley,

, Oldham Athletic, Ipswich Town and Brighton & Hove Albion before defeating Premier League side Burnley. The Imps were eventually beaten 5-0 by

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. On 5 April 2018, Waterfall as captain lifted the Football League Trophy as The Imps defeated

at Wembley Stadium. Several months later Shrewsbury would meet Waterfall's release clause and convince him to sign for the Shropshire side. Waterfall thanked Lincoln fans and called the decision to leave the "toughest decision" of his career, saying a three-year contract and League One football was too good to turn down.

Shrewsbury Town

Waterfall signed for League One club

by on 7 August 2018 on a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee. After only one season with The Shrews His contract with the club was terminated by mutual consent on 15 August 2019.

Grimsby Town

The same day, Waterfall signed for League Two club

on a two-year contract. Ian Holloway was replaced as manager by Paul Hurst who had signed him for Shrewsbury, but neither could prevent Grimsby from being relegated back to the National League at the end of the 2020–21 season. On 28 May 2022, Waterfall scored twice including a 119th minute winner in extra-time of the semi-final play-off against

at the Racecourse Ground, helping Grimsby win 5–4 to reach the final. Waterfall captained the Mariners in the

2022 National League play-off Final The 2022 National League play-off Final, known as the Vanarama National League Promotion Final for sponsorship reasons, was an association football match played on 5 June 2022 at the London Stadium between Solihull Moors and Grimsby Town. It dete ...

as Grimsby beat

Solihull Moors Solihull Moors Football Club is a professional football club based in Solihull, England. The club currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system, after achieving promotion from the National Leag ...

2–1 at the London Stadium to return to the

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 ...

. Waterfall was voted into the National League Team of the Season for the 2021–22 season, alongside team mate John McAtee. On 17 June 2022, Waterfall signed a new two-year contract to keep him at

Blundell Park Blundell Park is a football ground in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England and home to Grimsby Town Football Club. The stadium was built in 1899, but only one of the original stands remains. The current capacity of the ground is 9, ...

until the summer of 2024.

Career statistics

Honours

Wrexham *

runner-up: 2014–15 Lincoln City *

: 2016–17 *

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 ...

: 2017–18 Grimsby Town *

play-offs:

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

Individual *

Team of the Season: 2021–22

References

External links

Profile
at the Grimsby Town F.C. website {{DEFAULTSORT:Waterfall, Luke 1990 births Living people Footballers from Sheffield English footballers Association football defenders Barnsley F.C. players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Altrincham F.C. players Ilkeston Town F.C. (1945) players Gainsborough Trinity F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Macclesfield Town F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players Wrexham A.F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players National League (English football) players English Football League players