Samuel James Togwell (born 14 October 1984) 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 le ...

who plays as a defensive

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for club Beaconsfield Town. He began his career with Crystal Palace in 2002, where he 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

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and th ...

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

, and

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 July 2006 he

transfer Transfer may refer to: Arts and media * ''Transfer'' (2010 film), a German science-fiction movie directed by Damir Lukacevic and starring Zana Marjanović * ''Transfer'' (1966 film), a short film * ''Transfer'' (journal), in management studies ...

red to

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 ...

, before he joined

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 ...

in August 2008. He helped the "Iron" to win

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out of the League One

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. He signed with

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

in July 2012, and became a key player in the 2012–13 season. He lost his first team place the following season and was loaned out to

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their home ...

. He helped Chesterfield to win the

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 ...

title in 2013–14. He signed with

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 ...

in August 2014, and helped the club to the Conference title in the 2014–15 season. He was sold on to

Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census. The town lies on the River Itchen, o ...

in December 2016, before joining

Slough Town Slough Town Football Club is a semi-professional English football club based in Slough, Berkshire. Nicknamed "The Rebels", the team competes in the National League South, at the sixth tier of English football, following promotion from the Sou ...

in June 2018. He retired in May 2021, having made a total of 606 appearances in all competitions, scoring 23 goals. He came out of retirement the following year to play for Beaconsfield Town.

Career

Crystal Palace

Togwell started out in the Crystal Palace youth set-up at the age of ten, before making his senior debut as a seventeen-year-old substitute on 22 December 2002 at

Millmoor The Millmoor Ground, commonly known as Millmoor, is a football stadium in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. It was the home ground of Rotherham County F.C. between 1907 and 1925 and then its successor Rotherham United F.C. until 2008. The ...

. Palace beat

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

3–1, returning to London with three First Division points. He did not get another game in the 2002–03 or 2003–04 seasons, mainly due to a broken leg he sustained in a

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 ...

match in February 2003. He returned to fitness in September 2003. Togwell joined

club

on 22 October 2004. He made five appearances before returning to

Selhurst Park Selhurst Park is a football stadium in Selhurst in the London Borough of Croydon which is the home ground of Premier League side Crystal Palace. The stadium was designed by Archibald Leitch and opened in 1924. It has hosted international footba ...

the next month. He rejected a loan move to Norwegian club Viking FK, who were managed by

Roy Hodgson Roy Hodgson (born 9 August 1947) is a former English football manager and player. He managed 22 different teams in eight countries, beginning in Sweden with Halmstads BK in the 1976 season. He later guided the Switzerland national team to th ...

. On 24 March 2005, he went back into the basement division to join

on a one-month loan. He made eight appearances, before his loan deal was extended to cover the play-offs. Southend United defeated the "Cobblers" in the semi-finals, before beating Lincoln City in

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

. Togwell, by now

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of the reserve team, played in the opening three rounds of the League Cup in 2005–06, including a 2–1 defeat of European Champions Liverpool in which he marked

Steven Gerrard Steven George Gerrard (born 30 May 1980) is an English professional football manager and former player, who most recently managed club Aston Villa. Described by pundits and fellow professionals as one of his generation's greatest players, Ge ...

. On 10 November 2005, he joined League One club

on a six-week loan deal. He impressed at Vale Park, especially on 6 January when he scored both goals of a FA Cup Third round defeat of Doncaster Rovers. Having already had the loan extended once,

Martin Foyle Martin John Foyle (born 2 May 1963) is an English former professional footballer and manager who is the Head of Recruitment at club St Mirren. In his 20-year playing career he played 533 League games, scoring 155 goals. As a manager, he took ...

managed to extend the deal until the end of the season after Togwell played some excellent football in January. In March, Vale made Palace an offer, to sign the young midfielder permanently in the summer. The next month, with Togwell and Vale agreed on personal terms, chairman

Bill Bratt William Amos Bratt Order of the British Empire, MBE (born 1945) is an English insurance broker and former football club chairman who was the chair of Port Vale F.C., Port Vale from 2003 to 2011. After decades working in the insurance industry, Br ...

admitted that the two clubs were a long way from agreeing a deal, with Palace demanding a large sum in

fees. The cash-strapped club were forced to abandon hope of signing Togwell after their £50,000 transfer bid was rejected, though handed him the club's "Young Player of The Year" award in recognition of his performances in his 30 games that season.

Barnsley

His tenure at Palace did not last much longer, however, as he left for

on 12 July 2006 for an undisclosed fee which was later reported to be £60,000. Togwell made his League debut for Barnsley on 5 August 2006, in a 2–1 defeat at

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

. He made 46 appearances in 2006–07, including both Championship clashes with former club Palace, both of which finished 2–0 for the home team. Battling with

Bobby Hassell Robert John Francis Hassell (born 4 June 1980) is an English former footballer who played for Mansfield Town, Barnsley and Bharat FC in I-League as a defender. He is currently an Academy Manager at Barnsley. Career Mansfield Born in Derby, D ...

and new signing Anderson Silva de França for a first team place, he found life tough at

Oakwell Oakwell is a multi-purpose sports development in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England used primarily by Barnsley Football Club for playing their home fixtures, and those of their reserves. While the name 'Oakwell' generally refers to the main s ...

the next season. In all he played 27 games, three of which came in the club's impressive FA Cup run, including a substitute appearance in the memorable victory over Premier League team Chelsea.

Scunthorpe United

He joined

on a free transfer in August 2008, signing a two-year deal. The young midfield battler was optimistic of the club's future, predicting promotion. His prophecy was fulfilled at Wembley, as the "Iron" defeated Millwall 3–2 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 ...

. He remained a key member of Scunthorpe's first team in the Championship; making 47 appearances in 2009–10, he managed to bag a goal against his former employers at

in the process. Signing a new two-year deal in June 2010, Togwell recovered from a knee injury to make 40 appearances 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 ...

campaign. He was given the club's Player of the Year award, the Ernie Storey Memorial Trophy, however, he could not prevent the "Iron" from finishing in last place and thereby suffer relegation back into League One. He made 44 appearances in 2011–12, as

Alan Knill Alan Richard Knill (born 8 October 1964) is a professional football manager and former player, who is a coach for the Wales national team. He played as a centre-back for several clubs, spending the most time at Halifax Town, Bury and Scuntho ...

led the Glanford Park club to an 18th-place finish in League One. However, he was one of ten players released by the club in May 2012.

Chesterfield

In July 2012, Togwell joined League Two club

on a two-year contract. He made 50 appearances 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 ...

campaign. On 14 March 2014, Togwell joined fellow League Two club

on a one-month loan deal. He made his debut for the "Chairboys" the next day in a 2–0 defeat to York City, and gave away a penalty before being sent off for two bookable offences. He returned from suspension to play three games for Wycombe before being recalled by Chesterfield on 9 April. He played a total of ten games for Chesterfield as the "Spireites" won promotion as divisional champions in 2013–14, and was released 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 Cook in the summer.

Barnet

Togwell joined

of the Conference Premier in August 2014. He missed just four league games of the 2014–15 season as Martin Allen's "Bees" won promotion back into the English Football League as champions of the Conference. He played 40 games in the 2015–16 season and signed a one-year contract extension in May. He underwent a hernia operation in October 2016, which kept him out of action for six weeks. In total he played 99 times for the Bees, scoring one goal.

Eastleigh

On 15 December 2016, Togwell joined National League club

for a fee of £20,000. He signed an 18-month contract; the move reunited him with former Barnet manager Martin Allen. He was appointed as club captain one month later following the departure of

Joe Partington Joseph Michael Partington (born 1 April 1990) is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for National League side Aldershot Town. At under-21 level, Partington represented Wales on eight occasions between 2009 and 2012. Club career B ...

. However, he endured a difficult 2017–18 campaign, which started badly as he was ruled out for the first half of the season after picking up a thigh injury in August. By the time he recovered to full fitness manager Richard Hill had been replaced by

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 ...

, who opted to release Togwell at the end of the campaign.

Slough Town

Togwell joined newly promoted

National League 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

in June 2018, where he joined up with his brother Lee. As well as playing together, the brothers also ran a personal training business together. He scored three goals in 44 matches in the 2018–19 season, helping the "Rebels" to reach the Second Round of the FA Cup, where they were beaten by Gillingham. Slough beat Reading Under-23s 3–1 in the 2019 Berks & Bucks Senior Cup final, with Togwell scoring a brace and his brother scoring the other goal. He scored two goals in 34 games during the 2019–20 season, helping Slough to qualify for the play-off quarter-finals, where they were beaten 3–0 by

Dartford Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames estuary, is Thurrock in ...

. He made 13 appearances before 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 was curtailed early 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 announced his retirement in May 2021.

Beaconsfield Town

Togwell came out of retirement to play for Southern League Premier Division South club Beaconsfield Town in the

2022–23 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. He made 49 appearances over the course of the campaign, scoring two goals.

Career statistics

Honours

Scunthorpe United * Football League One play-offs:

Chesterfield * Football League Two: 2013–14 Barnet * Conference Premier: 2014–15 Slough Town * Berks & Bucks Senior Cup: 2019 Individual *

Player of the Year:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Togwell, Sam 1984 births Living people Sportspeople from Beaconsfield Footballers from Buckinghamshire English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Barnsley F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Oxford United F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players Wycombe Wanderers F.C. players Barnet F.C. players Eastleigh F.C. players Slough Town F.C. players Beaconsfield Town F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Southern Football League players