Tom English (born 17 November 1981) is an English former professional footballer who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for Arsenal where he was a member of the FA youth cup winning squad in 2000 and Marine Castle United (today

Hougang United Hougang United Football Club is a Singaporean professional football club that competes in the Singapore Premier League. History Hougang United Football Club was founded as Marine Castle United Football Club, which was formed by Newcastle Unit ...

) in the Singaporean

S.League The Singapore Premier League, commonly abbreviated as SPL, officially known as the AIA Singapore Premier League for sponsorship reasons, is a men's professional football league sanctioned by the Football Association of Singapore (FAS), which r ...

in 2001. His professional career was cut short after he was seriously injured in a fall in

Tenerife Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitants as of Janu ...

, though he eventually played semi-professionally for several East Anglian sides. He now works as a postman.Signing for Arsenal, coming through with Cole, waking up from a coma and becoming a postman: Thomas English's incredible story
''

FourFourTwo ''FourFourTwo'' is a football magazine published by Future. Issued monthly, it published its 300th edition in May 2019. It takes its name from the football formation of the same name, 4-4-2. In 2008, it was announced that ''FourFourTwo'' had e ...

''.

Career

The son of former

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

and

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

striker Tommy English, Tom English was initially on the books of

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

, joining

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 ...

in the summer of 1998 but making no first team appearances before being released in the summer of 2000. After a short spell playing alongside his father at Harwich & Parkeston, in January 2001 he signed for Marine Castle United (today

) in the Singaporean

, where he scored fifteen goals in the 2001 season. With a move to QPR in prospect, he returned to Europe but during a holiday trip to Tenerife suffered a fall that severely damaged his right knee, alongside a broken jaw, facial injuries and a head injury that put him in a

coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal wake-sleep cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. Coma patients exhi ...

for ten days. Unable to resume a professional career, he played for English clubs

Stanway Rovers Stanway Rovers Football Club is a association football, football club based in Stanway, Essex, Stanway, near Colchester, in Essex, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Hawthorns. History The modern club was established on ...

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the Borough of Barnet, North-West London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has been part of Great ...

, Harwich & Parkeston,

A.F.C. Sudbury Amalgamated Football Club Sudbury is a football club based in Sudbury, Suffolk, England. The club was formed in 1999 by the merger of Sudbury Town and Sudbury Wanderers, the process giving rise to the name Amalgamated Football Club Sudbury. ...

, Mildenhall Town, Haverhill Rovers, Tiptree United, Ipswich Wanderers, Halstead Town, and

Heybridge Swifts Heybridge Swifts Football Club is a football club based in Heybridge, near Maldon, Essex, England. They are currently members of the and play at Scraley Road. History The club was established in 1880 as Heybridge Football Club. After joining t ...

Quartet of new signings boost Swifts
Maldon and Burnham Standard before retiring in 2011. He now works as a postman.

References

External links

As English as they come
(only accessible through NLB) {{DEFAULTSORT:English, Tom 1981 births Living people Footballers from Coventry English men's footballers Harwich & Parkeston F.C. players Hougang United FC players Stanway Rovers F.C. players Hendon F.C. players A.F.C. Sudbury players Mildenhall Town F.C. players Haverhill Rovers F.C. players Tiptree United F.C. players Ipswich Wanderers F.C. players Halstead Town F.C. players Heybridge Swifts F.C. players Men's association football forwards