Thomas Nathan Hateley (born 12 September 1989) 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

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

Ekstraklasa Poland Ekstraklasa (), meaning "Extra Class" in Polish, named PKO Ekstraklasa since the 2019–20 season due to its sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is the top Polish professional league for men's association football teams. Contested by 18 cl ...

side

Piast Gliwice Gliwicki Klub Sportowy Piast Gliwice () is a Polish football club based in Gliwice. In the 2018–19 season, Piast won its first Polish championship. As of 2022–23, it competes in the Ekstraklasa, Poland's top division. History The club wa ...

Background

His father

Mark Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Fi ...

played for many clubs including

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 ...

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

A.C. Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 and 1982–83 seasons ...

Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

and

AS Monaco Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club SA, commonly referred to as AS Monaco () or Monaco, is a professional football club based in Monaco that is member of French Football Federation (FFF) and competes in Ligue 1, the top tier of Fre ...

. Tom was born in Monaco. His late grandfather,

Tony Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leagu ...

, was also an English striker who played for many clubs including

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

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 ...

and

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

. His father revealed in his ''Daily Record'' columns that he used to take Tom to Rangers dressing room before matches and used to warm up with goalkeeper

Andy Goram Andrew Lewis Goram (13 April 1964 – 2 July 2022) was a Scottish footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Born in Bury, Lancashire, England, he started his career with Oldham Athletic and Hibernian, but he is best remembered for playing for Ra ...

when he was five years old. While growing up, Tom was a Rangers fan.

Career

Reading

Hateley began his career at Reading, helping the reserve team to the national league title in the 2006–07 season. He was also the captain of the under-18 side during his time with the Royals. In the aftermath of the departure of

Steve Coppell Stephen James Coppell (born 9 July 1955) is an English professional football manager and former player. As a player, he was a highly regarded right winger known for his speed and work rate. He won domestic honours with Manchester United and rep ...

, he was one of several youngsters to be released by Reading in the summer of 2009. After being released by Reading, and after time at Basingstoke, Hateley had an extremely successful 4 years at Motherwell.

Loan to Basingstoke Town

In late 2008, he joined

Basingstoke Town Basingstoke Town Football Club is a football club based in Basingstoke, Hampshire, England. The club are currently members of the and play at the Winklebury Sports Complex. Their motto, 'Vestigia Nulla Retrorsum', means 'Never a step backward' ...

on loan until the end of the season and featured in an

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 ...

match against

Bury Town Bury Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club, based in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England. The club are currently members of the and play at Ram Meadow. History Early history The club was established by William Lake at a meetin ...

. He made fifteen appearances in all for the Hampshire club. During that season, he also had a trial at

Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish association football, football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Hamilton, South Lanarkshire who currently compete in the Scottish Championshi ...

. He almost signed on loan, but Manager Billy Reid decided against bringing him in due to a short spell of ill health at the time of trial.

Motherwell

After being released by Reading, Hateley featured in a pre-season friendly for Basingstoke against

Carshalton Athletic Carshalton Athletic Football Club is an English football club based in Carshalton in the London Borough of Sutton. They currently play in the and are based at the War Memorial Sports Ground. The club also field a women's team playing in the Lo ...

. He went on trial at

Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area i ...

before being offered a trial with

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...

club

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

. Manager

Jim Gannon James Paul Gannon (born 7 September 1968) is a professional football manager and former player who most recently was manager of Hyde United. He started and finished his career as a player in Ireland, but made most of his professional appearan ...

offered the youngster a twelve-month deal with the option of a further year. He joined Motherwell on 13 August 2009, on a one-year contract. Set to start on the bench against

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an old ...

, Hateley made his league debut unexpectedly as a late replacement for

Paul Slane Paul Slane (born 25 November 1991) is a Scottish media personality and former professional footballer. He has played for Motherwell, Celtic, Partick Thistle, Milton Keynes Dons, Ayr United, Clyde and Open Goal Broomhill. Slane also represente ...

in a 2–2 draw. Hateley became an integral part of the Motherwell midfield during the 2009–10 season, offering additional defensive cover when required. He scored his first Motherwell goal with a free-kick against his father's former club

in February 2010. After the match, Hateley said scoring against Rangers was the best goal of his career and that his dad even congratulated him. At the end of the season, he signed a new three-year contract, running until 2013. In the 2010–11 season, Hateley made his European debut, in the first round first leg of the

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 ...

campaign, in a 1–0 win over Breiðablik. Then in the second leg, Hateley provided an assist for Jamie Murphy to send the club through to the next round. In the first leg of the play-off round, Hateley scored his first European goal, in a 2–1 loss against Danish side OB. After scoring his first European goal, Hateley described it as a "perfect moment". But in the second leg, Motherwell were eliminated after losing 1–0. Later in the season, Hateley scored twice in the league, against St Mirren and Hearts. Hateley was also in the starting line-up for the

Scottish Cup final The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the Scottish Cup, is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in Football in Scotland, Scottish football. Organised by the Scottish Football Association, it is the ...

against

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

, but Motherwell lost 3–0. After the match, he said the match had left him lost for words. At the conclusion of the 2010–11 season, Hateley had scored three goals in fifty-three appearances. In the 2011–12 season, Hateley scored four goals in all competitions in forty-three appearances. In the 2012–13 season, Hateley made his Champions League debut, in a 3–0 loss against Greek side

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos ( el, Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club ba ...

. He played in both legs of the Champions League match. His contract talks with Motherwell soon broke down as he continued to be linked with many European clubs. On 27 June 2013, Hateley left Motherwell after informing manager

Stuart McCall Andrew Stuart Murray McCall (born 10 June 1964) is a professional football coach and former player. He is assistant manager at Sheffield United. McCall played in a total of 763 league games and in 40 full international matches for Scotla ...

that he would not return for pre-season training. This would end his four-year association with the club. In the summer transfer window, Hateley was linked a move back to Motherwell, something that was denied by McCall.

Tranmere Rovers

On 21 September 2013, Hateley moved to England by joining League One

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they adop ...

on a 4-month contract. He made his debut on the same day for the club in a 2–0 loss away at

, he played the full 90 minutes whilst picking up a yellow card in the process. Four days later, he made his next appearance in the third round of the League Cup against

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

and despite losing 2–0, Hateley, along with three defenders, "delivered solid displays in defence". Hateley then played in central midfield, before a spell out of the team through injury. After four months, Hateley left the club at the end of his contract.

Śląsk Wrocław

On 23 January 2014, Hateley left Tranmere Rovers to move abroad by joining Polish side

Śląsk Wrocław Wrocławski Klub Sportowy Śląsk Wrocław Spółka Akcyjna, commonly known as WKS Śląsk Wrocław, Śląsk Wrocław () or simply Śląsk, is a Polish football club based in Wrocław that plays in Ekstraklasa, the highest level of the Polish fo ...

on a two-and-a-half-year contract despite interest from

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. ...

. Hateley had previously gone on trial with the club, which went successfully. Upon the move, he revealed his former Motherwell teammate

Henrik Ojamaa Henrik Ojamaa (born 20 May 1991) is an Estonian professional footballer who plays as a forward for FC Flora and the Estonia national team. In 2012, Ojamaa was named the Estonian Young Footballer of the Year. Club career Flora Ojamaa began play ...

had recommended he should move to Poland. Hateley made his

debut on 16 February 2014, in an away match against

Lech Poznań Kolejowy Klub Sportowy Lech Poznań S.A., commonly referred to as KKS Lech Poznań or simply Lech Poznań (), is a Polish professional association football, football club based in Poznań and currently competing in the Ekstraklasa, the nation' ...

Dundee

Hateley signed a two-year contract with

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

on 5 September 2016. Before joining the club, he had also spoken to

and Hibernian. On 31 August 2017, Hateley was released from his contract by mutual consent.

Career statistics

Honours

Piast Gliwice *

: 2018–19

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hateley, Tom 1989 births People from Monte Carlo Monegasque footballers Monegasque expatriate footballers Monegasque people of English descent Monegasque emigrants to the United Kingdom Living people English footballers English expatriate footballers Men's association football midfielders Reading F.C. players Basingstoke Town F.C. players Motherwell F.C. players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Śląsk Wrocław players Dundee F.C. players Scottish Premier League players English Football League players National League (English football) players Piast Gliwice players Ekstraklasa players AEK Larnaca FC players English expatriate sportspeople in Poland English expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Expatriate footballers in Poland Expatriate footballers in Cyprus Scottish Professional Football League players