Thomas Alun Lockyer (born 3 December 1994) is a Welsh 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

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

and the Wales national team.

Club career

Bristol Rovers

Lockyer was born and raised in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

. He joined

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 ...

as a youth aged 11, but was released aged 16, as Cardiff deemed him to be too small to play his preferred position of

. Lockyer then signed a scholarship for

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been c ...

in 2011 and went on to make his debut on 12 January 2013, replacing

Ellis Harrison Ellis Wade Harrison (born 29 January 1994) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a centre-forward for club Port Vale. He represented Wales at under-21 level, scoring three goals in fourteen games. Harrison began his career at Bristol ...

, 85 minutes into a 3–0 win over

Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Fleetwood, Lancashire. Established in 1997, the current Fleetwood Town F.C. is the fourth incarnation of the club; it was originally formed in ...

Highbury Stadium Arsenal Stadium was a football stadium in Highbury, London, which was the home of Arsenal Football Club between 6 September 1913 and 7 May 2006. It was popularly known as "Highbury" due to its location and was given the affectionate nickname ...

. He made his home debut two months later on 12 March 2013, replacing

Oliver Norburn Oliver Lewis Norburn (born 26 October 1992) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Blackpool. Born in England, he plays for the Grenada national team. He made his debut for the team in 2021 and played at the 2021 CONCA ...

in the 74th minute in a 2–0 win over

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 ...

. He signed his first professional contract in May 2013, after making his previous appearances whilst still a youth team player. Lockyer scored his first league goal in a 1–0 win for Bristol Rovers over

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 ...

on 31 August 2013. On 17 March 2014, Lockyer signed a new two-year contract extension with Rovers. After Rovers were

relegated In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

out of

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 ...

in the 2013–14 season, Lockyer became a very important part of a very successful season after seeing the club get promoted first time of asking. In that season he managed to score one goal vs

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 ...

. As Rovers returned to League Two, he was a first-team regular and was rewarded by being named the

Football League Young Player of the Month The EFL Young Player of the Month is an award for young players in all three divisions of the English Football League. To be eligible players must be under-21 or turn 21 during the current season. It was first awarded in December 2009. Victor Mose ...

for December 2015 after consistent good performances. He made his 200th appearance for Rovers on 19 August 2017, in a 3–2 victory over

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

, in which he scored the opener. He departed Bristol Rovers following the expiration of his contract at the end of the 2018–19 season.

Charlton Athletic

Lockyer joined

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 ...

, who were newly promoted to the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

, on 28 June 2019 on a two-year contract. His first and only goal for the club was the equaliser in a 2–2 home draw with

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

on 11 January 2020. After playing every minute of 43 league appearances in the 2019–20 season and missing only three matches due to

suspension Suspension or suspended may refer to: Science and engineering * Suspension (topology), in mathematics * Suspension (dynamical systems), in mathematics * Suspension of a ring, in mathematics * Suspension (chemistry), small solid particles suspend ...

, Lockyer triggered a relegation release clause in his contract in August 2020, allowing him to join another club for free.

Luton Town

Lockyer signed for another Championship club,

, on 1 September 2020 on a free transfer. His debut came two weeks later in a 1–0

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

second round victory over

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

. In January 2022, Lockyer scored his first goal for the club with his side's first in a 2–1 win over

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

, saying after the match that he had dreamed of scoring against his old rivals. During the 2022–23 season, Lockyer continued to grow as a player, earning the captaincy following an injury to

Sonny Bradley Sonny Bradley (born 13 September 1991) is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Derby County. He has formerly played for Hull City, Harrogate Town, IK Frej, Aldershot Town, Portsmouth, Crawley Town and Plymouth ...

. As the season developed, he earned comparisons from his management team to legendary defenders

Franco Baresi Franchino Baresi (; born 8 May 1960) is an Italian football youth team coach and a former player and manager. He mainly played as a sweeper or as a central defender, and spent his entire 20-year career with Serie A club AC Milan, captaining t ...

and

Franz Beckenbauer Franz Anton Beckenbauer (, ; born 11 September 1945) is a German former professional footballer and manager. In his playing career he was nicknamed ''Der Kaiser'' ("The Emperor") because of his elegant style, dominance and leadership on the fi ...

International career

In October 2015, Lockyer made his Wales under-21 debut in a 0–0 draw against

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

. Lockyer was called up to the Welsh senior team in June 2017, remaining an unused substitute during a 1–1 draw with

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

. He received his second call-up for the senior squad on 25 August 2017, for the upcoming qualifiers against

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...

. He made his debut for the senior team on 14 November 2017 as a half-time substitute during a 1–1 draw with

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

. In May 2021 he was selected for the Wales squad for the delayed

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

tournament. On 9 November 2022, more than a year since he last played for his country, Lockyer was called up to the Wales squad for the upcoming

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international association football, football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022 ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Bristol Rovers *

Conference Premier The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profess ...

play-offs:

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

Football 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 ...

third-place promotion: 2015–16 Individual *

: December 2015

References

External links

Profile
at the Luton Town F.C. website {{DEFAULTSORT:Lockyer, Tom 1994 births Living people Footballers from Cardiff Welsh footballers Wales under-21 international footballers Wales international footballers Association football defenders Cardiff City F.C. players Bristol Rovers F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players UEFA Euro 2020 players 2022 FIFA World Cup players