Thomas Christopher Cahill (born 18 August 1986) is an English

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 lea ...

who plays in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

for

National Premier Leagues Victoria The National Premier Leagues Victoria (NPL Victoria or NPL VIC) is a semi-professional soccer league in Victoria, Australia. The league is a part of the National Premier Leagues, and is the highest level within the Victorian soccer league syst ...

side

Heidelberg United FC Heidelberg United Alexander Football Club (founded as Alexander the Great-Melbourne Soccer Club) established in 1958 is a football (soccer) club based in the northern Melbourne suburb of Heidelberg West, Victoria, Heidelberg West, Victoria (stat ...

Career

Early career

Born in

Leyland, Lancashire Leyland ( ) is a town in South Ribble, Lancashire, England, 6 miles (10 km) south of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. The population was 35,578 at the 2011 Census. The name of the town is Anglo-Saxon, meaning "untilled land". History Leyland ...

, Cahill attended St Mary's High School in Leyland and

Runshaw College Runshaw College is a Further education, Higher and Further Education college based in Leyland, Lancashire, Leyland, England. History Runshaw College was established in 1974. It initially catered solely for school leavers from Balshaw's Church o ...

, where he was a member of their Football Academy. He played in the youth team of

West Lancashire Football League The West Lancashire Football League is a Association football, football competition based in northern England, consisting of five divisions – three for first teams (Premier, One and Two), and two for reserve teams. The top division, the Prem ...

side Euxton Villa for several years. In July 2006 he signed for

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern Football League, Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English footba ...

side

Matlock Town Matlock Town Football Club is a association football, football club based in Matlock, Derbyshire, Matlock, Derbyshire, England. Nicknamed 'the Gladiators', they are currently members of the and play at Causeway Lane. History The club was esta ...

while studying for a law degree at

Sheffield University The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Firth College in 1879 ...

. In the 2006–07 season he scored the winning goal against

Conference South The National League South, officially Vanarama National League South, is a professional Association football league in England. National League South is the second division of the National Leagues and step 2 of the NLS and sixth-highest ti ...

side

Histon Histon is a village and civil parish in the South Cambridgeshire district, in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is immediately north of Cambridge – and is separated from the city – by the A14 road (England), A14 road which runs eas ...

in the second qualifying round of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

Rotherham United

Cahill was set to move to the United States to start a scholarship. However, after he impressed on trial, he instead signed a two-year deal with

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional association football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The team plays in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, after suffering relegation fr ...

at the start of the 2007–08 season . Matlock received no fee for the 20-year-old, but they did manage to negotiate a 10% sell-on clause, three pre-season friendlies with ''the Millers'' over a five-year period, and first refusal on any youngsters that Rotherham were prepared to release on loan deals. Cahill was hit with niggling injuries at the start of his Rotherham career. His first appearance for ''the Millers'', came on 6 October 2007 as a 78th-minute substitute in a 3–2 home win over

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third level of the English football league system. The club was formed in 1897 as Mans ...

. After two injuries, Cahill was sent on loan to

Conference National The National League, officially known as Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in England. The National League is the first division of the National League (English football), National Le ...

side

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester, southwest of Sale, Greater Manchester, Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2021 United Kingdom ce ...

on 1 January 2008, where he made 11 appearances, scoring one goal on 8 January in a 2–1 victory over

Kidderminster Harriers Kidderminster Harriers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. The team competes in the National League North, the sixth level of the English football league system. Formed in ...

. He returned to Rotherham United on 12 March, making a further six appearances that season. In October 2008, Cahill joined

Premier Division side Ilkeston Town on a three-month loan deal.

Fleetwood Town

After a two-month trial period, Cahill signed for Conference North side

Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Fleetwood, Lancashire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Established in 1997, the current Flee ...

on 1 August 2009.

AFC Fylde

In summer of 2010, Cahill joined

Northern Premier League Division One North The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English football league system. Geographically, the league c ...

outfit

AFC Fylde AFC Fylde is a professional football club based in Wesham in the Borough of Fylde, Lancashire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Mill Farm. Originally known as Kirkham & Wesham following a merger of Kirkham Town and Wes ...

from Fleetwood and scored 24 goals for the Coasters as they reached the Play-off Final but lost to Chorley. He left the club in August 2011 to spend a year travelling around the world.

Move to Australia

After moving to Australia in 2011, Cahill joined

Sunshine George Cross FC Caroline Springs George Cross Football Club is an Australian soccer club based in Fraser Rise, a north-western suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, and plays in the Victoria Premier League 1, the second tier of football in Victoria, and ...

and spent the first half of the 2012 season there, scoring 6 times in 11 appearances in the

Victorian State League Division 1 The Victorian State League, known as VETO Sports State League for sponsorship purposes is an Australian soccer league based in Victoria that was founded in 1958 and administered by Football Victoria. It consists of five divisions (separated by ...

, before moving to

Victorian Premier League The Victorian Premier League (VPL) is an Australian soccer league based in Victoria that was founded in 2023 and administered by Football Victoria. It consists of two divisions that were named after the VPL's breakaway of the National Premier L ...

side

Richmond SC Greater Dandenong Football Club is an Australian association football, soccer club from Dandenong, Victoria, an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Australia. Greater Dandenong most recently competed in the Victorian State League Division 1, Victorian ...

, where he managed 10 goals from 10 appearances. He then moved to VPL giants

Green Gully SC Green Gully Soccer Club is an Australian association football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Green Gully is one of the largest clubs in Melbourne, having participated in the now defunct National Soccer League between 1984 and 1986. The clu ...

for the start of the 2013 season, but his stay with the western suburbs based club was short lived, returning to Richmond in mid-2013. In the next two and a half seasons, Cahill went on to become Richmond's captain and top goalscorer in both the 2014 and 2015 seasons, the latter resulting in the promotion of the club. In 2014, his 26 goals in 22 matches saw him win the leagues golden boot award. Cahill then joined

side Hume City on a two-year deal, but left from

Melbourne Knights FC Melbourne Knights Football Club is an Australian professional Association football, soccer club based in the suburb of Sunshine North, Victoria, Sunshine North, Melbourne. The club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues Victoria, t ...

at the end of the season after managing seven goals in 14 appearances. At Knights, Cahill managed eight goals in 22 appearances. In October 2017, he was released by Melbourne Knights. On 2 November 2017, it was announced that

had signed Cahill for the 2018 season.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cahill, Tom 1986 births Living people Rotherham United F.C. players Matlock Town F.C. players Fleetwood Town F.C. players Hume City FC players Melbourne Knights FC players English Football League players Alumni of the University of Sheffield Footballers from Leyland, Lancashire AFC Fylde players Northern Premier League players Men's association football forwards English men's footballers Heidelberg United FC players English expatriate sportspeople in Australia English expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in Australia National Premier Leagues players 21st-century English sportsmen Whittlesea Ranges FC players