Joe Lewis (footballer, born 1987)

For other uses, see Joe Lewis.

Joseph Peter Lewis (born 6 October 1987) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

Joe Lewis

Lewis playing for Peterborough United in 2012
Personal information
Full name	Joseph Peter Lewis[1]
Date of birth	(1987-10-06) 6 October 1987 (age 37)[2]
Place of birth	Bury St Edmunds, England
Height	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)[2]
Position(s)	Goalkeeper
Youth career
1995–2003	Norwich City
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2003–2008	Norwich City	0	(0)
2007	→ Stockport County (loan)	5	(0)
2007	→ Morecambe (loan)	19	(0)
2008–2012	Peterborough United	168	(0)
2012–2016	Cardiff City	1	(0)
2014–2015	→ Blackpool (loan)	34	(0)
2015–2016	→ Fulham (loan)	8	(0)
2016–2023	Aberdeen	230	(1)
Total		443	(1)
International career
	England U15	?	(0)
2002–2003	England U16	5	(0)
2003–2004	England U17	6	(0)
2005	England U19	2	(0)
2008–2009	England U21	5	(0)
Medal record Men's football Representing  England UEFA European Under-21 Championship Runner-up 2009
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17 October 2024

Lewis began his career with Norwich City but did not make a competitive appearance for them, serving loans with Stockport County and Morecambe. In early 2008 he moved to Peterborough United, and was the regular goalkeeper during four seasons in which the club were promoted twice, relegated then promoted again. He lost his place in the team, and in 2012 moved to Cardiff City where he had a backup role and went out on loan to Blackpool and Fulham. In 2016 he moved to Scotland with Aberdeen, being installed as first choice and playing in three cup finals in his first three seasons; he was named captain in 2019.

In 2023, after 7 years and 271 appearances Joe Lewis left Aberdeen and is now a free agent.

Lewis represented England at several youth levels up to under-21.

Club career

Norwich City

Born in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk,^[2] Lewis had been involved with Norwich City's youth system since 1995 at the age of eight.^[3][4] In August 2003 he agreed to join Norwich, the club his family supported,^[5] as a scholar at the culmination of his studies at Bungay High School in the summer of 2004.^[4] Before reaching 16 he spent time as the Norwich first team's substitute goalkeeper, but did not make an appearance.^[6] He turned professional in October 2004,^[7][8] but got no nearer to a first team debut than being named on the bench for portions of 2004–05 and 2005–06.^[9] The sale of first-choice goalkeeper Robert Green meant that Lewis became second-choice goalkeeper at Carrow Road before a fractured cheekbone sustained in a reserve team game against Leyton Orient prompted the loan signing of Lee Camp.^[10]

Loans

After an initial trial with Bury,^[11][12] Lewis joined Stockport County on loan in March 2007 for the remainder of the 2006–07 season,^[13] playing five games and keeping three clean sheets. He was rewarded with a three-year deal at Norwich, in May 2007.^[14] At the beginning of 2007–08, Lewis joined Morecambe on a five-month loan to gain more first-team experience.

Peterborough United

Lewis signed for Peterborough United on 8 January 2008, for a reported fee of £400,000,^[5] breaking the club's record transfer fee. He went on to make his debut against Macclesfield Town on 12 January. At the end of the season Peterborough finished as runners-up in League Two, meaning they were promoted to League One.

His first full season at London Road Stadium resulted in another promotion where the club won promotion to the Championship. On 13 April 2009, Lewis was made to face a penalty three times against Millwall in an unusual refereeing decision. After David Martin of Millwall was tripped and a penalty awarded against Peterborough, Lewis was twice judged by the assistant referee to have moved off his line before the ball had been struck by Gary Alexander – on both occasions Lewis saved the penalty. At the third attempt, Millwall replaced the unsuccessful Alexander with Martin, who scored and this time the penalty stood. Speaking on Sky Sports News after the event, ex-referee Dermot Gallagher commented that whilst the assistant was consistently working to the letter of the law, his decisions were harsh.

However his first season in the Championship wasn't as much of a success which resulted in relegation back down to the third tier. Peterborough started off strongly and Lewis was first choice keeper nearly all the season, however after fracturing his kneecap (and playing a whole half with it fractured) against MK Dons in the play-off semi final, he was forced to miss the second leg and final through injury. Peterborough went on to win promotion, defeating Huddersfield 3–0 in style in the final. During his fifth season at Peterborough, Lewis was replaced as first choice keeper permanently by Paul Jones and only made 12 appearances. His last appearance for the club came on 14 February, in a 3–1 loss at Cardiff City. On 30 April, Lewis was released by the club at the end of his contract, with Cardiff City and Ipswich Town interested in signing him.^[15]

Cardiff City

On 25 May 2012, Lewis agreed a three-year deal at Welsh club Cardiff City, which would commence on 1 July, where he linked up with former Norwich City teammates, Malky Mackay (at the time manager of Cardiff) and David Marshall.^[16] He made his debut for the club on 14 August, in a League Cup defeat to Northampton Town, and a second appearance came in the FA Cup exit at Macclesfield Town in January.

Following promotion to the Premier League, Lewis was named in the 25-man squad and made his league debut for the club in a 1–1 draw at Hull City.^[17]

Blackpool (loan)

On 5 August 2014 he joined Blackpool on a season-long loan.^[18] He made his debut for the club on 9 August.^[19] On 24 January 2015, he was omitted from the line-up to face Watford at Vicarage Road. Blackpool manager Lee Clark initially gave the reason as being a tactical – not monetary – one,^[20] but it was later revealed that Blackpool would have to pay his parent club a fee of £40,000 after Lewis had made a certain number of appearances for Blackpool. The payment would entitle Blackpool to sign Lewis permanently at the end of the loan deal.^[20] Blackpool attempted to terminate the loan, but the Bluebirds refused.^[21]

Fulham (loan)

On 24 August 2015, Lewis joined Fulham on a season-long loan.^[22]

Aberdeen

On 15 June 2016, Lewis signed for Scottish Premiership club Aberdeen.^[23] He made his debut for the club on 30 June 2016, in a Europa League First qualifying round tie against Fola Esch.^[24] Lewis started all matches for the Dons in 2016–17,^[25] and signed a new deal at the end of the season to keep him at the club until 2020.^[26] Lewis continued to play regularly for Aberdeen over the next two seasons, and extended his contract with the club until 2024 in May 2019.^[27]

Ahead of the 2019–20 season, Lewis was named as Aberdeen's club captain, replacing Graeme Shinnie in the role following his transfer to Derby County.^[28]

Having lost his position as first-choice goalkeeper to Kelle Roos during the 2022–23 season, Lewis left Aberdeen at the season's end after seven years at the club.^[29]

From December 2023, Lewis trained with Manchester United.^[30]

On 15 October 2024, Lewis announced his retirement from football.^[31]

International career

Lewis made his debut for the England under-21s on 15 May 2008, in a friendly against Wales. He replaced Joe Hart at half time and carried through a clean sheet, in a game that saw England win 2–0.

In May 2008, he received a call-up to the senior England squad, replacing an injured Chris Kirkland for the friendlies against USA and Trinidad and Tobago.^[5][32] However, Lewis was an unused substitute for both games.^[33][34]

On 18 August 2008 he started and played for the under-21 England side at Hull City's KC Stadium.

He made his third appearance for the under-21s in a friendly against the Czech Republic only to come off with an ankle injury after 33 minutes. He came on from the bench as a forward in the game against Azerbaijan, replacing Lee Cattermole for the last 15 minutes with England already 6–0 ahead and having used all their outfield substitutes.^[35]

Career statistics

As of 13 February 2023^[36]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Other[37]		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Norwich City	2006–07[38]	Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	2007–08[39]	Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	Total		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Stockport County (loan)	2006–07[38]	League Two	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
Morecambe (loan)	2007–08[39]	League Two	19	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	22	0
Peterborough United	2007–08[39]	League Two	22	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	23	0
	2008–09[40]	League One	46	0	5	0	1	0	1[a]	0	53	0
	2009–10[41]	Championship	43	0	1	0	4	0	—		48	0
	2010–11[42]	League One	46	0	4	0	3	0	1[a]	0	54	0
	2011–12[43]	Championship	11	0	1	0	0	0	—		12	0
	Total		168	0	12	0	8	0	2	0	190	0
Cardiff City	2012–13[44]	Championship	0	0	1	0	1	0	—		2	0
	2013–14[45]	Premier League	1	0	0	0	2	0	—		3	0
	2014–15[46]	Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	2015–16[47]	Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	Total		1	0	1	0	3	0	0	0	5	0
Blackpool (loan)	2014–15[46]	Championship	34	0	1	0	1	0	—		36	0
Fulham (loan)	2015–16[47]	Championship	8	0	0	0	1	0	—		9	0
Aberdeen	2016–17[48]	Scottish Premiership	38	0	5	0	4	0	6[b]	0	53	0
	2017–18[49]	Scottish Premiership	31	0	2	0	2	0	4[b]	0	39	0
	2018–19[50]	Scottish Premiership	37	0	6	0	4	0	2[b]	0	49	0
	2019–20[51]	Scottish Premiership	30	0	5	0	2	0	6[b]	0	43	0
	2020–21[52]	Scottish Premiership	35	0	2	0	1	0	3[b]	0	41	0
	2021–22[53]	Scottish Premiership	34	0	1	0	1	0	6[c]	0	42	0
	2022–23[53]	Scottish Premiership	3	0	1	0	0	0	—		4	0
	Total		208	0	22	0	14	0	27	0	271	0
Career total			443	0	36	0	30	0	29	0	538	0

1. Appearances in Football League Trophy
2. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
3. Appearances in the UEFA Europa Conference League

Honours

Peterborough United

• Football League One runner-up: 2008–09
• Football League One play-offs: 2010–11
• Football League Two runner-up: 2007–08

Aberdeen^[5]

• Scottish Cup runner-up: 2016–17
• Scottish League Cup runner-up 2016–17, 2018–19

England U21

• UEFA European Under-21 Championship runner-up: 2009

Individual

• PFA Team of the Year: 2007–08 Football League Two^[54]

References

1. "EFL: Club retained and released lists published". English Football League. 23 June 2016. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
2. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2010). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2010–11. Mainstream Publishing. p. 252. ISBN 978-1-84596-601-0.
3. "Joe Lewis Career History". Up The Posh!. Archived from the original on 10 March 2012. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
4. "Joe Lewis commits himself to the club". Norwich City F.C. 5 August 2003. Archived from the original on 30 June 2012. Retrieved 4 June 2008.
5. Tom English (26 October 2018). "Joe Lewis: Aberdeen keeper opens up on hopes & history ahead of Rangers tie". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
6. "Back to school for Lewis". Norwich City F.C. (taken from the Eastern Daily Press. 29 September 2003. Archived from the original on 30 June 2012. Retrieved 4 June 2008.
7. "Joe Lewis signs as a professional". Norwich City F.C. 22 October 2004. Archived from the original on 30 June 2012. Retrieved 4 June 2008.
8. "Lewis nets professional contract". BBC Sport. 23 October 2004. Retrieved 4 June 2008.
9. "Lewis and Mulryne handed place on bench". Norwich City F.C. 26 December 2004. Archived from the original on 30 June 2012. Retrieved 4 June 2008.
10. "City to sign Lee Camp on loan". Norwich City F.C. 7 September 2006. Archived from the original on 30 June 2012. Retrieved 4 June 2008.
11. "Norwich's Lewis on trial at Bury". BBC Sport. 16 November 2006. Retrieved 4 June 2008.
12. "Preview: Brentford v Bury". Manchester Evening News. 4 March 2008. Retrieved 4 June 2008.
13. "Stockport snap up Norwich keeper". BBC Sport. 22 March 2007. Retrieved 4 June 2008.
14. "Lewis signs new contract". Norwich City F.C. 10 May 2007. Archived from the original on 30 June 2012. Retrieved 4 June 2008.
15. "Peterborough United list Grant McCann, release Joe Lewis". BBC Sport. 30 April 2012. Retrieved 30 April 2012.
16. "Lewis agrees deal with Cardiff City". Cardiff City Official Site. 25 May 2012. Archived from the original on 29 May 2012. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
17. "Hull 1–1 Cardiff". BBC Sport. 14 September 2013. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
18. "Joe Lewis: Blackpool sign Cardiff goalkeeper on loan". BBC Sport. 5 August 2014. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
19. "Nottm Forest 2–0 Blackpool". BBC Sport. 9 August 2014. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
20. "Lewis left in limbo at Pool" – Blackpool Gazette, 28 January 2015
21. "Pool locked in bizarre battle over Lewis" – Blackpool Gazette, 27 January 2015
22. "Lewis joins Fulham". Cardiff City. 24 August 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
23. "Joe Lewis, Neil Alexander and Callum Morris join Aberdeen". BBC Sport. 16 June 2016. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
24. "Europa League: Aberdeen 3 Fola Esch 1". Aberdeen F.C. 1 July 2016. Archived from the original on 5 July 2016. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
25. ByTheMinute Aberdeen [@ByTheMinAFC] (21 May 2017). "Joe Lewis played every minute of the 2016–17 league campaign. Here's the full list" (Tweet) – via Twitter./photo/1
26. "Aberdeen: goalkeeper Joe Lewis extends his contract by two years". BBC Sport. 13 June 2017. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
27. "Joe Lewis: Aberdeen goalkeeper signs on for an extra four years". BBC Sport. 1 May 2019. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
28. Wallace, Sean (11 July 2019). "Why Lewis was made Reds skipper". Evening Express. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
29. Smith, Aidan (7 July 2023). "Goalkeeper Joe Lewis' next move revealed following Aberdeen exit". HeraldScotland. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
30. by Steven Railston, Ruaraidh Britton (6 February 2024). "Former Aberdeen keeper Joe Lewis added to Manchester United first-team training". Aberdeen Live. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
31. Burns, Scott; Britton, Ruaraidh (15 October 2024). "Former Aberdeen captain Joe Lewis announces retirement and launches next career chapter". Aberdeen Live. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
32. "Posh keeper given England call-up". BBC Sport. 24 May 2008. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
33. "England 2–0 USA". BBC Sport. 28 May 2008. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
34. "Trinidad & Tobago 0–3 England". BBC Sport. 1 June 2008. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
35. England U21 7–0 Azerbaijan U21 BBC Sport, 8 June 2009
36. Joe Lewis at Soccerway
37. Includes matches in EFL Trophy and UEFA Europa League
38. "Games played by Joe Lewis in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
39. "Games played by Joe Lewis in 2007/2008". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
40. "Games played by Joe Lewis in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
41. "Games played by Joe Lewis in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
42. "Games played by Joe Lewis in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
43. "Games played by Joe Lewis in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
44. "Games played by Joe Lewis in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
45. "Games played by Joe Lewis in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
46. "Games played by Joe Lewis in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
47. "Games played by Joe Lewis in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
48. "Games played by Joe Lewis in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
49. "Games played by Joe Lewis in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
50. "Games played by Joe Lewis in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
51. "Games played by Joe Lewis in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
52. "Games played by Joe Lewis in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
53. "Games played by Joe Lewis in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
54. "Ronaldo named player of the year". BBC Sport. 27 April 2008. Retrieved 20 December 2022.

External links

• Joe Lewis at Soccerbase