Tom Soares

Thomas James Soares (born 10 July 1986) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Marlow. He has previously played for Crystal Palace, Stoke City, Bury, AFC Wimbledon and Stevenage.

Tom Soares

Personal information
Full name	Thomas James Soares[1]
Date of birth	(1986-07-10) 10 July 1986 (age 38)
Place of birth	Reading, England
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[2]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Marlow
Youth career
2000–2003	Crystal Palace
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2003–2008	Crystal Palace	149	(11)
2008–2012	Stoke City	7	(0)
2009	→ Charlton Athletic (loan)	11	(1)
2009–2010	→ Sheffield Wednesday (loan)	25	(2)
2012	→ Hibernian (loan)	10	(2)
2012–2017	Bury	164	(22)
2017–2019	AFC Wimbledon	69	(1)
2019–2020	Stevenage	15	(0)
2021–2022	Dorchester Town	25	(1)
2023–	Marlow	2	(1)
International career
2005–2007	England U21	4	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 00:25, 11 February 2023 (UTC)

Career

Crystal Palace

Born in Reading, Berkshire, Soares came up through the Crystal Palace academy, playing in central midfield.^{[citation needed]} When he made the Palace first team he was used as a winger.^{[citation needed]} Under the management of Neil Warnock, however, Soares was played in central midfield.^{[citation needed]} His driving runs, combined with his best goalscoring season to date, meant that he was a key performer in the 2007–08 season for Palace.^{[citation needed]}

Stoke City

In August 2008 Soares joined Premier League newcomers Stoke City for a fee of £1.25 million.^[3] He made an impressive start, as in his second match for Stoke he won two penalty kicks in a 2–1 win against Tottenham Hotspur at the Britannia Stadium.^[4] Soares played a few more matches for Stoke, against Sunderland, Manchester City, Portsmouth and West Bromwich Albion.^[5] After playing against Hartlepool United in the FA Cup, however, Soares failed to make a league appearance.^[5] He was loaned out to Charlton Athletic for the remainder of the 2008–09 season,^[6] but failed to help keep them in the Championship.^[7] Soares scored one goal for Charlton, on 3 February against Bristol City.^[8]

Back at Stoke, he failed to make a Premier League appearance in the 2009–10 season.^[9] On 26 November 2009 Soares joined Sheffield Wednesday, initially on a month-long loan deal,^[10] but he remained there until the end of the season. As with Charlton, Soares was part of a team who were relegated from the Championship.^[11] His misery was compounded by it coming at the hands of former club Crystal Palace, who stayed up at Wednesday's expense.^[12] Soares had now been relegated three times in his short career.^[13] In March 2011, Soares played for Stoke for the first time in almost 18 months, against Cardiff City in the FA Cup.^[14] Soares again failed to make a single Premier League appearance for Stoke during the 2010–11 and 2011–12 seasons.^[14][15] His last league appearance for Stoke was in December 2008.^[5]

On 23 January 2012, Soares joined Scottish Premier League club Hibernian on loan until the end of the 2011–12 season.^[16] He scored two goals in a 3–1 win against Kilmarnock on 25 February.^[17]

He was released by Stoke at the end of the 2011–12 season.^[18]

On 16 August 2012, it was reported by The News that Soares was training with Portsmouth.^[19]

Bury

On 9 November 2012, Soares joined Bury on non-contract terms.^[20] He re-signed for Bury on a two-year deal on 2 July 2013.^[21] Soares scored the winning goal against Tranmere Rovers on the last day of the 2014–15 season that gained Bury 3rd place and automatic promotion to League One.^[22][23]

AFC Wimbledon

On 31 January 2017, Soares left Bury and signed for fellow League One side AFC Wimbledon.^[24] He scored his first goal for the club on 1 January 2018 against Southend United.^[25]

Stevenage

After spending the pre-season with Stevenage FC he officially signed for the club on 2 August 2019.^[26]

In July 2021, Soares joined Southern Football League side Dorchester Town,^[27] where he went on to make 25 league appearances.^[28]

Personal life

His brother Louie is also a footballer, who has represented Barbados.

Career statistics

As of match played 4 February 2023

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other[A]		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Crystal Palace	2003–04[29]	First Division	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
	2004–05[30]	Premier League	22	0	1	0	3	1	0	0	26	1
	2005–06[31]	Championship	44	1	1	0	2	0	2	0	49	1
	2006–07[32]	Championship	37	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	37	3
	2007–08[33]	Championship	39	6	1	0	0	0	2	0	42	6
	2008–09[5]	Championship	4	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	5	1
	Total		149	11	4	0	5	1	4	0	162	12
Stoke City	2008–09[5]	Premier League	7	0	1	0	0	0	―		8	0
	2009–10[9]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	3	0	―		3	0
	2010–11[14]	Premier League	0	0	1	0	0	0	―		1	0
	2011–12[15]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
	Total		7	0	2	0	3	0	1	0	13	0
Charlton Athletic (loan)	2008–09[5]	Championship	11	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	11	1
Sheffield Wednesday (loan)	2009–10[9]	Championship	25	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	26	2
Hibernian (loan)	2011–12[15]	Scottish Premier League	10	2	3	0	0	0	0	0	13	2
Bury	2012–13[34]	League One	23	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	24	2
	2013–14[35]	League Two	30	6	2	0	1	0	0	0	33	6
	2014–15[22]	League Two	43	8	2	0	1	0	2	0	48	8
	2015–16[36]	League One	42	4	5	0	1	0	2	0	50	4
	2016–17[37]	League One	26	2	2	0	1	0	3	0	32	2
	Total		164	22	12	0	4	0	7	0	187	22
AFC Wimbledon	2016–17[37]	League One	15	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	15	0
	2017–18[25]	League One	31	1	3	0	0	0	1	0	35	1
	2018–19[38]	League One	23	0	3	0	1	0	2	1	29	1
	Total		69	1	6	0	1	0	3	1	79	2
Stevenage	2019–20[39]	League Two	15	0	1	0	1	0	3	0	20	0
Dorchester Town	2021–22[40]	Southern League Premier Division South	25	1	1	0	―		1	0	27	1
Marlow	2022–23[41]	Isthmian League South Central Division	2	1	―		―		―		2	1
Career total			477	41	30	0	14	1	19	1	540	43

A. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the Football League play-offs, UEFA Europa League, EFL Trophy and FA Trophy

References

1. "Notification of shirt numbers: Stevenage" (PDF). English Football League. p. 68. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
2. "Premier League Player Profile Tom Soares". Premier League. Retrieved 25 April 2011.
3. "Soares delighted to be at Stoke". BBC Sport. BBC. 20 March 2011.
4. "Stoke City 2–1 Tottenham". Stoke City official site. Stoke City. 19 October 2008. Archived from the original on 2 October 2009. Retrieved 19 July 2009.
5. "Games played by Tom Soares in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
6. "Soares makes Charlton loan switch". BBC Sport. BBC. 20 March 2011.
7. Charlton Athletic F.C. at the Football Club History Database
8. "Bristol City 2–1 Charlton". BBC Sport. BBC. 3 February 2009. Retrieved 20 December 2009.
9. "Games played by Tom Soares in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
10. "Stoke allow duo to leave on loan". BBC Sport. BBC. 20 March 2011.
11. Sheffield Wednesday F.C. at the Football Club History Database
12. "Wednesday 2 – 2 Palace". BBC Sport. BBC. 2 May 2010.
13. Haggerty, Anthony (4 February 2012). "Hibs loan signing Tom Soares admits he couldn't bear being relegated for a fourth time in his career". Daily Record. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
14. "Games played by Tom Soares in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
15. "Games played by Tom Soares in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
16. "Soares Signs For Hibs". Stoke City. Archived from the original on 25 January 2012. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
17. "Kilmarnock 1–3 Hibernian". BBC Sport. BBC. 25 February 2012. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
18. "FREE TRANSFER LIST 2011/12" (PDF). Premier League. Retrieved 1 June 2012.
19. Allen, Neil (16 August 2012). "Williamson and Soares train with Pompey". The News (Portsmouth). Johnston Press. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
20. "Soares soars in". Bury FC. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
21. "Soares signs new deal with Bury". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
22. "Games played by Tom Soares in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
23. Bury F.C. at the Football Club History Database
24. "AFC Wimbledon sign Bury's Soares". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
25. "Games played by Tom Soares in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
26. "Tom Soares completes Stevenage move". www.stevenagefc.com. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
27. "Welcome Tom Soares". Dorchester Town F.C. 9 July 2021. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
28. "Tom Soares Profile". aylesburyunitedfc.co.uk. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
29. "Games played by Tom Soares in 2003/2004". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
30. "Games played by Tom Soares in 2004/2005". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
31. "Games played by Tom Soares in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
32. "Games played by Tom Soares in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
33. "Games played by Tom Soares in 2007/2008". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
34. "Games played by Tom Soares in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
35. "Games played by Tom Soares in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
36. "Games played by Tom Soares in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
37. "Games played by Tom Soares in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
38. "Games played by Tom Soares in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
39. "Games played by Tom Soares in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
40. "Tom Soares Profile". Aylesbury United FC. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
41. "Marlow | Appearances | Thomas Soares". Football Web Pages. Retrieved 11 February 2023.

External links

• Tom Soares at Soccerbase