Luke Young (born 22 February 1993) 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 lea ...

who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for club

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1887, ...

. Having progressed through

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...

's youth system, Young made his debut in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

in 2011. He subsequently played with

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. They have played their ho ...

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

and

Club career

Early life and career

Young was born in

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

, Devon. He signed Centre of Excellence forms with

in May 2002, aged nine, and played schools football for Plymouth and Devon."Young gun"
Plymouth Argyle F.C. 22 January 2011. Retrieved 1 February 2011. In the 2008–09 season, he made 23 appearances for the club's under-18 side, including the full 90 minutes of the

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

fifth round tie with

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

."Who are Argyle's stars of the future?"
''The Herald''. 9 August 2009. Retrieved 1 February 2011. Despite still being a schoolboy, he also played once for the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

. He was a student at

Ivybridge Community College Ivybridge Community College is a state-funded secondary school and academy in Ivybridge, Devon, England. Located on the southern slopes of Dartmoor, it takes students from the surrounding of the South Hams, from 14 contributory primary schools. ...

before signing a full-time scholarship with the club. Young made a further 22 appearances for the under-18's in the 2009–10 season, scoring one goal, along with seven appearances for the reserves. Having played in 11 matches for the under-18 side the following season, where he scored two goals, and three matches for the reserves, Young was promoted to the first-team squad in January 2011.

Plymouth Argyle

He was an unused substitute in the club's league match at

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

on 22 January 2011. Young made his debut one week later against

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

, replacing Northern Ireland

international International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

Rory Patterson in the 86th minute. In doing so, he became the 29th player to represent the club in a competitive match during the 2010–11 season."Plymouth Argyle boss stays upbeat despite spurned chances"
''The Herald''. 31 January 2011. Retrieved 1 February 2011. "Rory took a knock, but the boy Young has got good feet. He's a bit slight, but he's a good little footballer," said manager

Peter Reid Peter Reid (born 20 June 1956) is an English football manager, pundit and former player. A defensive midfielder in his playing days, Reid enjoyed a long and successful career. He built his reputation as one of England's brightest midfield tale ...

. "I knew Rory was struggling, so I just wanted to have a look at him." He made his first

start Start can refer to multiple topics: * Takeoff, the phase of flight where an aircraft transitions from moving along the ground to flying through the air * Starting lineup in sports * Track and field#Starts use in race, Starts use in sport race * S ...

in a 4–0 defeat at

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

on his 18th birthday. Young signed his first professional contract in July, keeping him at the club until the summer of 2012. "Considering that I've been at the club since I was nine, then to get the two-year scholarship and then at the end of that to get the first professional contract that I've been working towards for all these years, is really special," he said on the club's official website. He scored his first goal for Argyle against

on 2 January 2012. Young signed a new undisclosed contract in April 2012, along with teammates Curtis Nelson and

Jared Sims Jared Phillip John Sims (born 16 October 1993) is an English Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward Falmouth Town A.F.C., Falmouth. Born in Truro, he previously played in the Football League for ...

. He finished the season by winning the club's Young Player of the Year award, having scored twice in 28 appearances.

Torquay United

On 19 June 2014, Young signed for Devon neighbours Torquay United on a two-year deal.

Wrexham

Following Torquay United's relegation to

National League 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 League (English football), National Leagues and step ...

in the 2017–18 season, Young signed for

on a two-year deal. He made his debut for the club on the opening day of the 2018–19 season during a 1–0 victory over

Dover Athletic Dover Athletic Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in the town of Dover, Kent, England. The club currently competes in the , the sixth tier of the English football league system. The club was formed in 1983 afte ...

. Young was promoted to club captain for the 2021–22 season. He was released at the end of the 2023-24 season.

Cheltenham Town

On 18 June 2024, Young signed for recently relegated League Two side

. He scored on his EFL debut for the club in a 3-2 defeat to Grimsby Town.

Career statistics

Honours

Wrexham *

EFL League Two The English Football League Two, simply known as League Two and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet League Two, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League Two is the fourth division of the English ...

runner-up: 2023–24 *

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, also known as the Isuzu FA Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after The Football Association (the FA) and competed by mainly National League ...

runner-up: 2021–22 Individual *Plymouth Argyle Young Player of the Year: 2011–12 *Torquay United Player of the Year: 2014–15, 2016–17, 2017–18 *Wrexham Player of the Year: 2019–20, 2020–21

References

External links

Luke Young profile
at the Torquay United F.C. website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Luke 1993 births Living people Footballers from Plymouth, Devon English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Wrexham A.F.C. players Cheltenham Town F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players 21st-century English sportsmen People educated at Ivybridge Community College