Luke Harry Chadwick (born 18 November 1980) is an English former 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, rugb ...

who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. Chadwick began his career at

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

where he made 25 Premier League appearances in four seasons. While at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wembl ...

he spent time out on loan at

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spell ...

and

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Br ...

before joining

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

on a permanent basis in the summer of 2004. A year later, he joined

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

on loan before making the move permanent in January 2006. He remained at Stoke until November 2006 making 55 appearances before joining

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

. Injuries restricted his time at

Carrow Road Carrow Road is an association football stadium located in Norwich, Norfolk, England, and is the home of EFL Championship side Norwich City. The stadium is located toward the east of the city, near Norwich railway station and the River Wensum. ...

and he moved to

Milton Keynes Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The ...

in October 2008. In March 2014, Chadwick joined

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on Ne ...

, the club he supported as a child. He was released at the end of the 2014–15 season.

Club career

Manchester United

Born in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

, Chadwick had a three-week trial at his favourite club Cambridge United at the age of 10. After a spell at Arsenal, he was signed to the

youth system. He made his professional debut on 13 October 1999 in the third round of the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

as a young United side lost 3–0 at

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park, ...

. After loans at

Royal Antwerp Royal Antwerp Football Club, often referred to as Royal Antwerp or simply Antwerp, is a Belgian football club based in the city of Antwerp. Founded around 1880 as ''Antwerp Cricket Club'' by English students residing in Antwerp, 15 years before ...

in Belgium, he made his

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

debut on 11 November 2000 in a 2–1 home win over

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the ...

as an added-time substitute for

Dwight Yorke Dwight Eversley Yorke CM (born 3 November 1971) is a Trinidadian and Tobagonian former professional footballer and current manager of Australian A-League club Macarthur FC. Throughout his club career, he played for Aston Villa, Manchester Uni ...

. On 17 December, he came on in the 80th minute for

Dennis Irwin __NOTOC__ Dennis Irwin (November 28, 1951 in Birmingham, Alabama - March 10, 2008) was an American jazz double bassist. He toured and recorded with John Scofield and the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra among others, and played on over 500 albums. Bio ...

at home to

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

and was sent off for a foul on

Vladimír Šmicer Vladimír Šmicer (, born 24 May 1973) is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He started his senior career at Slavia Prague, the only Czech club he ever played for. In 1999, Šmicer moved to England where he play ...

in a 1–0 loss. He scored two league goals in the title-winning 2000–01 season, one in a 3–0 win at

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

on 13 January 2001 and the other on 3 March in a 1–1 draw at

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

. After playing rarely for United in 18 months, Chadwick went on a one-month loan to First Division team Reading in February 2003. He was inspired by

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostl ...

Matthew Upson Matthew James Upson (born 18 April 1979) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre back. Upson played for England at full international level including at the 2010 World Cup. Upson started his career with Bedfordshire ...

increasing his standing by making the same move. On his debut for the Royals on 10 February, he equalised in a 2–1 home win over Gillingham. His deal was extended until the end of the season. He helped the club to the play-off semi-finals, where they were ousted by eventually promoted Wolverhampton Wanderers. In July 2003, Chadwick was loaned for the season to First Division side

. He missed pre-season due to two jaw operations as part of a two-year treatment. In 40 total games he scored six goals, including two in a 4–0 win over Bradford on 20 September; after that game, he conceded that he may have to leave United.

West Ham United

On 2 August 2004, Chadwick moved to

of the newly renamed

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 a free transfer. He was signed by

Alan Pardew Alan Scott Pardew (born 18 July 1961) is an English football manager and former professional footballer, who is the current manager of Greek Super League club Aris. Pardew's highest achievements in the sport include reaching the FA Cup Final ...

, who had led him at Reading. In his only season, he scored a goal on 10 December to open a 1–1 home draw with Leeds.

Stoke City

Chadwick joined

on loan at the start of the 2005–06 season. On 4 January 2006, the transfer was made permanent for a fee of £100,000, on a deal lasting until the summer of 2008 with the option of one more year. In the season opener away to

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

on 6 August 2006, Chadwick was carried off after collapsing. It was confirmed that he was suffering only from dehydration.

Norwich City

On 13 November 2006, Chadwick signed on loan for

until 3 January; he was signed by Peter Grant, who had worked with him at Reading and West Ham. On his debut six days later, he opened the scoring in a 3–1 loss at rivals

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn professio ...

. He suffered a knee injury in that match, ruling him out until March. After his loan ended, he signed a 2-year deal for a 200,000 fee. He said that his transfer was due to his wife and children returning to Cambridge. His injury problems continued into the following season as he struggled for fitness.

Milton Keynes Dons

On 1 October 2008, Chadwick was loaned to

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

club

for three months. He scored three goals in the eight games of his loan, including a brace on 28 October in a 2–1 win at

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a profession ...

. He returned to Norwich in the middle of November due to a knee injury. He moved permanently on a 2-year deal at the turn of the year, on a free transfer. Chadwick was MK Dons' Player of the Season for 2009–10 and 2010–11, with the latter season ending in a 4–3 aggregate elimination in the playoff semi-finals by

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...

. In March 2011, his contract was extended by two more years. On 23 August that year, he scored twice in a 4–0 win at former club Norwich in the League Cup second round. A year and five days later, he did the same at the same stage in a 2–1 home win over

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

. In March 2013, Chadwick signed a further two-year extension to his MK Dons deal.

Cambridge United

On 18 March 2014 Chadwick joined his hometown club

on loan. He made his debut the same day in a 2–1 home win against Welling United in the

Conference National 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-professi ...

. He signed permanently on 7 June, after the team won promotion in the play-off final against

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Millennium Bridge, The Sage, and the Baltic Centre for Contemporary ...

. In 2014–15, Chadwick played a part in Cambridge's run in the FA Cup, scoring in their 2–2 home draw with

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and ye ...

in the second round. In the fourth round against his former club Manchester United, he played in a goalless home draw and a 3–0 replay loss on his return to

; both sets of fans gave him a standing ovation when he was substituted in the latter game. At the end of the season he was released.

Soham Town Rangers and move into coaching

After leaving Cambridge United, Chadwick signed for

Isthmian League Division One North The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 teams ...

side Soham Town Rangers in November 2015. He spent one season at Soham before returning to Cambridge as a full-time coach in the club's academy.

International career

Chadwick made his debut for the England under-21s in the win against

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

in September 1999. He played the full 90 minutes as England won 5−0 in the

2000 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 2000 UEFA European Under-21 Championship was the 12th staging of UEFA's European Under-21 Championship. The final tournament was hosted by Slovakia from 27 May to 4 June 2000. The tournament had 47 entrants. Northern Ireland competed for th ...

qualifier In linguistics, a modifier is an optional element in phrase structure or clause structure which ''modifies'' the meaning of another element in the structure. For instance, the adjective "red" acts as a modifier in the noun phrase "red ball", prov ...

at the

Madejski Stadium The Madejski Stadium (currently known as the Select Car Leasing Stadium for sponsorship reasons) is a Association football, football stadium in Reading, Berkshire, Reading. It is the home of Reading F.C., Reading Football Club, who play in the E ...

. England qualified for the finals in Slovakia and Chadwick made substitute appearances against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...

as they were eliminated at the group stages. He featured four times during England's qualifying campaign for

2002 UEFA European Under-21 Championship UEFA European Under-21 Championship 2002 was the 13th staging of UEFA's European Under-21 Championship. The final tournament was hosted by Switzerland between 16 and 28 May 2002. Czech Republic U-21s won the competition for the first time. Qu ...

with his last appearance coming in the 5−0 win against

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and share ...

on 4 September 2001. Overall, Chadwick made 13 appearances for the U21s but scored no goals.

Personal life

Chadwick and his wife Hayley have two sons. As of 2015, both were in the youth ranks of Cambridge United. In May 2020, Chadwick spoke about how his

mental health Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. It likewise determines how an individual handles Stress (biology), stress, interpersonal relationships, and decision-maki ...

had been affected by abuse about his appearance he had received as a young player. He highlighted how the media had made fun of his appearance, "spots on my face, teeth sticking out, that sort of thing", making particular mention of the abuse he had received on the BBC

panel show A panel show or panel game is a radio or television game show in which a panel of celebrities participates. Celebrity panelists may compete with each other, such as on ''The News Quiz''; facilitate play by non-celebrity contestants, such as on ' ...

, ''They Think It's All Over''. He received an apology from the show's hosts

Nick Hancock Nicholas John Hancock (born 25 October 1962) is an English actor and television presenter. He hosted the sports quiz ''They Think It's All Over'' for 10 years. He also formerly presented ''Room 101'' (1994–1999) on TV, as well as its earlier ...

and

Gary Lineker Gary Winston Lineker (; born 30 November 1960) is an English former professional footballer and current sports broadcaster. He is regarded as having been one of the greatest English strikers. His media career began with the BBC, where he has ...

Career statistics

Honours

Royal Antwerp *

Belgian Second Division The Belgian Second Division (known as the Proximus League for sponsorship reasons) was the second-highest division in the Belgian football league system, one level below the Belgian Pro League. It was founded by the Royal Belgian Football Assoc ...

: 1999–2000 Manchester United *

: 2000–01 Cambridge United *

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-professi ...

play-offs: 2013–14 Individual *

Player of the Year: 2009–10,

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

References

External links

*
Luke Chadwick
at ManUtd.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Chadwick, Luke 1980 births Living people Sportspeople from Cambridge Footballers from Cambridgeshire English footballers English expatriate footballers England youth international footballers England under-21 international footballers Association football midfielders Manchester United F.C. players Royal Antwerp F.C. players Reading F.C. players Burnley F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Norwich City F.C. players Milton Keynes Dons F.C. players Cambridge United F.C. players Soham Town Rangers F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players National League (English football) players Isthmian League players Belgian First Division A players Belgian First Division B players Expatriate footballers in Belgium English expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Association football coaches Cambridge United F.C. non-playing staff