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 ...

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting ...

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...

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 ...

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded in 1908 as Hartle ...

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...

Stafford Rangers Stafford Rangers Football Club is a semi-professional English football team from Stafford which plays in the Northern Premier League Premier Division. The team wear black and white stripes with black shorts. Stafford Rangers' rivals include T ...

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea. Name The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), ...

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 ...

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 ...

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

Halstead Halstead is a town and civil parish in the Braintree District of Essex, England. Its population of 11,906 in 2011

Club career

Early career

Loach was a member of the academy at

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 ...

from 1997 to 2000. Loach moved to Southwell, Nottinghamshire, attending Southwell Minster School and playing for local club Southwell United from 2002 to 2003. Loach joined Lincoln City's Centre of Excellence in April 2003, before signing a three-year scholarship in summer 2004. In August 2004, he joined Bourne Town on

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...

, making two appearances. In October 2004, he played on loan for Radcliffe Olympic. He joined Boston Town in January 2005 on loan, which was extended until the end of the 2004–05 season, making 18 appearances. In August 2005, Loach was loaned to Spalding United. In November 2005, he had a one-match spell with

Lincoln United Lincoln United Football Club is a football club based in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Ashby Avenue. Nicknamed the Whites after their home kit colours, they have played at Ashby Avenue since thei ...

. He returned to Boston Town later that month, before a period at Grantham Town in March 2006.

Watford

Despite not being offered professional terms at Lincoln City, Loach joined

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

in April 2006. He signed professional terms for Watford in June, with Lincoln City receiving a transfer fee of £50,000. In pre-season 2007 he was on trial 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 ...

with a view to a loan move. Although he played in several pre-season friendlies, the move did not come to fruition due to a transfer embargo as a result of Leeds entering administration. In September 2007, Loach joined

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 ...

club

Stafford Rangers Stafford Rangers Football Club is a semi-professional English football team from Stafford which plays in the Northern Premier League Premier Division. The team wear black and white stripes with black shorts. Stafford Rangers' rivals include T ...

on an initial one-month loan. It was later extended to three months, and Loach made 11 appearances for Stafford. He joined

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea. Name The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), ...

on loan in January 2008, making his debut on 1 January in a 2–1 defeat to

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they were renamed Stockport Co ...

. He made only one more league appearance for Morecambe, during which he saved a penalty from

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was wound-up after a High Court ruling on 16 September 2020. Initially known as Macclesfield F.C., the club was formed in 1874 and ...

's

Martin Gritton Martin Francis Gritton (born 1 June 1978) is a Scottish former professional footballer and sports co-commentator primarily for BBC Radio Devon. As a player he was a striker from 1998 to 2012. He was a journeyman player and has previously playe ...

, before he returning to Watford after just two weeks. At the end of the month he joined

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 ...

, another League Two club, on loan until the end of 2007–08 as replacement for

Donovan Ricketts Donovan Ricketts (born 7 June 1977) is a Jamaican former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper and is currently an assistant coach for FC Tulsa in the USL Championship. Ricketts played more than 100 games for Bradford City in Engla ...

, who was expected to move to

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

until he was refused a work permit. Loach made his debut a day after joining Bradford, conceding twice in their 4–2 victory over

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...

. He followed it up five days later with a clean sheet against Macclesfield Town after he saved a second penalty at

Moss Rose Moss Rose, known as The Leasing.com Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Macclesfield, Cheshire, England, which is the home ground of Macclesfield F.C., and the former home of Macclesfield Town, a club wound up in September ...

in as many months. Loach played the remainder of the season with Bradford, making 20 appearances for the club, who finished in 10th place in League Two. Loach returned to Watford and made his debut in the 1–0 League Cup win over

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been ...

. He made his league debut as a substitute on 20 September 2008 when he came on to replace

Mart Poom Mart Poom (born 3 February 1972) is an Estonian football coach and former professional player regarded as one of the greatest Estonian footballers of all time. He is currently the goalkeeping coach of the Estonia national team. Poom played as ...

in the fourth minute of a match against

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 ...

. Loach conceded his first Watford goal when the referee and linesman gave a goal instead of a corner, an incident described as a ghost goal. The match finished in a 2–2 draw. Loach remained a regular in the Watford team for the rest of 2008–09, under the management of

Aidy Boothroyd Adrian Neil Boothroyd (born 8 February 1971) is an English former footballer who is currently the manager of Indian Super League club Jamshedpur. At club level, he was manager of Watford from 2005 to 2008. During his time with Watford, he was r ...

,

Malky Mackay Malcolm George Mackay (born 19 February 1972) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player, who is currently the manager of Ross County. Mackay, who played as a defender, began his playing career in Scottish football with Quee ...

and later

Brendan Rodgers Brendan Rodgers (born 26 January 1973) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Premier League club Leicester City. Rodgers began his career as a defender at Ballymena United, where he stayed ...

. In August 2009, ''

FourFourTwo ''FourFourTwo'' is a football magazine published by Future. Issued monthly, it published its 300th edition in May 2019. It takes its name from the football formation of the same name, 4-4-2. In 2008, it was announced that ''FourFourTwo'' had ...

'' magazine said Loach was the 'Key Player' in Watford's season and that fans should expect a good season from the young goalkeeper. Newspaper reports linked Loach to

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

as backup to

Heurelho Gomes Heurelho da Silva Gomes (born 15 February 1981) is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played for Premier League clubs Tottenham Hotspur and Watford, having previously made a name for himself at Dutch club ...

, however as

Carlo Cudicini Carlo Cudicini (; born 6 September 1973) is a retired Italian footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is the son of the former Milan goalkeeper Fabio Cudicini, and the grandson of Ponziana defender Guglielmo Cudicini. Cudicini is currently a ...

's alleged move to

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most d ...

did not go through, no deal was ever made. Loach made a good start to 2009–10 including a match winning performance against Plymouth where Watford won 1–0. Loach featured in all 46 Watford league matches that season, and on 5 March 2010 extended his contract with Watford until 2013. Loach retained his place in the team for

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. ...

, and once again played all 46 league fixtures. However, he subsequently admitted that his form had dipped towards the end of that season. After 130 consecutive league appearances, Loach missed a Championship match for the first time since 2008 on 27 September 2011. He regained the place from Rene Gilmartin a few weeks later. Loach remained in the team until 18 February 2012, when he was replaced by loan player

Tomasz Kuszczak Tomasz Mirosław Kuszczak (; born 20 March 1982) is a Polish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Born in Krosno Odrzańskie, Kuszczak previously played for Śląsk Wrocław in Poland, as well as for the German clubs KFC ...

.Smith, Frank (28 April 2012)
"Good to send the fans home with a smile on their faces"
''Watford Observer''. Retrieved 2 May 2012. Loach returned to the Watford team on their final day of 2011–12, in their 2–1 win against

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 ...

.

Ipswich Town

Loach completed what he called his "dream move" by returning to his boyhood club for an undisclosed fee on 19 July 2012. He made his debut on 14 August in a 3–1 win against

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been ...

in 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 ...

. He kept his first clean sheet in a 1–0 win against former club

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

on 21 August. Ipswich released Loach following 2013–14 where he had been replaced in the first team by Dean Gerken, having made only 33 appearances for Ipswich.

Rotherham United

Loach signed for newly promoted Championship club

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

on 5 June 2014. On 10 November 2014, after only having made four appearances for Rotherham, Loach was loaned out to League One club Bury until 17 January 2015. On 2 March 2015, following an injury to

Artur Krysiak Artur Łukasz Krysiak (; born 11 August 1989) is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Start Brzeziny. He previously played in the Scottish Premier League for Gretna and Motherwell and in the Football League for Swanse ...

, Loach joined League One club Yeovil Town on a one-month emergency loan.

Notts County

On 15 July 2015, Loach signed for newly relegated League Two club

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

on a two-year contract. On 23 March 2017, Loach joined

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

club

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

on loan until the end of 2016–17, to replace the injured

Kyle Letheren Kyle Charles Letheren (born 26 December 1987) is a Welsh former professional footballer and goalkeeper coach. He is currently a goalkeeper coach at Doncaster Rovers. He has played in the Scottish Premier League for Kilmarnock, in the Scottish ...

. He made his debut two days later, starting in a 1–0 away defeat to

Dagenham & Redbridge Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club is a professional association football club based in Dagenham, Greater London, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Often known simply as D ...

. Loach remained in goal after Letheren returned to fitness, making nine appearances. His final appearance came in a 2–2 home draw with

Forest Green Rovers Forest Green Rovers Football Club are a professional football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team compete in , the third tier of the English football league system, and have played their home games at The New Lawn since ...

on 29 April 2017, which saw York relegated to the

National League North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Syst ...

with a 21st-place finish in the National League. He returned to Notts County after this match, as he was not eligible to play for York in the

2017 FA Trophy Final The 2016–17 FA Trophy Final was the 48th final of the Football Association's cup competition for teams at levels 5–8 of the English football league system. The match was contested between Macclesfield Town and York City. The final of the FA ...

. He was subsequently released by Notts County, and ruled out joining York permanently.

Hartlepool United

On 9 June 2017, Loach signed for newly relegated

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

club

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded in 1908 as Hartle ...

. At the end of the 2017–18 season, Loach won both Fans Player and Players' Player of the Year Awards. He also won the Players' Player of the Year Award in the 2018–19 season. Loach played his 100th consecutive appearance in all competitions for Hartlepool during their 3–2 victory over Salford City in April 2019. At the end of the 2018–19 season, Loach left Hartlepool following the expiry of his contract.

Barnet

Loach signed for National League club Barnet on 14 June 2019. He played 72 times in two seasons before leaving the club at the end of the 2020-21 season.

Chesterfield

On 11 June 2021, Loach joined fellow National League club Chesterfield. He was the regular first choice keeper during his only season at the club making 48 apperances.

Derby County

On 13 July 2022, Loach joined League One club

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...

on a free transfer. He was used as a back-up keeper as he made three appearances during the 2022–23 season, all in the

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL L ...

. He was offered a new contract in May 2023.

International career

In February 2009, Loach's good form at club level earned him his first England under-21 international call-up by manager

Stuart Pearce Stuart Pearce (born 24 April 1962) is an English professional football manager and former player, who was most recently a first-team coach for Premier League club West Ham United. He was nicknamed "Psycho" for his unforgiving style of play. ...

for a friendly match against Ecuador's senior team in Malaga. Loach made his international debut when he came on as a late replacement for

Tom Heaton Thomas David Heaton (born 15 April 1986) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Manchester United. Heaton began his career in the Manchester United academy but was unable to break into the first team and sp ...

, as England lost 3–2. In May 2009, Loach was named in the England Under-21 squad for the Under-21 Championships that take place in Sweden in June 2009. He only played in one match as

Joe Hart Charles Joseph John Hart (born 19 April 1987) known professionally simply as Joe Hart is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Scottish Premiership club Celtic. He began his career at his hometown club Shrewsbury T ...

was first choice. He started in goal for England in the 4–0 defeat to Germany in the final of the Under-21 Championships in place of the suspended Hart and was highly culpable for the second German goal. With Hart and Joe Lewis ineligible for the under-21s, Loach began to play regularly thereafter. On 10 August 2010, after Ben Foster and Paul Robinson withdrew from the squad, Loach received his first call up to the full England squad for the friendly against Hungary. The following month, after

Scott Carson Scott Paul Carson (born 3 September 1985) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Premier League club Manchester City. Carson joined the Leeds United academy in 2002, making his full first-team debut for Leeds aga ...

withdrew from the England squad due to a bereavement, he received a second call up to the full England squad for the Euro 2012 qualifiers against Bulgaria and Switzerland.

Career statistics

Honours

England U21 *

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial Association football, football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. ...

runner-up:

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Protests ...

Individual *

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded in 1908 as Hartle ...

Player of the Year: 2017–18 *

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded in 1908 as Hartle ...

Players' Player of the Year: 2017–18 *

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded in 1908 as Hartle ...

Players' Player of the Year: 2018–19

References

External links

Profile
at the Barnet F.C. website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Loach, Scott 1988 births Living people Footballers from Nottingham People from Halstead Footballers from Essex People from Southwell, Nottinghamshire English footballers England men's under-21 international footballers England men's semi-pro international footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Ipswich Town F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Bourne Town F.C. players Radcliffe Olympic F.C. players Boston Town F.C. players Spalding United F.C. players Lincoln United F.C. players Grantham Town F.C. players Watford F.C. players Stafford Rangers F.C. players Morecambe F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Rotherham United F.C. players Bury F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players Yeovil Town F.C. players Notts County F.C. players York City F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Barnet F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players Derby County F.C. players United Counties League players Northern Premier League players Southern Football League players National League (English football) players English Football League players People educated at Southwell Minster School

Early and personal life

Club career

Early career

Watford

Ipswich Town

Rotherham United

Notts County

Hartlepool United

Barnet

Chesterfield

Derby County

International career

Career statistics

Honours

References

External links