Gavin Glenrick Tomlin (born 21 August 1983) is an English former professional footballer. He was a versatile player who could play as a striker, on both left and right wings and attacking midfield. A former Gillingham

youth team In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or Sports league, league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team (a ...

player, he played

non-League football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

for Ashford Town (Kent), Aylesbury United, Staines Town, St Albans City,

Yeading Yeading ( ) is a settlement in west London, forming part of the London Borough of Hillingdon, having been developed after the Second World War. Etymology Yeading is very early Saxon and was originally ''Geddingas'' or ''Geddinges'', meaning " ...

and Windsor & Eton, before having a brief spell in the

English 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, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

with

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

in 2006. He returned to the non-League scene with Fisher Athletic before winning a

contract A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typically involves consent to transfer of goods, services, money, or promise to transfer any of thos ...

at Yeovil Town in June 2008. Two years later, he switched to

Dagenham & Redbridge Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club (), often known simply as Dagenham and abbreviated when written to Dag & Red, is a professional association football club based in Dagenham, Greater London, England that play in the , the sixth level of the En ...

, but was not a success at his new club and was

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

ed out to

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 ...

and Gillingham. He signed with

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth level of English football. The team are known as "The Shrimpers", a reference ...

in July 2012 and played in the club's defeat in the 2013 Football League Trophy final. He joined

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in , the third tier of the English football league system. Vale are named after the valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal ...

in June 2013 and stayed with the club for one season before moving on to

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1896 as Crawley Foo ...

. Following two seasons with Crawley, he joined

Dulwich Hamlet Dulwich Hamlet Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in East Dulwich in south-east London, England. They are currently members of and play at Champion Hill. History The club was formed in 1893, by Lorraine 'Pa' Wilson. The ...

in the summer of 2016. He went on to help the club win

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

out of the

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional Association football, football league covering Greater London, East of England, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, th ...

Premier Division via the play-offs in 2018 before moving on to Cray Valley Paper Mills in January 2019. Mills won the Southern Counties East League Premier Division title in the 2018–19 season and reached the 2019 FA Vase final.

Career

Early career

Tomlin was a

player at Gillingham. He subsequently joined Tooting & Mitcham United and from there joined Southern League Eastern Division club Ashford Town (Kent) on 17 January 2002 and later day scored the winning goal in a 3–2 league victory over

Tonbridge Tonbridge ( ) (historic spelling ''Tunbridge'') is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, south west of Maidstone and south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Mall ...

. Tomlin joined Aylesbury United the following season and on 26 November 2002 he scored a goal in a 4–0 win over Wokingham Town in the Berks & Bucks Senior Cup. He then played one

match on 14 December, in a 1–1 draw with Basingstoke Town. He signed with Staines Town in December 2003, having spent some time out of the game after breaking his leg during a trial at Barnet. He scored 11 minutes into his "Swans" debut. He had a trial with

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

in June 2004. He scored 13 goals in the 2004–05 season, but left Staines in March to go on trial at

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third level of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

. The following month, he joined

Conference 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 Leagues and step 2 of the NLS and sixth-highest ti ...

club St Albans City on

. He moved on to Conference South side

, but made only five starts and eight substitute appearances in the 2005–06 season. He went on to have a brief stay at Isthmian League side Windsor & Eton. Tomlin signed a one-year

with

Leroy Rosenior Leroy De Graft Rosenior (born 24 August 1964) is a football coach and pundit. He is a former footballer whose clubs included Fulham, Queens Park Rangers (for whom he appeared as a substitute in the 1986 League Cup Final), Bristol City and Wes ...

in July 2006. He failed to break into the "Bees" first-team (despite a

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chose ...

performance against

Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...

early in the 2006–07 season). His contract was terminated by mutual consent on 30 January 2007. He joined Conference South club Fisher Athletic in February 2007. He helped the "Fish" to secure a play-off place in the 2007–08 season with a fourth-place finish.

Yeovil Town

Tomlin joined League One club Yeovil Town on trial in June 2008. His trial was successful as he impressed enough to win a two-year contract from

Russell Slade Russell Mark Slade (born 10 October 1960) is an English former professional football manager and coach. Having had an extended career at reserve team level, Slade entered professional sports coaching with Notts County in 1993. He briefly took ...

; Tomlin stated that "this is my third chance at league football and I am not going to let it slip this time." He finished the 2008–09 season as the "Glovers" leading goalscorer with nine goals. Included in this tally was a goal against

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

side

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

in a 5–1 defeat at the

Riverside Stadium The Riverside Stadium is a football stadium in Middlesbrough, England, which has been the home of Middlesbrough since its opening in 1995. It has an all-seated capacity of 34,742, although provisional planning permission is in place to expan ...

. He found the net seven times in 35 league games in the 2009–10 campaign. On 16 June 2010, he agreed to sign a new contract with Yeovil boss Terry Skiverton, though he later changed his mind and left

Huish Park Huish Park is a Association football, football stadium located in Yeovil, Somerset, England. The stadium has been home to Yeovil Town F.C. since its completion in 1990, following their relocation from Huish Athletic Ground, Huish. Huish Park has ...

on a free transfer.

Dagenham & Redbridge

In June 2010, Tomlin signed a three-year deal with League One newcomers

. However, he made only 16 starts in the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

season, scoring just two goals as

John Still John Still (c. 1543 – 26 February 1607/1608) was Master of two Cambridge colleges and then, from 1593, Bishop of Bath and Wells. He enjoyed considerable fame as an English preacher and disputant. He was formerly reputed to be the author of an ...

's "Daggers" were

relegated Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

in 21st-place. He joined

Paul Buckle Paul John Buckle (born 16 December 1970) is an English football manager and former player. He has previously been the interim head coach of San Diego Wave FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the manager of Torquay United, Bristol ...

's League Two side

on a one-month loan in March 2011, which was later extended until the end of the season. He played in the play-off final, as the "Gulls" were beaten 1–0 by

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevenage w ...

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

. He played 22 matches for Dagenham in the 2011–12 without scoring a goal at Victoria Road. In January 2012, he signed for Gillingham on loan until the end of the season. He scored six goals in ten League two games for

Andy Hessenthaler Andrew Hessenthaler (born 17 August 1965) is an English football manager and former player who is head of recruitment at club Gillingham. He began his career in non-league football and did not turn professional until he joined Watford at the ...

's "Gills", but was sidelined from March onwards after picking up a

hamstring A hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in human anatomy between the hip and the knee: from medial to lateral, the semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris. Etymology The word " ham" is derived from the Old ...

injury.

Southend United

In July 2012, Tomlin signed for

on a one-year contract after being tracked by

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Paul Sturrock Paul Whitehead Sturrock (born 10 October 1956) is a Scottish former football coach and former player. As a player, Sturrock spent his entire senior career with Dundee United, making more than five hundred appearances between 1974 and 1989. He w ...

for five years. He scored 16 goals in 42 games in the

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

season for the "Shrimpers". He finished joint-top-scorer with strike partner

Britt Assombalonga Britt Curtis Assombalonga (born 6 December 1992) is a Congolese professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward for DR Congo national football team. He has played in the English Football Lea ...

. He did, though, go 13 games without a goal and thanked Paul Sturrock for sticking by him during this spell before the start of the 2013 Football League Trophy final even though Sturrock had by then been replaced by Phil Brown. Southend were beaten 2–0 by

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, England. Its first team competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' ...

in the

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

final.

Port Vale

He signed with newly- promoted League One club

in June 2013. Upon joining the club he stated that he was expecting to play as a striker, rather than as a utility forward, though he admitted he faced a challenge in dislodging either of free-scoring duo

Tom Pope Thomas John Pope (born 27 August 1985) is an English semi-professional footballer who plays as a centre forward for club Kidsgrove Athletic where he holds the role of joint player-manager. A Crewe Alexandra Academy graduate, he turned profes ...

and

Lee Hughes Lee Hughes (born 22 May 1976) is an English former professional Association football, footballer. A strong Forward (association football), striker with excellent finishing abilities, Hughes represented the England national football C team, Engl ...

. He was dropped from the starting line-up after failing to find the net in his first few games, and then spent a month out injured with

ankle The ankle, the talocrural region or the jumping bone (informal) is the area where the foot and the leg meet. The ankle includes three joints: the ankle joint proper or talocrural joint, the subtalar joint, and the inferior tibiofibular joint. The ...

and toe troubles. He returned to action in December, and scored in four consecutive games. He finished the 2013–14 campaign with six goals in only 27 appearances; in the summer

manager Phil Brown confirmed that he was attempting to re-sign Tomlin. Tomlin decided to move back to his native

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, and determined on a move South from the Midlands.

Crawley Town

Tomlin joined League One side

for an undisclosed fee in June 2014 as "Reds" manager John Gregory stated "I have always admired Gavin". He scored three goals in 40 appearances in the 2014–15 season as Crawley were relegated into League Two. He was released by new manager Dermot Drummy after making just 17 appearances in the 2015–16 campaign.

Later career

Tomlin joined

Premier Division club

in August 2016, following a successful trial ahead of the 2016–17 season. He went on to score 19 goals in 60 appearances across all competitions in his first season at the club, and helped Hamlet to the play-off final, where they were beaten 2–1 by

Bognor Regis Town Bognor Regis Town Football Club is an English football club based in Bognor Regis, West Sussex. Nicknamed 'The Rocks’, the club is an FA Chartered Standard Community club affiliated to the Sussex County Football Association. They currently co ...

. The Hamlet again qualified for the play-offs with a second-place finish in the 2017–18 campaign, and Tomlin scored the equalising goal in the final against

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the London Borough of Barnet, northwest London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient Manorialism, manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has ...

at Imperial Fields before Hamlet secured promotion with a victory in the

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

. On 23 January 2019, Tomlin joined Southern Counties East League Premier Division club Cray Valley Paper Mills. He scored on his debut for the club against Lordswood on 23 January 2019. The "Millers" won the league title at the end of the 2018–19 season and reached the 2019 FA Vase final. Tomlin scored in the final at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

, but Mills were beaten by 3–1 Chertsey Town after

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

. The 2019–20 Isthmian League season was formally abandoned on 26 March, with all results from the season being expunged, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in England The COVID-19 pandemic was first confirmed to have spread to England with two cases among Chinese nationals staying in a hotel in York on 31 January 2020. The two main public bodies responsible for health in England were NHS England and Public ...

. He did not feature in the

2020–21 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 ...

season, but scored one goal from twelve appearances in the 2021–22 campaign.

Style of play

In June 2010, Dagenham & Redbridge manager

stated Tomlin to be "a clever striker with good movement who links play well. He's a hard worker who is equally adept playing as a forward or wide." Speaking in March 2011, Torquay manager

described Tomlin as a player that was "big, strong and has plenty of pace".

Personal life

As a boy he supported

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

and looked up to

Andy Cole Andrew Alexander Cole (born 15 October 1971) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. His professional career lasted from 1988 to 2008, and is mostly remembered for his time with Manchester United, who paid a Brit ...

Career statistics

Honours

St Albans City *

Herts Senior Cup The Hertfordshire County Football Association Senior Challenge Cup, commonly called the Herts Senior Cup, is the oldest County-based football Cup competition based exclusively in Hertfordshire, England. It was first contested in the 1886-87 sea ...

: 2004–05 Southend United *

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...

runner-up:

Dulwich Hamlet *

Premier Division play-offs:

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Cray Valley Paper Mills * Southern Counties East League Premier Division: 2018–19

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tomlin, Gavin 1983 births Living people Footballers from Gillingham, Kent English men's footballers Black British sportsmen Men's association football wingers Men's association football forwards Tooting & Mitcham United F.C. players Ashford United F.C. players Aylesbury United F.C. players Staines Town F.C. players St Albans City F.C. players Yeading F.C. players Windsor & Eton F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Fisher Athletic F.C. players Yeovil Town F.C. players Dagenham & Redbridge F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Gillingham F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Crawley Town F.C. players Dulwich Hamlet F.C. players Cray Valley Paper Mills F.C. players Southern Football League players Isthmian League players National League (English football) players English Football League players 21st-century English sportsmen 21st-century Black British people