Jake Eastwood (born 3 October 1996) is an English

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

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), 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 i ...

for club

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

. He will become a free agent on 30 June 2025. Having come through the

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

academy, he signed professional terms and made three first team appearances over a seven year period. He spent time on loan with

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

Gainsborough Trinity Gainsborough Trinity Football Club is a Association football, football club based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. Established in 1873, the club became members of the English Football League, Football League i ...

, Mickleover Sports, Chesterfield,

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was formed in ...

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

and

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

. He joined Grimsby permanently ahead of the 2023–24 season.

Career

Youth

Born in

Rotherham Rotherham ( ) is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies at the confluence of the River Rother, South Yorkshire, River Rother, from which the town gets its name, and the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don. It is the largest settlement ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the north, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north-east, Lincolnshire ...

, Eastwood joined

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

at the age of 10. In his youth, he has spent time on loan with

and Mickleover Sports for first team experience.

Sheffield United

In April 2016, Eastwood was one of four youth players to sign professional terms with Sheffield United. He started the 2017–18 season as deputy to loanee Jamal Blackman, who himself was signed to cover for injured first team keeper Simon Moore. On 9 August 2017, Eastwood made his senior first-team debut in the

Football League Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

in a 3–2 home victory over

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

Bramall Lane Bramall Lane is a association football, football stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which is the home of Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United. The stadium was originally a cricket ground, built on a road named after the Bramall ...

. He started again in the Blades' next tie in the League Cup which ended in a 4–1 home defeat to the visitors

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

of the

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 ...

, which knocked the Blades out of the competition. In November 2017, Eastwood signed a new long-term contract, committing to the Blades until 2020. He then joined Chesterfield on an emergency loan. Eastwood made his league debut for Sheffield United on 3 February 2018 against

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

, replacing Simon Moore who was sent off in the 73rd minute. On 5 July 2019, Eastwood joined Scunthorpe United on a season-long loan deal. After injuries to Sheffield United goalkeepers Simon Moore and Michael Verrips, he was recalled by his parent club in January 2020. As a result, he was on the bench for their

game against

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

. On 30 July 2020, Eastwood signed for

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

club

on a six-month loan. He made his debut on 1 August 2020, in Kilmarnock's opening game of the season, away to

Hibernian Hibernian may refer to: * Of Hibernia, Latin name for Ireland; hence ** Irish (disambiguation) Hibernian, Hibernians or The Hibernian may refer to: Sports clubs * Hibernian F.C., a Scottish football club, founded 1875 * Hibernian W.F.C., a Sc ...

, however he had to be substituted at half-time due to injury. On 11 January 2021, he returned to Sheffield United after making two appearances in all competitions. On 1 February 2021, Eastwood joined League Two side

on loan for the remainder of the 2020–21 season. Eastwood temporarily took over as first choice keeper having been favoured to regular

James McKeown James Karl McKeown (born 24 July 1989) is a former professional footballer and coach who played as a goalkeeper. Born in Birmingham, McKeown began his career aged 15 with Coventry City and Walsall youth teams, but was unable to establish himse ...

but an injury suffered in March limited him to 7 appearances. On 7 September 2021, Eastwood signed for

League One League One or League 1 may refer to: Association football * EFL League One, the third tier of football in England. * China League One, the second tier of football in China * K League 1, the top-tier football in South Korea * Lao League 1 * Lea ...

side

on a seven-day emergency loan in order to play in an

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Motors, Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football, football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and ...

tie against

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional association football club based in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton, London. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in ...

. Portsmouth's first choice keeper

Gavin Bazunu Gavin Okeroghene Bazunu (born 20 February 2002) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Southampton, and the Republic of Ireland national team. Bazunu started his career at Shamrock Rovers, making his first team ...

was on international duty with the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

, whilst his understudy

Alex Bass Alexander Michael Bass (born 1 April 1998) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for EFL League One club Peterborough United. Club career Portsmouth Born in Huntingdon, Bass progressed through Portsmouth's youth ca ...

was isolating due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

, Portsmouth lost the game 5–3. Eastwood returned to Scotland by joining

side Ross County on loan for the 2022-23 season. In January, Eastwood returned to Rochdale on loan until the end of the season having failed to make a league appearance in Scotland.

Grimsby Town

On 4 July 2023, Eastwood returned to Grimsby Town signing a two-year contract for an undisclosed fee. On 13 August 2024, in his first

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

appearance for Grimsby Town, Eastwood saved twice and scored in a penalty shoot out, as they defeated

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander. The club was founded in 1903 and ...

1–1 (9–8 on penalties) in the first round of the tournament. In September 2024, Eastwood ruptured his patellar tendon after colliding with a goal post in a 3–2 victory over

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They have played their ...

. Following surgery, he was ruled out for a period of six months. On 7 May 2025, Grimsby announced the player would leave in June when his contract expired.

Career statistics

References

External links

Official Profile
at www.sufc.co.uk * {{DEFAULTSORT:Eastwood, Jake Living people 1996 births English men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Sheffield United F.C. players Sheffield F.C. players Gainsborough Trinity F.C. players Mickleover F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Kilmarnock F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Ross County F.C. players Northern Premier League players English Football League players Scottish Professional Football League players Footballers from Rotherham 21st-century English sportsmen