Joshua Anthony Vickers (born 1 December 1995) 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

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

. Vickers was on the books of

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 mostly ...

and

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club ( ; ) is a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. It competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Swansea have played their home matches at ...

without playing first-team football for either, and made his

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 ...

debut while on

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 ...

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) *Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; anc ...

. He then had spells at Lincoln City and

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional association football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The team plays in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, after suffering relegation fr ...

before joining Derby County in 2023.

Career

Early career

Vickers began his career at Arsenal's Academy. As a second-year scholar, he joined

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 ...

side

Canvey Island Canvey Island is a town, civil parish and reclaimed island in the Thames Estuary, near Southend-on-Sea, in the Castle Point district, in the county of Essex, England. It has an area of and a population of 38,170.Office for National Statistics. ...

on loan in August 2013 where he played 30 league games. before returning to the Gunners and signing a professional contract. Vickers then joined Concord Rangers, of the

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 ...

, on a one-month loan in November 2014, which was later extended until the end of the 2014–15 season. In August 2015, Vickers signed for

on a two-year deal. He joined

on a season-long loan in July 2016, and made his

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 ...

debut when he started against

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They currently compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed the U’s, the club h ...

on 6 August 2016.

Lincoln City

He was released by Swansea at the end of the 2016–17 season. Following his release, Vickers joined League Two club Lincoln City on a two-year deal. On 28 May 2020, it was announced Vickers would leave the club at the end of his current contract.

Rotherham United

On 6 November 2020, Vickers signed for

on a deal until the end of the season. Vickers did not make an appearance for Rotherham during the 2020–21 season, but he signed a new contract until June 2023 at the conclusion of that season During the 2021–22 season Vickers shared goalkeeping duties with

Viktor Johansson Viktor Tobias Johansson (born 14 September 1998) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Stoke City and the Sweden national team. A product of the Hammarby and Aston Villa academies, Johansson spent two year ...

where he appeared 25 times in the starting 11, with Vickers taking part in 20 League One games from October 2021 to March 2022, this was a successful season for Rotherham as they gained promotion to the

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 sys ...

. During the 2022–23 season Vickers struggled for gametime as Johansson became the regular starter, he was limited the three Championship appearances in April 2023. At the end of the season, Vickers was offered a new deal on "improved terms" by Rotherham which he rejected.

Derby County

On 20 June 2023, Vickers joined

, on a three-year contract, where he would team up with goalkeeping coach Andy Warrington after they worked together at Lincoln and Rotherham.

Paul Warne Paul Warne (born 8 May 1973) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of League Two club Milton Keynes Dons. Warne started his playing career in his native Norfolk for Great Yarmouth Town, Diss Tow ...

was Derby manager at the time of his signing also managed Vickers at Rotherham. Vickers made his Derby debut in

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 ...

on 8 August 2023 in a 2–0 loss against

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

, his league debut came on 2 September 2023 in a 2–1 loss at

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

as a 50th minute substitute after first choice goalkeeper Joe Wildsmith was sent-off. Vickers made his first league start for the club in a 3-1 victory at

Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Fleetwood, Lancashire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Established in 1997, the current Flee ...

6 January 2024. Warne after the game stated that he felt he had two "number 1" goalkeepers in Vickers and Wildsmith. Vickers had a run of six starts, before picking up a thigh injury in early February. Vickers kept two

clean sheets In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usually seen as a result of ...

in these appearances as Derby gained promotion to the Championship, Vickers made 12 appearances in total for Derby during the season. After the departure of Wildsmith and Derby being unable to sign a replacement before the start of the 2024–25 season, Vickers went it to season Derby's only senior goalkeeper on the books and he started the season as default first choice goalkeeper.

Jacob Widell Zetterström Jacob Mikael Widell Zetterström (born 11 July 1998) is a Swedish footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Derby County. He has previously played for IFK Lidingö and Djurgårdens IF. He is also capped by Sweden at international level. ...

was soon signed to goalkeeping department with Vickers having 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 in 1–0 victory over

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 ...

on 17 August 2024 with new signing Widell Zetterström on the bench, having joined the club a day earlier. After this match; Widell Zetterström would become number 1 with Vickers being demoted back to 2nd choice having played in Derby's first three matches of the season. Vickers came in for Derby's final four games of the season after Zetterström picked up a fractured eye socket, with a fantastic save in a 3–1 win away at

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

winning him the club's 'Save of the Season' award, saving a Tom Fellows strike.

Personal life

On 1 June 2023, Vickers and his partner Laura got married. On 19 September 2023, Laura Vickers died due to

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

. Derby players shared a tribute to Vickers during Derby's match against

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 ...

on 23 September with players doing pre-game warm-ups in training kits with Vickers squad number of 31, as well as holding up his kit whilst celebrating the first goal in a 2–0 win and again post match, in front of visiting Derby supporters.

Career statistics

Honours

Lincoln City *

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 ...

: 2018–19 *

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 ...

: 2017–18 Rotherham United *

EFL League One The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...

second-place promotion: 2021–22 Derby County *EFL League One second-place promotion: 2023–24

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vickers, Josh 1995 births Living people Footballers from Brentwood, Essex English men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Arsenal F.C. players Canvey Island F.C. players Concord Rangers F.C. players Swansea City A.F.C. players Barnet F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Rotherham United F.C. players Derby County F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Isthmian League players 21st-century English sportsmen