Lewis Graham Cass (born 27 February 2000) is an English 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, rugby lea ...

who plays as a defender for club

Harrogate Town Harrogate Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Harrogate Hotspurs were fou ...

. Cass was with

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 ...

from 2012 to 2022. He spent the 2020–21 season 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 ...

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They were founded in 190 ...

, who won

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

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

via the play-offs. He spent the first half of the 2021–22 season on loan at

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 ...

before joining the club permanently in July 2022. He was loaned to

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in EFL League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton ...

for the second half of the 2023–24 season. He joined

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 ...

in July 2024 and moved on to Harrogate Town 11 months later.

Career

Newcastle United

Cass joined the

Academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

from North Shields Juniors at the age of 12. He was named on the "Magpies"

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 ...

bench for the first time on the final day of the 2018–19 season at

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

, in what was

Rafael Benítez Rafael Benítez Maudes (born 16 April 1960) is a Spanish professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player. He was most recently the manager of La Liga club RC Celta de Vigo, Celta Vigo. Beníte ...

's final game as

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 ...

. He was next named on the bench by new manager

Steve Bruce Stephen Roger Bruce (born 31 December 1960) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player who was a centre-back in a twenty-year playing career. He is currently the head coa ...

in an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

tie with

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 ...

in January 2020. On 1 October 2020, Cass joined

club

for 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. He made his first-team debut two days later as "Pools" recorded a 2–1 win over

Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. The club was founded in the spr ...

. He played primarily on the right-hand side of a three-man defence at Hartlepool. He signed a new

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 ...

with Newcastle in January, keeping him tied to

St James' Park St James' Park is a Association football, football stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the home of Newcastle United F.C., Newcastle United. With a seating capacity of 52,305, it is the List of football stadiums in England, 8th la ...

until 2022. On 9 March, he was

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

24 minutes into a 1–1 draw at

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester, southwest of Sale, Greater Manchester, Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2021 United Kingdom ce ...

. He made a total of 37 appearances throughout the campaign, helping Hartlepool to qualify for the play-off quarter-finals in fourth-place. Hartlepool went on to secure

out of the play-offs, though Cass was not in the matchday squad for the final as he was recovering from 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. Hartlepool manager

Dave Challinor David Paul Challinor (born 2 October 1975) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager of EFL League One club Stockport County. As a player he was as a centre-back and played in the Football League for Tran ...

tried to bring back Cass to Victoria Park on loan for the following season but was unable to do so due to competition from other clubs.

Port Vale

On 12 July 2021, Newcastle United loan manager

Shola Ameobi Foluwashola "Shola" Ameobi (born 12 October 1981) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a striker. He spent 14 years at Newcastle United, making 397 official appearances and scoring 79 goals, and received a winner's medal ...

sanctioned a season-long loan move to League Two side

. He was signed by manager

Darrell Clarke Darrell James Clarke (born 16 December 1977) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played in the English Football League. He is the head coach of club Bristol Rovers ...

to compete with

James Gibbons James Cardinal Gibbons (July 23, 1834 – March 24, 1921) was an American Catholic prelate who served as Apostolic Vicar of North Carolina from 1868 to 1872, Bishop of Richmond from 1872 to 1877, and as Archbishop of Baltimore from 1877 unti ...

at right-back and to provide cover at centre-back. He made his debut for the "Valiants" on 10 August, coming on as a 65th-minute substitute for Dan Jones in a 2–1 defeat to Newcastle's

Tyne–Wear derby The Tyne–Wear derby, also known as the Wear–Tyne derby or the North East derby, is a local derby between the association football clubs Sunderland and Newcastle United. The derby is an inter-city rivalry in North East England with the two ci ...

rivals

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

in an

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 ...

first round fixture at

Vale Park Vale Park is a football stadium in the area of Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, and it has been the home ground of Port Vale Football Club since its opening in 1950. It has a current capacity of 15,695, and was renovated durin ...

. He scored his first goal in professional football in a 5–1 victory over

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England, that compete in the , the fourth level of the English football league system. They have spent their entire history playing a ...

in an FA Cup first round match on 6 November. He impressed in his 27 appearances for the "Valiants", playing on the right of the back three or at wing-back, and received interest from other lower league clubs in the January

transfer window In association football, a transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club, club can add players to their squad who were previously under contract with another club. Such a Transfer (association football), transfer is comp ...

before his season was cut short after he tore his ankle ligaments in training on 27 January. During his recovery time he provided

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

ing reports for Port Vale acting manager

Andy Crosby Andrew Keith Crosby (born 3 March 1973) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager at club Tranmere Rovers. A defender during his playing days, he began his career at Leeds United. Still, he made his de ...

in the

North East The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A ''compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each ...

. Port Vale went on to win promotion out of the

play-offs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

in May, and Cass said that "I hate watching this on TV, I would rather be a part of it". On 11 June 2022, Port Vale announced that Cass would join the club on a contract of undisclosed length from 1 July;

David Flitcroft David John Flitcroft (born 14 January 1974) is an English professional football manager and former player. His older brother is the former Blackburn Rovers and Manchester City player Garry Flitcroft. A midfielder, Flitcroft began his career a ...

, the club's

director of football A sporting director, or director of sport, is an senior management, executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many typ ...

, stated that "I spoke to Darrell larke Andy rosbyand

Dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean * Dean Sw ...

hiteheadand the way they all spoke about him you could see they admired him... it was a collective decision". He started four of the opening five league games of the

2022–23 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, before dropping out of the team to accommodate

Will Forrester William Samuel Forrester (born 29 June 2001) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for club Bolton Wanderers. Forrester made his professional debut at Stoke City in May 2021 and spent time on loan at Mansfield Town befo ...

. He missed February and March after being sidelined with a calf strain. On 4 November 2023, he put in 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 in a 0–0 draw at home to

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club moved its home g ...

after centre-back partner Nathan Smith was

, and after the game commented that he felt his physicality had greatly improved over the previous 12 months as he adapted to

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 ...

football. However, seven days later he made a mistake to give away the equalising goal in a 1–1 draw at Lincoln City, only to come off the bench to score his second career goal in the replay at Burton Albion four days on from the Lincoln game. On 1 February 2024, Cass signed for League Two club

until the end of the 2023–24 season, reuniting with his former boss at Hartlepool, Dave Challinor. He scored his first ever league goal on his debut for the club nine days later, in a 3–1 win at

. On 9 March, he won nine aerial duels and also made four clearances and two interceptions as Stockport beat Newport County 1–0; his performance earned himself a place in the EFL Team of the Week. Stockport were promoted as champions and he returned to Port Vale, who had been relegated out of League One. He returned to Port Vale, where he was released.

Grimsby Town

On 9 July 2024, Cass signed a two-year contract with League Two club

. Head coach

David Artell David John Artell (born 22 November 1980) is a association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former professional Football player, player who is head coach of club Grimsby Town F.C., Grimsby Town. He began his caree ...

said he "had a longstanding interest in Lewis" and had tried to sign him in the January transfer window. He made his competitive debut for the club in a 1–0 away defeat to

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 ...

on the opening day of the season. Cass scored his first goal for the club as a substitute 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 ...

on 28 September. He played 31 games in the 2024–25 campaign, including 18 league starts.

Harrogate Town

On 2 June 2025, Cass joined League Two club

on a permanent transfer after his contract with Grimsby was ended by mutual consent. Having secured Cass to a two-year deal, Head of Recruitment Lloyd Kerry said that he and manager

Simon Weaver Simon Daniel Weaver (born 20 December 1977) is an English football manager and former player who is manager of League Two side Harrogate Town. As a player he was a defender from 1996 until 2012 and notably played in the Football League for ...

had tried to sign him previously and had been monitoring him ever since.

Style of play

Cass is a defender who can play as a right-back or centre-back.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cass, Lewis 2000 births Living people English men's footballers Footballers from North Shields Men's association football defenders Men's association football central defenders Men's association football fullbacks Newcastle United F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Harrogate Town A.F.C. players National League (English football) players English Football League players English football scouts 21st-century English sportsmen