Luke Kevin Southwood (born 6 December 1997) is a 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

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

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers FC is a men's professional football club in Bristol. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is affiliated to Bristol Rovers W.F.C., whose team play in the FA Women's National Leag ...

. Born in England, he plays for the Northern Ireland national team.

Club career

Reading

On 11 May 2018, Reading announced that they had offered a new contract to Luke Southwood, with a new two-year contract being confirmed as signed on 2 July 2018. On 7 May 2021, Reading announced that Southwood had signed a new two-year contract, keeping him at the club until the summer of 2023.

Loans

On 4 August 2017, Southwood joined Bath City on a six-month loan deal, which was extended until the end of the season on 3 January 2018. He was awarded player of the season after an outstanding year. On 24 December 2018, Southwood joined

Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the United Kingdom 2011 census, 2011 census. The town ...

on an initial one-month loan deal, with the loan being extended until the end of the season on 24 January 2019. Eastleigh managed to get to the semi-finals of the National League play-offs with Southwood playing a key part in that, also getting player of the month in April. On 1 August 2019, Southwood joined

Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, who currently compete in . They were established in 1874 from the school football team at Hamilto ...

on loan until 5 January 2020. On 21 January 2020, Southwood signed a new contract with Reading until the summer of 2021, and then returned to Hamilton Academical on loan until the end of the season. On 22 July 2022, Southwood joined

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1887, ...

on a season-long loan deal. During that time he kept sixteen clean sheets in league one and helped them to a 16th place finish. On 17 May 2023, Reading announced that Southwood would leave the club at the end of his contract.

Cheltenham Town

On 11 July 2023, Southwood returned to Cheltenham Town on a permanent one-year deal. On 22 May 2024, the club announced he had rejected a new contract and would be leaving the club.

Bolton Wanderers

On 21 June 2024, Southwood signed a two-year contract with

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 ...

club

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 ...

. Across the 2024–25 season, he competed with Nathan Baxter for the position of first-choice goalkeeper, breaking into the team in January 2025 where he remained following the appointment of

Steven Schumacher Steven Thomas Schumacher (born 30 April 1984) is an English football manager and former professional footballer, who is currently head coach of club Bolton Wanderers. He graduated from the youth sides at Everton, and during his playing caree ...

as new head coach before once again losing his place in March.

Bristol Rovers

On 6 July 2025, Southwood signed for League Two club

on a two-year deal for an undisclosed fee. The transfer saw him reunite with 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 ...

and goalkeeping coach James Bittner, whom Southwood had played under at Cheltenham Town.

International career

Southwood made his debut for the England under-19 team, play the first 45minutes in a 1–0 defeat to

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

in June 2016. Southwood was selected for the England under-20 team in the

2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 21st edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth football championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associations of FIFA, since its inception in 1977 a ...

and was an unused substitute in the final where England beat Venezuela 1–0. In November 2021, Southwood was called up to the

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

national team for the first time, for whom he qualified for through a grandmother. He debuted with Northern Ireland in a friendly 3–1 win over

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

on 25 March 2022.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

England U20 *

FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members' men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when i ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Southwood, Luke 1997 births Living people Footballers from Oxford Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland Northern Ireland men's international footballers English men's footballers England men's youth international footballers English people of Northern Ireland descent Men's association football goalkeepers Reading F.C. players Bath City F.C. players Eastleigh F.C. players Hamilton Academical F.C. players Cheltenham Town F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Bristol Rovers F.C. players National League (English football) players English Football League players Scottish Professional Football League players 21st-century English sportsmen