Luke Wade-Slater (born 2 March 1998) is an Irish

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 for

Longford Town Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It had a population of 10,952 at the 2022 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meeting of I ...

in the

League of Ireland First Division The League of Ireland First Division, also known as the SSE Airtricity League First Division for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in both the League of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland football league system. The division w ...

Club career

Stevenage

Wade-Slater joined

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 ...

as an academy scholar in the summer of 2015, having previously played at Irish academy team St Kevin's Boys. He played regularly for Stevenage's under-18 team for two seasons, also playing in the club's

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

run during the 2015–16 season. He made his first-team debut for Stevenage on 8 November 2016, coming on as a 77th-minute substitute in a 4–0

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 ...

victory over

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 ...

Broadhall Way Broadhall Way, known as the Lamex Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is an association football stadium in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. It has been the home ground of Stevenage (formerly Stevenage Borough and Stevenage Town) since the early 1960s, a ...

. He subsequently signed his first professional contract with the club on 23 May 2017. Wade-Slater 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 as a second-half substitute in Stevenage's 1–0 away defeat to

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' ...

on 7 October 2017. He signed a "new and improved" contract with the

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

club on 6 December 2017. Having made no first-team appearances three months into the 2018–19 season, Wade-Slater joined

Kings Langley Kings Langley is a village, former manor and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, north-west of London and to the south of the Chiltern Hills. It now forms part of the London commuter belt. The village is divided between two local governme ...

of the Southern League Premier Division South on loan on 6 November 2018, with the agreement running until January 2019. He made his debut for Kings Langley on 10 November 2018, scoring the only goal of the game in a 1–0 away victory at Farnborough. He went on to score in each of his first five appearances for Kings Langley, making six appearances during the loan spell, before being recalled by Stevenage in December 2018.

Bohemians

2019 season

Following his recall from Kings Langley in December 2018, Wade-Slater signed for

League of Ireland Premier Division The League of Ireland Men's Premier Division (), also known as the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the Republic of Ireland and the highest level of the Republic of I ...

club

Bohemians Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, originally practised by 19th–20th century European and American artists and writers. * Bohemian style, a f ...

, officially joining on 1 January 2019. On his debut against Finn Harps on 15 February 2019, he assisted the winning goal for Dinny Corcoran. His first goal for the club came in a Scottish Challenge Cup loss to Airdrieonians on 7 September. He scored in the 28th minute of a 2-1 home win against champions

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...

on 11 October. He ended his debut season at Bohemians having played 34 games in total, scoring 2 goals and notching up 5 assists.

2020 season

Wade-Slater featured in three of Bohemians' four opening games of the 2020 season before it was shortened to 18 games due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. When the campaign was resumed in August, he was not included in any of Keith Long's matchday squads. During his time at the club, he made a total of 38 appearances.

Larne

Wade-Slater signed for

NIFL Premiership The NIFL Premiership, known as the Sports Direct Premiership for sponsorship purposes, and Irish Premiership colloquially, is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Northern Ireland Football L ...

club

Larne Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic territory)Larne/Latharna
Placenames Database of Ireland. is a to ...

on 5 October 2020. His made his debut off the bench on 7 November in a goalless draw with Glentoran. He featured sporadically, coming off the bench in a number of games across the season. Wade-Slater played a total of 13 games for Larne in the 2020/21 season, and left the club at the end of the season.

Warrenpoint Town

2021–22 season

It was announced on 23 June 2021, that Wade-Slater had signed a contract with

side Warrenpoint Town. He assisted the winning goal on his debut, a 2-1 win at home against

Ballymena United Ballymena United Football Club is a semi-professional football club from Northern Ireland. Based in Ballymena, County Antrim, the team competes in the NIFL Premiership and plays home matches at the Ballymena Showgrounds. The club has been man ...

. On 27 November he scored his first goals for the club, including an 89th minute winner, in a 2-1 comeback win away at

Carrick Rangers Carrick Rangers Football Club is a semi-professional Northern Irish football club playing in NIFL Premiership. The club, founded in 1939, hails from Carrickfergus, County Antrim and plays its home matches at Taylors Avenue which is known as th ...

. One week later, he continued his scoring streak with another goal, a header against Ballymena. On 5 February 2022 he scored both goals in a 2-2 draw with Glenavon. He netted in a play-off game against Carrick Rangers on 16 April, which Warrenpoint lost 2-1, condemning them to relegation. Wade-Slater made a total of 32 appearances in all competitions, scoring 6 times.

2022–23 season

Wade-Slater's first minutes of the 2022/23

NIFL Championship The Northern Ireland Football League Championship (known as the Playr-Fit Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the second level of the Northern Ireland Football League, the national football league in Northern Ireland. Clubs in the Championsh ...

season came in a 3-0 loss to Dundela on 20 August 2022. He scored his first and only goal of the season on 31 January 2023 in a 4-0 win against Knockbreda. Warrenpoint were due to face

Dungannon Swifts Dungannon Swifts Football Club is a Northern Irish semi-professional football club playing in the NIFL Premiership. The club, founded in 1949, has risen from the Mid-Ulster league to the top tier in Northern Ireland since its election to the I ...

in a promotion/relegation playoff, with a chance to return to the Premiership, however their Premiership license application was rejected, as was their Championship application. Warrenpoint reached an agreement with the

IFA IFA or Ifa may refer to: Organisations Economics * Independent financial adviser, a type of financial services professional in the UK * Index Fund Advisors * Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, representing actuaries in the UK * Institute of Act ...

to drop to the third tier, and Wade-Slater was allowed to leave the club after making 28 appearances over the course of the season.

Drogheda United

Wade-Slater returned to the

League of Ireland The League of Ireland is a national association football Sports league, league consisting of professional clubs in the Republic of Ireland and Derry, Derry City in Northern Ireland. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland. It was ...

in July 2023 when he signed for Premier Division club

Drogheda United Drogheda United Football Club is a professional Irish association football club based in Drogheda, County Louth playing in the League of Ireland Premier Division. They play their home matches at Sullivan & Lambe Park. The current club is the ...

. He made his debut as a substitute on 18 August in an

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Sports Direct FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as D ...

tie away to

Kerry FC Kerry Football Club is an Irish association football club based in Tralee, County Kerry. They play their home matches at Mounthawk Park. The club competes in the League of Ireland First Division, starting in the 2023 season, with an inaugura ...

. His first start came in a 5-0 loss away to

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional Association football, football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is List of football clubs by competit ...

on 22 October. Wade-Slater made a further 5 appearances in all competitions as Drogheda finished in 7th place in the league.

Longford Town

On 7 December 2023, it was announced that Wade-Slater had signed for

side

for the 2024 season.

International career

Wade-Slater appeared regularly for Republic of Ireland at under-17 level, making his debut in February 2015 and earning five caps throughout 2015. He was then called up to play for the under-18 team in May 2016, playing three times within the space of a month.

Career statistics

Honours

Larne *

County Antrim Shield The County Antrim & District Football Association Senior Shield (more commonly known as the County Antrim Shield) is a football competition in Northern Ireland. The competition is open to senior teams who are members of the North East Ulster F ...

2020–21

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wade-Slater, Luke 1998 births Living people Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Men's association football defenders Stevenage F.C. players Kings Langley F.C. players Bohemian F.C. players Larne F.C. players Warrenpoint Town F.C. players Drogheda United F.C. players Longford Town F.C. players English Football League players Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers League of Ireland players NIFL Premiership players Association footballers from Dublin (city) 21st-century Irish sportsmen