Luke Matthew Woolfenden (born 21 October 1998) 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

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The club currently competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Ipswich Town were founded in 1878 but did not turn ...

. Woolfenden is a graduate of the

academy, making his senior debut in 2017. He spent time on loan at

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is southeast of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 88,000 as of 2023. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, charte ...

during the 2017–2018 season and

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...

during the 2018–2019 season. Primarily a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

, he can also play as a

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

Club career

Ipswich Town

150px, left, upWoolfenden playing for Ipswich Town in 2018 Woolfenden joined the Ipswich Town academy at the age of 11. He became a full academy player with Town in July 2015, signing a two-year scholarship. He signed his first professional contract in June 2017, signing a one-year contract with the option of an additional year extension. He went on to make his full senior debut in a 2–0 win over

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...

in the League Cup first round on 8 August 2017. In September 2017, Woolfenden signed a new contract with Ipswich, signing a two-year contract with the option of an additional one-year extension. On 28 April 2018, Woolfenden made his full

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 ...

debut for Ipswich Town away to

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

. Ipswich went onto win the game 4–0, with Woolfenden playing the full game. He also came on as a substitute in the last game of the 2017–2018 season in a 2–2 home draw against

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 ...

Bromley (loan)

In December 2017 he joined

on a month's loan. He made his debut for Bromley against

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an association football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, England. Initially known as Macclesfield F.C., the club was formed in 1874 and from 1891 played home games at Moss Rose. It competed in the short ...

on 23 December. On 27 April 2018, Woolfenden was recalled from his loan spell at Bromley. He made 17 starts and three sub appearances, scoring once, for the Ravens having joined them just before Christmas.

Swindon Town (loan)

On 31 August 2018, Woolfenden joined League Two side

on loan until the end of the season. He scored his first goal for the club in a 1–2 loss to Bury on 15 September 2018. On 16 February 2019, Woolfenden signed a new 3-year contract with Ipswich, with the option of an additional years' extension. Woolfenden made 36 appearances in all competitions during his loan spell at the County Ground, scoring two goals.

Return to Ipswich

=2019–20 season

= After returning from loan, Woolfenden became a regular player for Ipswich during the 2019–20 season following relegation 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 ...

the previous season. On 25 January 2020, he scored his first goal for the club, netting the winner in a 1–0 home win against Lincoln City at

Portman Road Portman Road is a association football, football stadium in Ipswich, Suffolk, England, which has been the home ground of Ipswich Town F.C., Ipswich Town since 1884. The stadium has also hosted many England youth international matches, and one E ...

. He made 36 appearances during his first full season in the Ipswich first-team. Woolfenden signed a new four-year contract with Ipswich on 1 July 2020, keeping him at the club until 2024, with the option of an additional year extension.

=2020–21 season

= Woolfenden was given the number 6 shirt for the 2020–21 season. He made his first appearance of the season in a 3–0 win over

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 ...

in an EFL Cup first round tie in the opening match of the season. He suffered a minor injury in training during the early part of the season, keeping him out of the team for the majority of September. He made his first league appearance of the season on 27 October, keeping a clean sheet in a 1–0 home win over Gillingham. Woolfenden scored his first goal of the season in a 2–0 win over

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 ...

on 6 February.

Career statistics

Honours

Ipswich Town *

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 ...

runner-up:

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 ...

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divi ...

runner-up: 2023–24

References

External links

Profile
at the Ipswich Town F.C. website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Woolfenden, Luke 1998 births Living people Footballers from Ipswich English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Ipswich Town F.C. players Bromley F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Premier League players 21st-century English sportsmen