Thomas James Soares (born 10 July 1986) 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

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. He has previously played for

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

, Bury,

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional association football club based in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton, London. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in ...

and

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 ...

Career

Crystal Palace

Born in

Reading, Berkshire Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, England, and the county town of Berkshire. It is the United Kingdom's largest town, with a combined population of 355,596. Most of Reading built-up area, its built-up area lies within the Borough ...

, Soares came up through the

academy, playing in

central midfield In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. When he made the Palace first team he was used as a winger. Under the management of

Neil Warnock Neil Warnock (born 1 December 1948) is an English football manager and former player who is currently football advisor at Torquay United. He is also a television and radio pundit. In a managerial career spanning five decades, Warnock has managed ...

, however, Soares was played in central midfield. His driving runs, combined with his best goalscoring season to date, meant that he was a key performer in the 2007–08 season for Palace.

Stoke City

In August 2008 Soares joined

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 ...

newcomers

for a fee of £1.25 million. He made an impressive start, as in his second match for Stoke he won two

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

s in a 2–1 win against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

at the

Britannia Stadium The bet365 Stadium is an all-seater football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England and the home of EFL Championship club Stoke City. The stadium was previously called the Britannia Stadium but was renamed on 1 June 2016 when the cl ...

. Soares played a few more matches for Stoke, against

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 ...

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

and

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 ...

. After playing against

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 ...

in the

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 ...

, however, Soares failed to make a league appearance. He was loaned out to

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

for the remainder of the 2008–09 season, but failed to help keep them in 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 ...

. Soares scored one goal for Charlton, on 3 February against

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

. Back at Stoke, he failed to make a Premier League appearance in the 2009–10 season. On 26 November 2009 Soares joined

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

, initially on a month-long loan deal, but he remained there until the end of the season. As with Charlton, Soares was part of a team who were relegated from the Championship. His misery was compounded by it coming at the hands of former club Crystal Palace, who stayed up at Wednesday's expense. Soares had now been relegated three times in his short career. In March 2011, Soares played for Stoke for the first time in almost 18 months, against

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

in the FA Cup. Soares again failed to make a single Premier League appearance for Stoke during the 2010–11 and 2011–12 seasons. His last league appearance for Stoke was in December 2008. On 23 January 2012, Soares joined

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...

club Hibernian on loan until the end of the 2011–12 season. He scored two goals in a 3–1 win against

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

on 25 February. He was released by Stoke at the end of the 2011–12 season. On 16 August 2012, it was reported by '' The News'' that Soares was training with Portsmouth.

Bury

On 9 November 2012, Soares joined Bury on non-contract terms. He re-signed for Bury on a two-year deal on 2 July 2013. Soares scored the winning goal against Tranmere Rovers on the last day of the 2014–15 season that gained Bury 3rd place and automatic promotion to League One.

AFC Wimbledon

On 31 January 2017, Soares left Bury and signed for fellow League One side

. He scored his first goal for the club on 1 January 2018 against

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 ...

Stevenage

After spending the pre-season with

Stevenage FC Stevenage Football Club (known as Stevenage Borough Football Club until 2010) is a professional association football club based in the town of Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England. The club competes in EFL League One, the third level of the Engli ...

he officially signed for the club on 2 August 2019. In July 2021, Soares joined

Southern Football League The Southern League is a football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from East Anglia, the South and Midlands of England, and South Wales. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven a ...

side Dorchester Town, where he went on to make 25 league appearances.

Personal life

His brother Louie is also a footballer, who has represented

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

Career statistics

:A. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the

English Football League play-offs The English Football League (EFL) play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by four association football teams finishing immediately below the automatic promotion places in the second, third and fourth tiers of the English football leag ...

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

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 ...

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, also known as the Isuzu FA Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after The Football Association (the FA) and competed by mainly National League ...

, Berks & Bucks Senior Cup and

Isthmian League Cup The Alan Turvey Trophy, also known as the Velocity Cup under a sponsorship deal, formerly the Isthmian League Cup, is a football knock-out cup competition organised by the Isthmian League in England. History Isthmian League Chairman and Presiden ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Soares, Tom 1986 births Footballers from Reading, Berkshire Living people Men's association football midfielders English men's footballers England men's under-21 international footballers Crystal Palace F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Hibernian F.C. players Bury F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players Black British sportsmen English people of Barbadian descent Sportspeople of Barbadian descent Scottish Premier League players AFC Wimbledon players Stevenage F.C. players Dorchester Town F.C. players Southern Football League players Marlow F.C. players Isthmian League players 21st-century English sportsmen