Tommy Hogan Setford (born 13 March 2006) 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

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 ...

club

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. Born in the Netherlands, he represents

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

at the youth international level. Born in Haarlem, Setford began his youth career at

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

, before transferring out to Arsenal's academy, Hale End, in July 2024, aged 18. He made his senior debut for the first team on 30 October 2024, 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 ...

match against

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

Early life

Setford was born in 2006 in

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English language, English) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the Provinces of the Nether ...

, to an English professional golfer and a Dutch mother. He is the brother of Ajax goalkeeper Charlie Setford.

Club career

Setford was in the academy of

AFC Ajax Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or commonly Ajax, is a Dutch professional Association football, football Football team, club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. ...

before joining the academy at

in July 2024 for an undisclosed fee in the region of €1 million. He agreed a four year contract with Arsenal with the option of an extra year. Setford made his Arsenal debut on 30 October 2024, away at

in the Carabao Cup. He kept his first senior clean sheet for the Gunners in the 3–0 victory.

International career

Setford was a member of the England under-17 squad that finished fifth at the

2023 UEFA European Under-17 Championship The 2023 UEFA European Under-17 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-17 Euro 2023) was the 20th UEFA European Under-17 Championship (39th edition if the Under-16 era is also included), the annual international youth football championship organise ...

. Later that year he was called-up for the

2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the 19th edition of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth association football, football tournament contested by the under-17 national teams of the member associations of FIFA. It was hel ...

and started all four of their games at the tournament including their round of sixteen elimination against

Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...

. In March 2024, Setford made his debut for England under-19 against Morocco U19. He has been described as "highly regarded at youth level and in the England setup too". Setford was a member of England's squad at the

2025 UEFA European Under-19 Championship The 2025 UEFA European Under-19 Championship is the 22nd edition of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship (72nd edition if the Under-18 and Junior era is also included), the annual international youth football championship organised by UEFA for ...

Style of play

Setford operates as a goalkeeper. He has been described as "appreciated... for his technical skill, ability to play out from the back and his understanding of in-game tactics".

Personal life

The son of Netherlands based, English professional

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

er, Chris Setford, Tommy’s older brother, Charlie Setford, also played for the

youth teams as a goalkeeper, and also represented England U18s.

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Setford, Tommy 2006 births Living people Footballers from Haarlem English people of Dutch descent Dutch people of English descent English men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers AFC Ajax players Jong Ajax players Arsenal F.C. players England men's youth international footballers 21st-century English sportsmen