Trai Hume (born 18 March 2002) is a Northern Irish professional footballer who plays as a full-back for club

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 ...

and the

Northern Ireland national football team The Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in men's international association football. From 1882 to 1950, all of Ireland was represented by a single side, the Ireland national football team (1882–1950), Ireland ...

. He previously played in the Irish Premiership for Linfield and Ballymena United.

Early and personal life

Hume attended Slemish College in

Ballymena Ballymena ( ; from , meaning 'the middle townland') is a town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 31,205 people at the 2021 United Kingdom census, making it the List of localities in Northern Ireland by population, seven ...

and the NIFL Academy. His younger brother Mason is also a semi professional footballer who plays for Ballymena United's reserves.

Club career

Hume played youth football for Ballymena United and Linfield. He signed a professional contract with Linfield in January 2019 until the end of the 2020–21 season. Hume made his first team debut for Linfield as a substitute in a 5-1

Irish 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 ...

win against Cliftonville on 23 April 2019. On 7 September 2020 he agreed two-year contract extension with Linfield. On 11 September 2020, Hume signed a season-long loan deal with his hometown club Ballymena United. He made his debut for the ''Sky Blues'' in a 1–0 Irish Premiership win against

Coleraine Coleraine ( ; from , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, No ...

on 16 October 2020. He made a total of 37 appearances in all competitions for Ballymena, scoring six goals. He returned to Linfield for the 2021–22 season and played in the qualifying rounds for both the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

and

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual association football, football competition organised since 2021 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European foot ...

, establishing himself as the club's first-choice right back. Hume scored his first goal for Linfield in a 3–0 Irish League win against

Glentoran Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club based in East Belfast, Northern Ireland, that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882 and has since won more than 130 major honours. They are one of three Northern Iris ...

on 28 September 2021. He also scored in his final game for the club against Dungannon Swifts on 1 January 2022. On 4 January 2022, Hume signed for

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

on a four-and-a-half-year contract for an undisclosed fee. He had made a total of 31 appearances in all competitions for Linfield, scoring three goals. He made his debut for Sunderland in a 2–1 league defeat to

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 8 February 2022. Having established himself as a regular starter in the team during the 2022–23 season, in June 2023 Hume extended his contract with the English club for a further year, until 2027, with an option for another year.

International career

Hume has played for Northern Ireland at under-17, under-19 and under-21 youth levels. He was sent-off in a 2-0

2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification The 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying competition was a men's under-21 football competition to determine the 14 teams that would be joining the automatically qualified co-hosts Romania and Georgia in the 2023 UEFA European Under- ...

defeat against Malta on 16 November 2021. Hume was called up to the senior

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 ...

squad in March 2022. He made his debut in a 1–0 friendly defeat against

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Linfield *

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 ...

: 2021–22 Sunderland *

EFL League One play-offs The EFL League One play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL League One table and are part of the English Football League play-offs. , the play-offs comprise tw ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

EFL Championship play-offs The English Football League (EFL) Championship play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL Championship table and are part of the English Football League play-o ...

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

Individual *

Senior Men's Player of the Year: 2023 *

Player of the Season: 2024–25

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hume, Trai 2002 births Living people Association footballers from Ballymena Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland Northern Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Northern Ireland men's international footballers Men's association football fullbacks Linfield F.C. players Ballymena United F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players NIFL Premiership players English Football League players 21st-century sportsmen from Northern Ireland