William Luke Patching (born 18 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

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 ...

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 ...

side

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 loan from

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They have played their ...

. He joined

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

from the Manchester City Academy in July 2018. He was released by County in August 2019, and joined Irish club

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 ...

in November 2019. A former youth team player with England up until under-18 level, participating at the

2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the sixteenth tournament of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, held in Chile from 17 October to 8 November 2015. Host selection The following four countries bid to host the tournament: * * * * Venues Along with proposing ...

Club career

Notts County

Born in

Stockport Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt, Rivers Goyt and River Tame, Greater Manchester, Tame merge to create the River Mersey he ...

, Patching joined the

Academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

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 ...

at the age of six. He signed a two-year contract with

on 1 July 2018. "Magpies" manager

Kevin Nolan Kevin Anthony Jance Nolan (born 24 June 1982) is an English former professional footballer and coach, who manages Northampton Town. He has represented England at under-21 level. After growing up in Toxteth, Liverpool, Nolan signed for Bolton ...

said that "when we spoke to a couple of people at Man City they were surprised Will had been released". Patching had rejected a transfer move to

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

only six months previously. He picked up an injury in pre-season. He made his professional debut on 14 August, coming on as a 68th-minute substitute for Noor Husin in a 3–3 draw at

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 ...

in the

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 ...

; County lost the subsequent shoot-out despite him converting his penalty. He made his first start at

Meadow Lane Meadow Lane is a football (soccer), football stadium in Nottingham, England. It is the home ground of Notts County F.C., Notts County, who have played there since it opened in 1910. The stadium was also home to Notts County Ladies F.C. from 201 ...

on 9 October, in a 2–0 defeat to Newcastle United U21s in the

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 ...

. He made a total of ten appearances during the 2018–19 campaign as County were relegated out of the

English 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 ...

with a 23rd-place finish in League Two. On 12 August 2019, manager

Neal Ardley Neal Christopher Ardley (born 1 September 1972) is an English professional football manager and former footballer who played as a right midfielder. He is currently the manager of Woking. Ardley was capped at Under-21 level by England. He sp ...

stated that Patching could go out on loan to gain experience and match fitness, but Patching left the club by mutual consent two days later.

Dundalk

He began training with

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in , the third tier of the English football league system. Vale are named after the valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal ...

in August 2019, but was subsequently signed by

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 ...

team

in November 2019 ahead of the 2020 season. On 22 February 2021 it was announced that Patching had joined fellow

side Derry City initially on loan until July 2021, with the option to buy. Upon his return to Dundalk, he scored in both legs to help defeat

Newtown A.F.C. Newtown Association Football Club () is a Welsh football club based in Newtown, Powys, which plays in the The club plays at Latham Park, Newtown, which accommodates 500 spectators. History The club has its origins in two previous club ...

and

FCI Levadia Tallinn Football Club Infonet Levadia Tallinn, commonly known as FCI Levadia, or simply as Levadia, is a professional Association football , football club based in Tallinn that competes in the Meistriliiga, the top flight of Estonian football league sy ...

in the

2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League qualifying phase and play-off round The 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League qualifying phase and play-off round began on 6 July and ended on 26 August 2021. A total of 163 teams competed in the qualifying system of the 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League, which includes the ...

Derry City

On 22 November 2021, it was announced that Patching had signed a two-year contract with Derry City following the expiry of his contract at Dundalk, from the 2022 season.

Carlisle United

In December 2024 it was announced that Patching would join

on 1 January 2025, on a two-and-a-half year contract. On 12 June 2025, Patching joined

side

on a season-long loan deal.

International career

Patching was selected by head coach

Neil Dewsnip Neil David Dewsnip (born 13 August 1961) is an English football coach. Dewsnip had been a youth player at Liverpool and later worked as a teacher at a number of schools before becoming a coach. He worked with Everton's academy for 17 years bef ...

for England's under-17

squad In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of Military organization, military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and United States, U.S. doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a fireteam, ...

for the

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

, and came on as a substitute in the group stage draws with

Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

Style of play

Port Vale assistant manager

Dave Kevan David John Kevan (born 31 August 1968) is a Scottish football coach and former player. A midfielder, he made his debut in the English Football League for Notts County in February 1986. He spent the next four years at the club, also enjoying a b ...

described Patching as a "very promising young player" who was a very "creative"

, "very comfortable in possession, holikes to join the front man and get forward".

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Patching, Will 1998 births Living people Footballers from Stockport English men's footballers England men's youth international footballers Men's association football midfielders Manchester City F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Dundalk F.C. players Derry City F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Coleraine F.C. players English Football League players League of Ireland players English expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's association footballers in the Republic of Ireland English expatriate sportspeople in Ireland 21st-century English sportsmen