Tom Taiwo
Taiwo playing for Carlisle United in 2011
Personal information
Full name Thomas James William Taiwo[1]
Date of birth (1990-02-27) 27 February 1990
Place of birth Pudsey, England
Height 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)[2]
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
1997–2000 Farsley Celtic
2000–2006 Leeds United
2006–2008 Chelsea
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2010 Chelsea 0 (0)
2008 → Port Vale (loan) 4 (0)
2009–2010 → Carlisle United (loan) 19 (1)
2010–2012 Carlisle United 99 (5)
2012–2014 Hibernian 47 (2)
2014–2018 Falkirk 104 (3)
2018–2019 Hamilton Academical 16 (0)
Total 289 (11)
International career
2007 England U17 2 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Thomas James William Taiwo (born 27 February 1990) is an English former footballer who played as a midfielder.

An England under-17 international, he graduated out of the Chelsea academy to turn professional in 2008, having switched from the Leeds United Academy two years earlier. He never appeared for the first team, and instead enjoyed a brief loan spell at Port Vale, before he joined Carlisle United on a loan deal that was made permanent in January 2010. He played in two consecutive Football League Trophy finals for the club, as Carlisle were defeated in 2010, before they won the tournament in 2011.

He joined Scottish club Hibernian in September 2012, and stayed with the club for two seasons. He signed with Falkirk in July 2014, and played on the losing side in the 2015 Scottish Cup final. He joined Hamilton Academical in June 2018, and retired due to injury in June 2019.

Club career

Chelsea

Tom was a student at St Mary's Menston Catholic Voluntary Academy. He joined Chelsea from Leeds United along with Michael Woods in a controversial move after Ken Bates accused Chelsea of tapping up the youngsters.[3] Leeds received £5 million in compensation for the pair after threatening to take Chelsea to court.[4] He broke his leg two days before he was due to make his youth team debut for the "Blues".[5] His parents were accused of taking backhanders to influence his decision; Taiwo stated that these "false claims" were highly "upsetting" to him.[6]

Taiwo joined League Two club Port Vale on a month's loan in August 2008. He made his debut, coming on as a substitute in the 61st minute, at home to Bournemouth, in the 3–1 win on 30 August.[7] Vale sent him back to Chelsea in September after they decided not to extend his loan.[8] Taiwo went on a trial with the Seattle Sounders of Major League Soccer in March 2009.[9]

"I always felt like I was playing catch-up. The club had a glut of players in my position and I was unlucky enough to suffer a serious injury. There's always somebody younger than you coming through. I was disappointed, but I also have to look back and say I wasn't good enough. That can be quite a painful thing to say. As a young footballer, you can be quite blinded at times. It was the first time in my life I'd ever suffered a real setback. I had to face the fact that I wasn't as good as I hoped I'd be."

— In 2014, the BBC featured Taiwo as part of an article on notable players who had suffered rejection from Premier League sides.[10]

Carlisle United

In July 2009, Carlisle United announced they had signed Taiwo on loan until the end of December.[11] He impressed supporters with his "aggressive, tackle-heavy performances at the heart of the midfield."[12] Taiwo scored his first goal for Carlisle in a 3–2 league victory over rivals Hartlepool United on 1 December.[13] On 6 January 2010, Carlisle signed Taiwo from Chelsea permanently on a two-and-a-half-year contract, after paying the London club an undisclosed fee.[14][15] He played a total of 35 League One games in 2009–10. He also featured in six of Carlisle's seven games in the 2009–10 League Trophy, including the final in front of 73,476 fans at Wembley, which ended in a 4–1 defeat to Southampton; he was a late substitute for captain Paul Thirlwell, with the "Blues" already 4–0 down.[16]

He played five games of Carlisle's march to the League Trophy final in 2010–11; he also started the final against Brentford, which the "Cumbrians" won 1–0.[17] In total he made 55 appearances in league and cup for Greg Abbott's side, scoring three goals. He scored three times in 41 games in 2011–12, as Carlisle finished eighth, missing out on the play-offs by a four-point margin. On 11 June 2012, Taiwo revealed he would not be signing a new contract with Carlisle, citing family reasons for his departure from Brunton Park.[18][19] However, Carlisle retained his registration and initially demanded a £200,000 transfer fee from other clubs – a prospect that ended a potential move to Yorkshire club Bradford City.[20]

Hibernian

In September 2012, Taiwo signed a two-year contract with Scottish Premier League club Hibernian.[21] "Hibs" manager Pat Fenlon said that he felt Taiwo was a quality signing, and would provide competition for central midfielders Jorge Claros and Gary Deegan.[22] Speaking about his move, Taiwo stated his belief that the club could challenge for the league title.[23] Carlisle manager Greg Abbott criticised Taiwo's move to Scotland, claiming it was a poor decision and that he had been badly advised.[24] Taiwo made his "Hibs" debut on 6 October, in a 3–0 win over Dundee at Easter Road.

Early in the January 2014 window, BBC Sport reported that new manager Terry Butcher had made Taiwo available for transfer.[25] Butcher refused to confirm the report, but said that allowing some players to leave would freshen the squad and that he was also looking to recruit some new players.[26] Taiwo was released by Hibernian at the end of the 2013–14 season.[27]

Falkirk

Taiwo joined Scottish Championship side Falkirk in July 2014 after manager Peter Houston sought to add experience to his midfield.[28] He scored three goals in 41 appearances for the "Bairns" in the 2014–15 season, including one at Ibrox Stadium that effectively ended Rangers's chances of beating his former club Hibernian into second place.[29] Falkirk also reached the 2015 Scottish Cup final, where they lost 2–1 to Inverness Caledonian Thistle at Hampden Park.[30]

He played 27 games in the 2015–16 season as Falkirk posted a second-place finish, before they lost 4–1 on aggregate to Kilmarnock in the play-off final.[31] On 12 November 2016, he was sent off in a 1–1 draw at former club Hibernian after a reckless challenge on John McGinn.[32] He made 38 appearances across the 2016–17 campaign, helping Falkirk to qualify for the play-offs with a second-place finish; he played both legs of the 4–3 aggregate defeat to Dundee United in the play-off semi-final.[33] Taiwo left Falkirk Stadium after he was released by Falkirk manager Paul Hartley upon the conclusion of the 2017–18 season.[34]

Hamilton Academical

On 24 June 2018, Taiwo signed with Scottish Premiership club Hamilton Academical.[35][36][37] However, he was judged to have been a poor signing by manager Martin Canning and he left Hamilton by mutual consent in May 2019 after making 19 appearances during the 2018–19 season.[38][39][40] He retired due to injury in June 2019, at the age of 29.[41]

International career

Although he has played for England at youth level, he is eligible to represent Nigeria through his paternal grandfather.[42] He was named as a substitute in all of England's games at the 2007 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship, however, he did not feature in the defeat to Spain in the final. He did though make it off the bench in the 1–1 draw with Belgium and the 1–0 semi-final victory over France.[43][44]

Style of play

Taiwo "has a reputation as a tough-tackling and wholehearted player".[45]

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Chelsea 2008–09[46] Premier League 0000000000
2009–10[47] Premier League 0000000000
Total 0000000000
Port Vale (loan) 2008–09[46] League Two 4000001[lower-alpha 1]050
Carlisle United 2009–10[47] League One 35130306[lower-alpha 1]0471
2010–11[48] League One 46230106[lower-alpha 1]1563
2011–12[49] League One 37310201[lower-alpha 1]0413
Total 118670601311447
Hibernian 2012–13[50] Scottish Premier League 261400000301
2013–14[51] Scottish Premiership 21120202[lower-alpha 2]0271
Total 472602020572
Falkirk 2014–15[52] Scottish Championship 31150303[lower-alpha 3]2423
2015–16[53] Scottish Championship 20010204[lower-alpha 4]0270
2016–17[54] Scottish Championship 31100403[lower-alpha 5]0381
2017–18[55] Scottish Championship 22130302[lower-alpha 3]0301
Total 1043901201221375
Hamilton Academical 2018–19[56] Scottish Premiership 160102000190
Career total 2891123022028336214
  1. 1 2 3 4 Appearances in the Football League Trophy
  2. ↑ Appearances in the Europa League
  3. 1 2 Appearances in the Scottish Challenge Cup
  4. ↑ Two appearances in the Scottish Challenge Cup and two in the Premiership play-offs
  5. ↑ One appearance in the Scottish Challenge Cup and two in the Premiership play-offs

Honours

Carlisle United

Falkirk

References

  1. ↑ Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2009). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2009–10. Mainstream Publishing. p. 397. ISBN 978-1-84596-474-0.
  2. ↑ "FootballSquads – Port Vale – 2008/09". footballsquads.co.uk. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  3. ↑ "Leeds lodge tapping-up complaint". BBC Sport. 3 August 2006. Retrieved 5 September 2008.
  4. ↑ Stewart, Rob (5 January 2010). "Chelsea's Tom Taiwo set to leave Stamford Bridge after Leeds United legal feud". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 14 June 2011.
  5. ↑ "Tom Taiwo ready to step up for Hibs". Daily Record. 10 October 2012. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
  6. ↑ "Hibs ace Tom Taiwo happy at Easter Road after seeing old Chelsea team mates fall by the wayside". Daily Record. 23 December 2012. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
  7. ↑ "Port Vale 3–1 Bournemouth". BBC Sport. 30 August 2008. Retrieved 5 September 2008.
  8. ↑ "Vale send Taiwo back to Chelsea". BBC Sport. 25 September 2008. Retrieved 29 November 2008.
  9. ↑ "Seattle Sounders FC 2009 Trialists". Seattle Pitch. 26 May 2009. Retrieved 2 June 2009.
  10. ↑ Gheerbrant, James (28 August 2014). "What happens to football's lost souls?". BBC Sport. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  11. ↑ "Carlisle capture Taiwo". Sky Sports. 9 July 2009. Retrieved 9 July 2009.
  12. ↑ "Taiwo eyes extended Carlisle stay". BBC Sport. 12 October 2009. Retrieved 9 October 2011.
  13. ↑ "Carlisle 3 – 2 Hartlepool". BBC Sport. 1 December 2009. Retrieved 7 February 2012.
  14. ↑ "Chelsea release Tom Taiwo three years after 'poaching' allegations". The Guardian. 6 January 2010. Retrieved 6 January 2010.
  15. ↑ "Carlisle United sign Chelsea's Tom Taiwo". BBC Sport. 6 January 2010. Retrieved 9 October 2011.
  16. 1 2 Shemilt, Stephan (28 March 2010). "Carlisle 1 – 4 Southampton". BBC Sport. Retrieved 7 February 2012.
  17. 1 2 "Match Report". football-league.co.uk. Archived from the original on 29 September 2012. Retrieved 7 February 2012.
  18. ↑ "Taiwo and Michalik quit Carlisle Utd – but three to stay". News & Star. 11 June 2012. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
  19. ↑ "Taiwo turns back on Cumbrians". Sky Sports. 12 June 2012. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
  20. ↑ "Bradford launch new bid for ex-Carlisle Utd star Tom Taiwo". News & Star. 15 August 2012. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
  21. ↑ "Taiwo Situation Explained". hibernianfc.co.uk. Hibernian FC. 13 September 2012. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
  22. ↑ "Hibernian sign Tom Taiwo, former Chelsea prospect". BBC Sport. 13 September 2012. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
  23. ↑ "Tom Taiwo: It's not impossible for Hibs to win the SPL". Daily Record. 22 September 2012. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
  24. ↑ "Tom Taiwo's move to Hibs is 'wrong decision', says Carlisle Utd boss". News and Star. 17 September 2012. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
  25. ↑ "Hibs tell Vine, Taiwo, Clancy & Thomson to find new clubs". BBC Sport. 9 January 2014. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  26. ↑ "Terry Butcher – Shedding players will freshen Hibs". Edinburgh Evening News. Johnston Publishing. 9 January 2014. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  27. ↑ "Out of Contract Players". Hibernianfc.co.uk. Hibernian FC. 26 May 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  28. ↑ "Falkirk: Jamie MacDonald one of five new arrivals". BBC Sport. 3 July 2014. Retrieved 3 July 2014.
  29. ↑ Duncan, Colin (26 April 2015). "Queens will be kings: Tom Taiwo writes off Rangers and Hibs' promotion chances as Falkirk dent Ibrox hopes". Daily Record. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  30. 1 2 Lamont, Alasdair (30 May 2015). "Scottish Cup final: Inverness CT 2–1 Falkirk". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  31. ↑ English, Tom (22 May 2016). "Kilmarnock preserved their 23-year stay in the Scottish Premiership in the most emphatic fashion by thumping Falkirk in the second leg of the play-off final". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  32. ↑ Dowden, Martin (12 November 2016). "Scottish Championship: Hibernian 1–1 Falkirk". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  33. ↑ Crawford, Kenny (19 May 2017). "Falkirk 1–2 Dundee United (aggregate 3–4)". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 May 2017.
  34. ↑ "Players Depart Club". Falkirk FC. 30 April 2018. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  35. ↑ McGilvray, Andy (13 July 2018). "Tom Taiwo is ready to offer experience to Hamilton Accies". dailyrecord.
  36. ↑ MacRae, Daryn (24 June 2018). "Hamilton complete double swoop for Taiwo and Bloomfield". STV Sport. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
  37. ↑ Alexander, Douglas (26 August 2018). "Tom Taiwo happy at Hamilton after failing to make the grade at Chelsea". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
  38. ↑ "Player Departures". Hamilton Academical F.C. 21 May 2019. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  39. ↑ "Hamilton: Eight players leave after safety secured". BBC Sport. 21 May 2019. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  40. ↑ Fowler, Craig (31 January 2019). "Judging all 61 Hamilton Accies signings of the Martin Canning era". scotsman.com. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  41. ↑ McPartlin, Patrick (12 June 2019). "Tom Taiwo, ex-Hibs midfielder, retires after injury problems". Edinburgh Evening News. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  42. ↑ "Port Vale: New boy Tom keen to claim first-team place". The Sentinel. 6 September 2008. Retrieved 19 July 2009.
  43. ↑ "Belgium 1 – 1 England". UEFA. Retrieved 7 February 2012.
  44. ↑ "England 1 – 0 France". UEFA. Retrieved 7 February 2012.
  45. ↑ Bathgate, Stuart (13 September 2012). "Ex-Chelsea player Tom Taiwo joins Hibernian on two-year deal". The Scotsman. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
  46. 1 2 "Games played by Tom Taiwo in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  47. 1 2 "Games played by Tom Taiwo in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  48. ↑ "Games played by Tom Taiwo in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  49. ↑ "Games played by Tom Taiwo in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  50. ↑ "Games played by Tom Taiwo in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  51. ↑ "Games played by Tom Taiwo in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  52. ↑ "Games played by Tom Taiwo in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  53. ↑ "Games played by Tom Taiwo in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  54. ↑ "Games played by Tom Taiwo in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  55. ↑ "Games played by Tom Taiwo in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  56. ↑ "Games played by Tom Taiwo in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
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