Tom Eastman

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Tom Eastman
Tom eastman.jpg
Tom Eastman playing for Ipswich Town in November 2010
Personal information
Full name Thomas Michael Eastman[1]
Date of birth (1991-10-21) 21 October 1991 (age 32)[2]
Place of birth Colchester, England
Height Script error: No such module "person height".
Position(s) Defender
Team information
Current team
Colchester United
Number 18
Youth career
2000–2010 Ipswich Town
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010–2011 Ipswich Town 10 (0)
2011– Colchester United 161 (7)
2011 Crawley Town (loan) 6 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17:41, 2 January 2016 (UTC)

Thomas Michael "Tom" Eastman (born 21 October 1991) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for Colchester United. Eastman is a product of the Ipswich Town Academy, where progressed through the ranks since the age of eight before making his first-team debut in 2010, a game in which he was sent off for a second bookable offence. After finding his chances with Ipswich limited, he moved to Colchester United in the summer of 2011. After making his Colchester debut in the Football League Trophy in August 2011, he joined Crawley Town in an emergency loan deal in September 2011, where he made six appearances, before returning to the U's and establishing himself as a regular starter in the centre of defence. He has made over 100 league appearances for the Essex club.

Career

Ipswich Town

Born in Colchester,[3] Eastman grew up in nearby Clacton-on-Sea, where he attended Clacton County High School.[4] He grew up on the same street as former Ipswich Town and Leeds United footballer Ian Westlake, and followed in Westlake's footsteps by joining Ipswich's Academy in 2000 at the age of eight.[5] Featuring for the under-16 side, Eastman scored in their 2–0 win over West Ham United on 3 March 2007.[6]

Eastman made his under-18s debut for Ipswich on 17 November 2007, coming on as a substitute in their 2–1 defeat at Southampton.[7] At the age of 16, Eastman was offered a two-year apprenticeship with the club in February 2008.[8] Shortly afterwards, he made his first appearance for the reserve team against Stevenage Borough in March 2008.[9] His season ended with his solitary reserve appearance, alongside nine appearances for the under-18 team.[10]

Eastman scored his first goal for the Blues' under-18s on 4 April 2009 in their 4–0 win over their Southampton counterparts in a 4–0 victory.[11] He scored a brace for the reserve side against Stevenage on 6 May 2009, netting the sixth and eighth goals in an 8–0 win.[12] He added to his under-18 tally with 30 appearances across the season, with a further eight reserve team games under his belt.[13]

2009–10 season

Eastman featured in a pre-season game for the Ipswich Town reserve team against Clacton on 24 July 2009, watched by first-team manager Roy Keane. He opened the scoring in the game with an unfortunate own-goal, but by half-time, Ipswich had turned the game around to lead 6–1. The match eventually ended 7–2.[14] He scored his first reserve goal of the campaign in a 2–1 win against Wycombe Wanderers on 2 March 2010,[15] and scored again in his next match for the under-18s four days later with an equalising goal 15 minutes from time in a 1–1 draw with Arsenal at the Arsenal Training Centre.[16] Later in the season, manager Keane said Eastman was "a good lad with a good attitude" and that he "had a chance" of having a career in football, while admitting that there was a possibility that he could feature for the first-team before the end of the season.[17] Eastman scored once again for the under-18s on 20 March in a 4–3 defeat away at Reading.[18] He was an unused substitute for the Blues' first-team games against Nottingham Forest and Derby County in April 2010, before being offered a professional contract by the club.[19]

Following his professional contract offer, Eastman was given Ipswich's 'Academy Player of the Year' award.[20] Keane then handed Eastman his professional debut in the final game of the season on 2 May 2010 at Portman Road against Sheffield United.[21] Eastman was sent off by referee Andy D'Urso after bookings from fouls on Nyron Nosworthy and Matthew Lowton just before the hour mark. Keane described the sending-off as "harsh".[22] His debut first-team appearance was complimented by two goals in 23 reserve appearances, and three goals in 28 under-18 appearances across the season.[23]

2010–11 season

Eastman made his first friendly appearance of his professional contract in the 2010–11 pre-season game at Hadleigh United on 10 July 2010,[24] and then scored a hat-trick in a 4–1 win for the reserve side against Great Yarmouth Town on 17 July.[25] Eastman made his first professional start for the club on 10 August in the League Cup, where Ipswich needed extra time to see off Exeter City in a 3–2 win at St James Park.[26] He was sent on as a late substitute in his first league outing of the campaign, replacing Jaime Peters in a 2–1 away win over Crystal Palace on 21 August.[27] He also made starts in games against Cardiff City[28] and Scunthorpe United[29] in the Championship in September, as well as starting in a 2–1 win at Millwall in the League Cup.[30] He also started for Ipswich in their 2–1 win over Leeds United on 2 October, before being substituted for Tamás Priskin after 52 minutes.[31] His next game arrived in the 3–1 League Cup win over Northampton Town on 26 October, a game in which he played the full 90 minutes.[32]

Following his appearance in the League Cup, Eastman retained his place in the starting eleven in his unfamiliar role of right-back,[33] featuring in wins over Millwall[34] and Sheffield United,[35] and defeats to Derby County[36] and Barnsley,[37] before making what was to be his final appearance for the club on 20 November in Town's 1–0 defeat to Hull City at the KC Stadium,[38] where he picked up a groin injury.[39] Roy Keane praised Eastman's performances in the right-back position, saying "he's three months out of the youth team, he's been brilliant for us and is going to have a great future ahead of him".[33]

Eastman scored his first and only goal of the season for the reserve side in their 3–1 win over Watford on 24 March 2011.[40] In April 2011, alongside teammates Jack Ainsley and Conor Hourihane, Eastman was offered a six-month contract, with his deal set to expire in the summer.[41] Eastman ended the season with twelve appearances for the first-team in all competitions,[42] with one goal accompanying his 16 reserve appearances.[43] He made 13 first-team appearances for Ipswich in total.[2]

Colchester United

2011–12 season

Eastman rejected the offer of a six-month contract from Ipswich and instead decided to join local rivals Colchester United on a two-year deal on 19 May 2011 on a free transfer.[44][45] He made his debut for the club in the Football League Trophy on 30 August 2011, replacing Matt Heath with seven minutes remaining of their 3–1 home defeat to Barnet.[46] He made a scoring start for the Colchester United reserves campaign on 7 September in their 6–0 thrashing of Stevenage, netting the fourth to hand the U's a 4–0 lead at the interval.[47]

Crawley Town loan

On 13 September, Eastman signed for Crawley Town in an emergency one-month loan deal after an injury crisis struck the League Two club.[48] He started his first game for the Red Devils the same day in their match against Swindon Town, playing the full 90 minutes of the 3–0 home defeat.[49] After helping Crawley to a run of five successive wins and to the top of League Two on the back of the defeat on his debut, Eastman was recalled by Colchester. He returned to the U's following injuries to regular centre-backs Pat Baldwin and Matt Heath, with Magnus Okuonghae suspended.[50]

Return to Colchester

Eastman went straight into the starting eleven for Colchester's League One trip to Hillsborough to face Sheffield Wednesday on 22 October, making his full and league debut for the U's in a 2–0 defeat.[51] However, Eastman did not retain his place in the first-team, with the returning Magnus Okuonghae replacing him in the heart of the defence.[52] His next game did not arrive until 19 November, when he was again drafted in to replace Okuonghae in the U's 5–1 home loss to Milton Keynes Dons.[53] He came on as a substitute for Okuonghae in the U's 1–0 home defeat FA Cup to Swindon on 3 December,[54] and then grabbed a goal for himself in the Essex Senior Cup as a Colchester eleven defeated A.F.C. Hornchurch 4–1 on 6 December, with Eastman nodding home from close range for the U's third.[55]

On 2 January 2012, Eastman was handed only his third start in Colchester's 1–0 defeat at MK Dons, but a solid performance left him feeling "good" and aiming to "get more starts" under his belt.[56] Manager John Ward then confirmed that Eastman would keep his place in the starting line-up on the back of his impressive performance and with Matt Heath still sidelined through injury.[57] He scored his first professional goal on 9 April after heading in Anthony Wordsworth's corner kick in the second-half of a 4–1 defeat to Bury.[58] He scored again on 21 April when he turned in a low driven cross from Michael Rose after 83 minutes to secure a point for Colchester in a 1–1 draw with Bournemouth.[59]

Through 2012, Eastman held down a regular place in the Colchester first-team, and towards the end of the season, he hoped that he could establish himself next season and prove that he could play "week in, week out".[60] He won the Colchester United 'Young Player of the Year' and the Colchester United Supporters Association 'Away Player of the Year' awards for the 2011–12 season,[61] and celebrated these achievements with his third goal of the season and his second goal in successive matches as Colchester ended their home campaign in style with a 4–2 win over Tranmere Rovers on 28 April.[62] Eastman ended the season with 33 appearances in all competitions for Colchester.[63]

2012–13 season

Eastman started his second season with Colchester partnering Magnus Okuonghae in the centre of defence in their season-opening League Cup 3–0 defeat to Yeovil Town on 14 August 2012.[64] He scored his first goal of the campaign on 20 November when Colchester were defeated 3–1 at home to Coventry City, heading in Anthony Wordsworth's 71st minute free-kick.[65] Having been consistently in the first team during the first-half of the season, Eastman signed a contract extension until the summer of 2015 on 31 January 2013.[66] He set himself the target of continuing to hold down a regular starting position in Joe Dunne's squad, despite strong competition for places in the team.[67] He found himself out of action across January and February, failing to start a game, with boss Dunne handing Eastman a new fitness regime.[68] Once again, Eastman was ruled out in mid-March for one month with an ankle injury.[69]

Eastman returned from injury for the Development Squad in a 4–0 win over their Queens Park Rangers counterparts on 15 April, playing for 60 minutes and scoring a goal in the process.[70] On the final day of the 2012–13 season, Eastman scored his second goal of the season in a crucial win against Carlisle United, a victory that kept Colchester in League One for another season to stave off relegation.[71] He made a total of 32 first-team appearances across the season.[72]

2013–14 season

The 2013–14 season began with Eastman once again partnering Okuonghae in defence for their season-opening 1–0 League One with at Gillingham on 3 August 2013.[73] Eastman was ruled out by injury ahead of Colchester's 1–1 draw with his previous loan club Crawley on 21 September,[74] with his ankle injury ruling him out until early November. He made his comeback for the Development Squad for a friendly against Watford.[75] He returned to first-team action by starting in Colchester's 3–2 FA Cup defeat to Sheffield United on 9 November.[76]

After helping Colchester avoid relegation for another season, Eastman was named as the club's Player of the Year at the annual end of season awards dinner in May 2014. In addition to this award, he also scooped the "Players' Player of the Year" accolade.[77] He made 39 first-team appearances despite sitting a number of games out with injury.[78]

2014–15 season

Lining up alongside Okuonghae for his fourth season with the U's, Eastman featured in Colchester's 2–2 opening day home draw with Oldham Athletic on 9 August 2014.[79] He racked up his 100th appearance for Colchester on 12 August in their 4–0 League Cup defeat to Charlton Athletic.[80] Eastman signed a new contract with the club on 16 October to see him through to the summer of 2016.[81] Eastman's performances throughout January 2015 earned him a nomination for the League One "Player of the Month" award, alongside Dele Alli, Andy Butler and Tom Hopper, with manager Tony Humes saying that it was a "great accolade for him [Eastman] that he's been nominated".[82] Eastman was an ever-present member of the squad throughout the season, having played every league and cup game. He achieved this by playing alongside 12 different central defence partners following Magnus Okuonghae's season-ending injury, including Okuonghae, Frankie Kent, Karleigh Osborne, Bongani Khumalo, Kaspars Gorkšs, Alex Wynter, Will Packwood, Jamie Harney, Alex Gilbey, David Wright, Cole Kpekawa and Sean Clohessy.[83]

Eastman scored his first goal of the season on 18 April in Colchester's home game against Scunthorpe United. His goal in the 81st minute levelled the scores at 1–1, in a game which eventually ended 2–2.[84] After ending the season having played every minute of every game during the campaign, Eastman was awarded the Colchester United 'Player of the Year' for the second successive season in May 2015, as well as claiming the Colchester United Supporters Association 'Home Player of the Year' and 'Away Player of the Year' awards.[85]

2015–16 season

In his 13th appearance of the 2015–16 season, Eastman scored his first goal of the campaign to double the U's lead before half-time against Shrewsbury Town on 10 October 2015. However, after a poor second-half display where his side conceded four goals, they lost 4–2.[86]

Career statistics

As of match played 9 January 2016.
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Ipswich Town 2009–10[87] Championship 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
2010–11[42] Championship 9 0 0 0 3 0 12 0
Total 10 0 0 0 3 0 13 0
Colchester United 2011–12[63] League One 25 3 1 0 0 0 1[lower-alpha 1] 0 27 3
2012–13[72] League One 29 2 1 0 1 0 1[lower-alpha 1] 0 32 2
2013–14[78] League One 36 0 1 0 1 0 1[lower-alpha 1] 0 39 0
2014–15[88] League One 46 1 3 0 1 0 1[lower-alpha 1] 0 51 1
2015–16[89] League One 25 1 3 0 1 0 0 0 29 1
Total 161 7 9 0 4 0 4 0 178 7
Crawley Town (loan) 2011–12[63] League Two 6 0 6 0
Career total 177 7 9 0 7 0 4 0 197 7
  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Appearance in Football League Trophy

Honours

Individual

References

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