Thomas David "Tom" Heaton (born 15 April 1986) is an English footballer who currently plays as a goalkeeper for Manchester United.

[edit] Club career

[edit] Manchester United

Born in Chester, Heaton began his football career with Wrexham, for whom he played both in goal and in midfield, but, after making 20 appearances for the Manchester United Under-17 side in the previous two seasons, he signed for the Red Devils as a trainee on 8 July 2002. He became a regular in the Under-17 side during the 2002–03 season, and picked up an FA Youth Cup winner's medal despite playing second fiddle to Luke Steele throughout the entire competition. He made his first appearance in the reserve team the following season, starting in a 3–1 home win over Birmingham City in the Premier Reserve League on 2 October 2003. At the end of the 2003–04 season, Heaton was named on the bench for the final of the Manchester Senior Cup against Manchester City, and won a winner's medal despite not taking the field.

By the 2004–05 season, Heaton had become the first-choice goalkeeper for the Manchester United reserve team, and was named on the bench for the first team for Stan Ternent's testimonial on 17 August 2004, coming on as a 76th-minute substitute for Luke Steele after Steele had earlier come on for Tim Howard. With Heaton in goal for 17 of the 28 Premier Reserve League North matches and 12 of the 22 Central League matches, the team went on to win both league titles by nine and five points respectively.

Heaton's form for the reserves resulted in him being loaned out to Swindon Town at the start of the 2005–06, initially until 1 January 2006. During his time at Swindon, he played over 20 games, saving a penalty on his debut, and was described as "one for the future" by manager Iffy Onuora. He returned to Manchester United, but, after the recall of Ritchie Jones from Royal Antwerp, Heaton was sent there for the rest of the season after United rebuffed an approach from Huddersfield Town.

Heaton made his second appearance for the Manchester United first team on 13 March 2007, coming on as a half-time substitute for Tomasz Kuszczak in the UEFA Celebration Match against Marcello Lippi's Europe XI. Heaton spent the 2007–08 season with the first team squad at Manchester United, appearing on the bench when Edwin van der Sar was out due to injury.

[edit] Cardiff City loan

At the end of the 2007–08 season, Heaton agreed to move to Cardiff City on loan for the duration of the 2008-09 season.^[1] He was chosen as the club's first choice goalkeeper, above Finland international Peter Enckelman, for the start of the season by manager Dave Jones,^[2] and played in every match until late November, with the exception of the Carling Cup third round tie against Swansea City, when he was replaced by Enckelman.^[3] However, late on in Cardiff's 2–1 away defeat to Plymouth Argyle on 22 November 2008, Heaton picked up an injury and was forced off. The injury would go on to cost Heaton his place in the side as the club went unbeaten with Enckelman in goal for over two months.

In February, Enckelman was forced to undergo knee surgery which saw Heaton return in goal on 16 February 2009, when he picked up the man of the match award in a 4-0 defeat at the hands of Arsenal. However, he tore his thigh muscle during the match, ruling him out for up to five weeks.^[4] On his return, Heaton found himself on the bench behind loanee Stuart Taylor but, following a 6-0 defeat against Preston North End, he replaced Taylor for the final three matches of the season. However, he was unable to keep Cardiff in the play-off places and he returned to Manchester United at the end of the season.^[5]

[edit] Queens Park Rangers loan

On 15 August 2009, Heaton was signed by Queens Park Rangers on an emergency three-month loan deal, the terms of which will allow him to compete in the League Cup.^[6] Heaton's loan spell ended on 8 November 2009.

[edit] Rochdale loan

After returning from Queens Park Rangers, Heaton joined Rochdale on 13 November 2009 until the end of December 2009. He made his debut in a 3-2 loss against Chesterfield on 14 November 2009.

[edit] International career

Having played for England at various youth levels, Heaton was handed his England Under-21 debut in March 2008 by manager Stuart Pearce when he replaced Joe Hart as a substitute during a match against Poland U-21's.^[7] However, he did not make the final squad for the 2009 European Championships.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Tom Heaton career stats at Soccerbase
• Profile at ManUtd.com
• Profile at cardiffcityfc.co.uk