Tom Heaton

At 38 years old, Tom Heaton has this physical status:

Thomas David Heaton (born 15 April 1986) is an English professional footballer who plays for Aston Villa and the English national team as a goalkeeper. He began his work with Manchester United, but was unable to break into the first team and spent time on loan with Swindon Town, Royal Antwerp, Cardiff City, Queens Park Rangers, Rochdale, and Wycombe Wanderers before joining Cardiff permanently after being released by Manchester United in July 2010.

He stayed in Bristol for one year with the option of a second year but decided against a transfer to Burnley in May 2013, where he stayed for six years before joining Aston Villa in 2019. Heaton, who has been involved with senior England squads since 2015, made his senior debut against Australia on May 27, 2016 in a UEFA Euro 2016 warm-up match.

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Club career

Heaton, a born in Chester, Cheshire, began his football career with Wrexham, for whom he played both in goal and in midfield, but the Manchester United Under-17 team cut him on July 8, 2002. Despite playing second fiddle to Luke Steele throughout the entire competition, he became a regular in the Under-17 team from 2002 to 2003 and earned an FA Youth Cup winner's medal. In a 3–1 home victory over Birmingham City in the Premier Reserve League on October 2, 2003, he made his first appearance in the reserve team the following season, beginning in a 3–1 victory over Birmingham City in the Premier Reserve League. Heaton was named on the bench for the final of the Manchester Senior Cup against Manchester City in 2003, and he earned a winner's medal despite not being on the field.

Heaton had been the first-choice goalkeeper for Manchester United's reserve team by the 2005-05 season, and he was named on the bench for Stan Ternent's testimonial on August 17, 2004, when 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 his being loaned out to Swindon Town at the start of the 2005-06 season, but not until January 2006. Heaton made his professional debut against Wycombe Wanderers in a League Cup tie, and he saved a penalty from Lee Johnson in his second appearance against Yeovil Town in the league. During his time at Swindon, he played over 20 games and was described as "one for the future" by manager Iffy Onuora. He returned to Manchester United, but Heaton was sent to Heaton for the remainder of the season after United rejected an appeal from Huddersfield Town.

Heaton was on the bench when Edwin van der Sar Sar was out due to injury during the 2007-08 season.

Heaton agreed to transfer to Cardiff City on loan for the 2008–09 season at the end of the 2007–08 season. Manager Dave Jones named him as the club's first choice goalkeeper, above Peter Enckelman, for the first time this season. He appeared in every match until late November, with the exception of Enckelman's replacement match against Swansea City. Heaton suffered an injury and was forced to leave Cardiff's 2–1 away loss to Plymouth Argyle on November 22, 2008. Heaton's place in the team will be lost if Enckelman in goal for more than two months, and it would continue to do so.

Enckelman was forced to have knee surgery in February, which culminated in Heaton's return to action when he picked up the man of the match award in a 4–0 loss at Arsenal. During the game, however, he tore his thigh muscles, effectively ending his chances of up to five weeks. On his return to action, Heaton found himself on the bench alongside loanee Stuart Taylor, but he recalled Taylor for the final three matches of the season after a 6–0 loss to Preston North End. However, he was unable to keep Cardiff in the play-off positions, and he returned to Manchester United at the end of the season.

Heaton was signed by Queens Park Rangers on an emergency three-month loan contract, the terms of which allowed him to play in the League Cup. Heaton's loan term came to an end on November 8th. In the 1–0 loss at Chelsea in the League Cup on September 23, 2009, he made one first-team appearance during his loan.

Heaton joined Rochdale on November 13, 2009, before returning from QPR. In a 3–2 loss to Chesterfield on November 14, 2009, he made his debut in a 3–2 loss. The loan was then extended until January 23, 2010, but a new extension brought the end date back to 31 January. Heaton conceded only ten goals, including four clean sheets, and finished on the losing team just once in his 12 appearances.

Heaton remained on loan to Wycombe Wanderers for less than two weeks before being back on loan to Manchester United on February 12, 2010. He immediately lined up for Wycombe's away match against Brentford on the following day, where they lost 1–1. Heaton made his second appearance for the Chairboys in their 0–0 draw against Southampton on Tuesday 23 February 2010. He made a great save from a volley to keep the Chairboys on par with the Saints.

Heaton turned down a bid to remain at Old Trafford due to an upcoming season, instead choosing to leave on a free transfer in search of regular playing time. Heaton agreed to a transfer to Cardiff City on June 15, 2010 following his release by United. In the League Cup, he made his second appearance in 4–1 victory over Burton Albion on August 11. Heaton established himself as Cardiff's new number one starter after first-choice goalkeeper David Marshall sustained an elbow injury. Jason Brown and Stephen Bywater were sent in as cover on loan in late February after he sustained a groin injury in late February. Heaton was called into the squad against Derby County, where they won 4–1. Heaton's success in the 2010–11 season earned him the club's Young Player of the Year award.

Heaton's new boss, Malky Mackay, found himself as cover for David Marshall, but the club was also involved in the club's League Cup campaign, where they advanced to the final thanks to two saves from Heaton against Crystal Palace in a semi-final penalty shoot-out. He sustained an ankle injury right before the final, but he recovered afterwards to kick off at Wembley Stadium. Heaton started the penalty shoot-out by shoving Steven Gerrard's attempt into the bar, but Liverpool lost the game 3–2. Despite the fruitful cup run, Heaton maintained his second string to Marshall, and was released at the end of the season after refusing to commit to a new deal in the Welsh capital.

Heaton held talks with Watford over a potential change in July 2012; however, Watford's new owners decided to drop out of the transaction. Heaton went on trial with Bristol City in Spain earlier this month, and they began contract talks shortly after. Heaton has agreed to a one-year contract with the club, with the possibility of a further 12 months. In a 1–0 loss away to Nottingham Forest on August 18, he made his debut on August 18, 2012. Bristol had a slow season, resulting in the club's lowest defensive record in the league with 84 goals allowed, and they were relegated at the end of the season. Heaton played 43 of Bristol City's 46 games in the Championship this season, and was dubbed one of the club's best players of the season.

Heaton joined Burnley in May 2013, after turning down a new one-year contract with Bristol City. He wanted to remain in the Championship, and Burnley gave Heaton a two-year deal, limiting him to the club until June 2015, with the option of a third year. Sean Dyche, the manager of Watford, Dyche's first Burnley signing, was described as a "good technician" with "strong pedigree." Following Lee Grant and Brian Jensen's departures, Heaton became Burnley's first-choice goalkeeper straight away. On August 3, 2013, he made his Burnley debut against Bolton Wanderers. He was given a rare technical warning (his second of the match) for handling the ball after being banned from playing against Brighton on August 24, which they lost 2–0. Burnley's defense was limited to only 37 goals, the fewest in the league, as the Premier League returned to the Premier League for the first time since 2009–10. Heaton also picked up 19 clean sheets, the most by any keeper in the regular season.

Heaton lost by 3–1 on August 18th on his Premier League debut against Chelsea. Heaton played in every minute of Burnley's Premier League season, becoming the only goalkeeper in the league to do so, but his efforts were not strong enough, as Burnley and their league-worst offence were relegated at the end of the season. Heaton was named Burnley's Player of the Year by his teammates at the start of the season.

Heaton agreed to a new three-year contract with the club on June 30th, which will go into the summer of 2018. Heaton was named captain for the 2015–16 Championship season, captaining the team for the first time on August 8, 2015, in a 1–1 draw against Leeds United. Heaton maintained 20 clean sheets during the season, second only to Dimitrios Konstantopoulos of Middlesbrough, as Burnley did not lose in the second half of the Championship season as a champions and receiving promotion back to the Premier League in their first attempt. Heaton was named in the Championship PFA Team of the Year toward the end of the season.

Heaton signed another new deal on July 20, this time a four-year contract that will run into 2020. Heaton made several saves during the match against former Manchester United's former team, Manchester United, the exception being a mid-air, fully extended save of Zlatan Ibrahimovi's. Heaton required medical attention after the match ended, but Burnley remained in the game to draw a 0–0 draw, winning Man of the Match in the process. Heaton made his 150th appearance for the club on January 22, 2017 as he was defeated by a 97th-minute penalty from Alexis Sánchez that resulted in Arsenal's 2–1.

Heaton joined Aston Villa, the Premier League's newly promoted, on August 1 for an undisclosed fee, likely to be £8 million. Heaton sustained a season-ending knee injury in a 2–1 victory over his former Burnley, which also saw his colleague Wesley suffer a similar knee injury.

Villa signed Emiliano Martez from Arsenal as their new first choice goalkeeper in September 2020, with Heaton still injured. Heaton returned to football for Aston Villa U23s in a 2-2 draw away from Burnley U23s in the Premier League 2 on Monday, after over ten months absence. Heaton returned to the first squad squad for the first time since his injury, leading as an unused replacement in a 3-0 home victory over Crystal Palace on December 26, 2020.

Heaton will leave Aston Villa at the end of his deal on May 28th, 2021.

Heaton agreed to return to Manchester United on July 2021, 11 years after being released as a youth. He began a two-year contract with the possibility of an additional year. Heaton made his first-team debut on December 8, 2021, overtaking Dean Henderson in the 68th minute of the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League match against Young Boys in the 68th minute.

International career

Heaton was given his England under-21 debut by manager Stuart Pearce in March 2008 when he brought Joe Hart as a substitute during a match against Poland. Nonetheless, he did not make the final squad for the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.

Heaton was called up to the England senior team for the first time on May 21, 2015, ahead of a friendly against the Republic of Ireland and a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifier against Slovenia. Heaton refused to be included in Roy Hodgson's squads before making his debut as an 87th-minute replacement in England's Euro 2016 warm-up match against Australia at Stadium of Light in Sunderland. He was selected in the squad for the UEFA Euro 2016 and wore the number 23.

He was one of five players named on standby for the 2018 FIFA World Cup's 23-man England squad on May 16th. Heaton was also a member of the team that finished third in the 2018-19 UEFA Nations League finals in Portugal, England's best international success since UEFA Euro 1968.

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