Sam Togwell

Samuel James Togwell (born 14 October 1984) is an English former professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for club Beaconsfield Town.

He began his career with Crystal Palace in 2002, where he was loaned out to Oxford United, Northampton Town, and Port Vale.

Togwell started out in the Crystal Palace youth set-up at the age of ten, before making his senior debut as a seventeen-year-old substitute on 22 December 2002 at Millmoor.

Palace beat Rotherham United 3–1, returning to London with three First Division points.

He did not get another game in the 2002–03 or 2003–04 seasons, mainly due to a broken leg he sustained in a reserve team match in February 2003.

He returned to fitness in September 2003.

Togwell joined League Two club Oxford United on loan on 22 October 2004.

He made five appearances before returning to Selhurst Park the next month.

He rejected a loan move to Norwegian club Viking FK, who were managed by Roy Hodgson.

On 24 March 2005, he went back into the basement division to join Northampton Town on a one-month loan.

He made eight appearances, before his loan deal was extended to cover the play-offs.

Southend United defeated the "Cobblers" in the semi-finals, before beating Lincoln City in the final.

Togwell, by now captain of the reserve team, played in the opening three rounds of the League Cup in 2005–06, including a 2–1 defeat of European Champions Liverpool in which he marked Steven Gerrard.

On 10 November 2005, he joined League One club Port Vale on a six-week loan deal.

He impressed at Vale Park, especially on 6 January when he scored both goals of a FA Cup Third round defeat of Doncaster Rovers.

Having already had the loan extended once, Martin Foyle managed to extend the deal until the end of the season after Togwell played some excellent football in January.

In March, Vale made Palace an offer, to sign the young midfielder permanently in the summer.

The next month, with Togwell and Vale agreed on personal terms, chairman Bill Bratt admitted that the two clubs were a long way from agreeing a deal, with Palace demanding a large sum in transfer fees.

The cash-strapped club were forced to abandon hope of signing Togwell after their £50,000 transfer bid was rejected, though handed him the club's "Young Player of The Year" award in recognition of his performances in his 30 games that season.

In July 2006 he transferred to Barnsley, before he joined Scunthorpe United in August 2008.

His tenure at Palace did not last much longer, however, as he left for Barnsley on 12 July 2006 for an undisclosed fee which was later reported to be £60,000.

Togwell made his League debut for Barnsley on 5 August 2006, in a 2–1 defeat at Cardiff City.

He made 46 appearances in 2006–07, including both Championship clashes with former club Palace, both of which finished 2–0 for the home team.

Battling with Bobby Hassell and new signing Anderson Silva de França for a first team place, he found life tough at Oakwell the next season.

In all he played 27 games, three of which came in the club's impressive FA Cup run, including a substitute appearance in the memorable victory over Premier League team Chelsea.

He joined Scunthorpe United on a free transfer in August 2008, signing a two-year deal.

The young midfield battler was optimistic of the club's future, predicting promotion.

His prophecy was fulfilled at Wembley, as the "Iron" defeated Millwall 3–2 in the play-off final.

He helped the "Iron" to win promotion out of the League One play-offs in 2009.

He remained a key member of Scunthorpe's first team in the Championship; making 47 appearances in 2009–10, he managed to bag a goal against his former employers at Selhurst Park in the process.

Signing a new two-year deal in June 2010, Togwell recovered from a knee injury to make 40 appearances in the 2010–11 campaign.

He was given the club's Player of the Year award, the Ernie Storey Memorial Trophy, however, he could not prevent the "Iron" from finishing in last place and thereby suffer relegation back into League One.

He made 44 appearances in 2011–12, as Alan Knill led the Glanford Park club to an 18th-place finish in League One.

He signed with Chesterfield in July 2012, and became a key player in the 2012–13 season.

He lost his first team place the following season and was loaned out to Wycombe Wanderers.

He helped Chesterfield to win the League Two title in 2013–14.

He signed with Barnet in August 2014, and helped the club to the Conference title in the 2014–15 season.

He was sold on to Eastleigh in December 2016, before joining Slough Town in June 2018.

He retired in May 2021, having made a total of 606 appearances in all competitions, scoring 23 goals.

He came out of retirement the following year to play for Beaconsfield Town.