Tom Eastman

Thomas Michael Eastman (born 21 October 1991) is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Dagenham & Redbridge.

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.

Eastman made his under-18s debut for Ipswich on 17 November 2007, coming on as a substitute in their 2–1 defeat at Southampton.

At the age of 16, Eastman was offered a two-year apprenticeship with the club in February 2008.

Shortly afterwards, he made his first appearance for the reserve team against Stevenage Borough in March 2008.

His season ended with his solitary reserve appearance, alongside nine appearances for the under-18 team, and made a further 30 under-18 appearances in the 2008–09 season, and played eight reserve team matches.

In the 2009–10 season, manager Roy 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.

Eastman is a product of the Ipswich Town Academy, where he progressed through the ranks since the age of eight before making his first-team debut in 2010, a match in which he was sent off for a second bookable offence.

He was an unused substitute for the Ipswich first-team matches against Nottingham Forest and Derby County in April 2010, before being offered a professional contract by the club.

Following his professional contract offer, Eastman was given Ipswich's 'Academy Player of the Year' award.

Keane then handed Eastman his professional debut in the final match of the season on 2 May 2010 at Portman Road against Sheffield United.

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".

He also scored two goals in 23 reserve appearances, and three goals in 28 under-18 appearances during the season.

Eastman made his first professional start on 10 August 2010 in the League Cup, when Ipswich defeated Exeter City 3–2 after extra time Eastman took up the unfamiliar role of right-back in a number of matches early in the season.

Roy Keane praised Eastman's performances at right-back, 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".

After finding his chances with Ipswich limited, he moved to Colchester United in the summer of 2011.

After making his Colchester debut 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 300 league appearances for the Essex club.

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.

Eastman ended the season with 12 appearances for the first team in all competitions, with one goal in 16 reserve appearances.

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.

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.

On 13 September, Eastman signed for Crawley Town in an emergency one-month loan deal after an injury crisis struck the League Two club.

He started his first match for Crawley the same day in their match against Swindon Town, playing the full 90 minutes of the 3–0 home defeat.

After helping Crawley to a run of five successive wins and to the top of League Two, Eastman was recalled by Colchester.

He returned to the U's following injuries to regular centre-backs Pat Baldwin and Matt Heath, and Magnus Okuonghae suspended.

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.

However, Eastman did not retain his place in the first-team, with the returning Magnus Okuonghae replacing him in the heart of the defence.

His next appearance 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.

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.

Eastman ended the season with 33 appearances and three goals in all competitions for Colchester.

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.

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.

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.

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".

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.

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.

In 2020, he became the club's first player to be named Player of the Year on four occasions.

Born in Colchester, Essex, Eastman grew up in nearby Clacton, where he attended Clacton County High School.