Tom Heaton

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

Born in Chester, Cheshire, 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 team in the previous two seasons, he signed for United as a trainee on 8 July 2002.

He became a regular in the Under-17 team 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 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.

Heaton made his professional debut in a League Cup tie against Wycombe Wanderers, and in his second appearance against Yeovil Town in the league he saved a penalty from Lee Johnson.

During his time at Swindon, he played over 20 matches, 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 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.

At the end of the 2007–08 season, Heaton agreed to move to Championship club Cardiff City on loan for the duration of the 2008–09 season.

He was chosen as the club's first choice goalkeeper, above Peter Enckelman, for the start of the season by manager Dave Jones.

He played in every match until late November, with the exception of the League Cup third round tie against Swansea City, when he was replaced by Enckelman.

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 team 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.

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.

On 15 August 2009, Heaton was signed by Queens Park Rangers on an emergency three-month loan deal, the terms of which allowed him to compete in the League Cup.

Heaton's loan spell ended on 8 November 2009.

He made one first-team appearance during his loan, in the 1–0 defeat at Chelsea in the League Cup on 23 September 2009.

After returning from QPR, 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.

Heaton began his career in the Manchester United academy 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 his release by Manchester United in July 2010.

The loan was then extended until 23 January 2010, before a further extension pushed the end date back to 31 January.

In his 12 appearances for Rochdale, Heaton conceded only ten goals – including four clean sheets – and finished on the losing team just once.

Heaton spent less than two weeks back at Manchester United before going back out on loan to Wycombe Wanderers on 12 February 2010.

He went straight into the Wycombe starting line-up for their away match against Brentford the following day, which they drew 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 even terms with the Saints.

Meeting with Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson on his future at the club amidst an expiring contract, Heaton declined an offer to stay at Old Trafford, deciding instead to leave on free transfer in pursuit of regular playing time.

Following his release by United, Heaton agreed a deal on 15 June 2010 to return to Cardiff City on 1 July 2010.

He made his second debut in 4–1 win over Burton Albion in the League Cup on 11 August.

After first-choice goalkeeper David Marshall suffered an elbow injury, Heaton established himself as Cardiff's new number one starter.

He then joined Bristol City on a one-year deal with an option of a second year but turned it down in May 2013 in favour of a move to Burnley, where he remained for six years before joining Aston Villa in 2019.

After two years with Aston Villa, he returned to Manchester United in July 2021.

Formerly an international from under-16 to under-21 level, Heaton has been involved in senior England squads since 2015, finally making his senior debut in a friendly match against Australia on 27 May 2016.