Luke Joyce

He made his debut in League One as an 85th-minute substitute for Simon Hackney in a 2–0 win over Cheltenham Town at Brunton Park on 3 September.

He scored his first senior goal for the "Cumbrians" in a 5–0 victory over Gillingham on 24 March.

He was sent off for the first time in his career in a 2–0 defeat at Port Vale on 7 April.

Luke James Joyce (born 9 July 1987) is an English former professional footballer who is now the Lead North Scout at club Brentford.

He made 700 league and cup appearances in a 19-year professional playing career.

He joined the youth team at Wigan Athletic in June 2003.

However, Joyce did not make an appearance for the club in the Premier League and was allowed to leave the JJB Stadium at the end of the 2005–06 season.

Joyce was a midfielder who came through the youth team at Wigan Athletic to make his first-team debut in January 2006.

He made one appearance for the first-team, coming on as a substitute for Josip Skoko in extra time of a 3–3 draw at Leeds United in an FA Cup Third Round replay on 17 January 2006.

Manager Paul Jewell said that "he didn't let anybody down" in the game and praised his attitude in training, as did "Latics" youth team coach David Lee.

After a short trial, Joyce joined Carlisle United, initially with the club taking over his Wigan scholarship, signing on a permanent basis in July 2006.

He made a total of 16 appearances across the 2006–07 season, helping Neil McDonald's "Blues" to an eighth-place finish.

He featured just three times under new manager John Ward during the 2007–08 campaign, though managed to score his second career goal in a 3–2 win over Port Vale on 5 January.

He was allowed to sign for Carlisle United six months later, from where he was loaned out to Conference Premier clubs Barrow and Northwich Victoria during the 2008–09 season.

On 27 November 2008, he joined Conference Premier club Barrow on a one-month loan; "Bluebirds" manager David Bayliss said that "Luke will definitely strengthen us but whether he starts or not remains to be seen".

He made his debut at Holker Street in the shock FA Cup second round defeat of Brentford.

He scored two goals in 12 games for Andy Preece's side, who ended the 2008–09 season being relegated out of the Conference Premier.

Nevertheless, he said he enjoyed his time at the Victoria Stadium, and upon returning to Carlisle he found that he was to be released by manager Greg Abbott.

He signed with Accrington Stanley in June 2009 and spent the next six years with the club, including over three seasons as captain, making a total of 276 league and cup appearances.

He remained with the club for five weeks, featuring seven times, before leaving after their FA Cup elimination by Middlesbrough in January 2009.

On 13 March 2009, he joined Northwich Victoria on an initial one-month loan.

He scored on his debut for the "Vics" two days later in a 4–1 defeat at Cambridge United.

On 25 June 2009, Joyce signed with League Two club Accrington Stanley.

He made 50 appearances in the 2009–10 season, scoring one goal.

He featured 32 times in the 2010–11 campaign, helping "Accy" to reach the League Two play-offs for the first time, before they were beaten by Stevenage at the semi-final stage.

He scored three goals in 47 matches as Stanley finished in 14th-place under the stewardship of Paul Cook at the end of the 2011–12 season; Joyce took over as captain following the departure of Andrew Procter in January 2012.

He made 48 appearances across the 2012–13 campaign, with Stanley ending up in 18th-place under new boss Leam Richardson.

Joyce played 49 games in the 2013–14 season as Accrington posted a 15th-place finish under the stewardship of rookie manager James Beattie.

When the club were bottom of the English Football League in November after failing to win in their first 12 league games, Joyce stood by Beattie, calling him a "good manager and a good bloke".

Two months later Beattie returned the favour by calling Joyce an "unsung hero" after he scored his first goal in 22 months to help secure a 2–1 victory over Cheltenham Town.

John Coleman returned as manager early in the 2014–15 campaign and kept Joyce as captain, with the midfielder scoring four goals from 50 appearances.

Joyce said "it has been an up and down season... overall, I guess it has been a decent season, we have secured our tenth season in the Football League and that's a massive achievement for the club the size of ours, but we are disappointed we haven't finished further up the league".

"'I love Accrington Stanley and it's been like a second home to me for the last six years. They gave me my chance in professional football really because that summer when I left Carlisle nobody else was on the phone really trying to sign me. If it wasn't for Accrington I might not be a professional today. I owe the club a lot and I've thoroughly enjoyed my time. I hope the fans have enjoyed having me. I've enjoyed playing in front of them.'"

He returned to Carlisle United in May 2015 and spent three years with the club, for an overall period of six years and 161 appearances in all competitions over his two spells.

On 21 May 2015, Joyce turned down a two-year contract with Accrington to rejoin former club Carlisle United on a two-year deal.

He moved on to Port Vale in May 2018, where he would remain a key fixture in the starting eleven for his three seasons at the club.

He dropped into non-League football after signing for AFC Fylde in June 2021.

He moved on to Radcliffe 12 months later and helped the club to win the 2023 Manchester Premier Cup.

Joyce was born in Bolton, Greater Manchester, and was at the Academy at Bolton Wanderers from the age of eight until he was released at age ten or eleven.

He went on to play Sunday League football and captained the Wigan schools' team.