Tom Ince

Thomas Christopher Ince (born 30 January 1992) is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder, left winger or forward for EFL Championship club Watford.

Ince signed for Liverpool as a youth player in 2008 and was handed a first-team squad number (number 45) at the start of the 2010–11 season.

The son of former England midfielder Paul Ince, Tom Ince began his career with Liverpool, for whom he made his professional debut in the 2010–11 season, coming on as a substitute in the League Cup.

He later spent time that season on loan at League One club Notts County, scoring twice in eight appearances.

At the end of the season, Ince turned down a new contract and moved to Blackpool, who had just been relegated from the Premier League.

In two-and-a-half seasons at Blackpool, Ince played 113 games in all competitions and scored 33 goals.

On 29 July 2010, he was an unused substitute for the first time in Liverpool's UEFA Europa League qualifier against FK Rabotnički.

He made his debut for Liverpool on 22 September 2010 as a 106th-minute substitute for Daniel Pacheco in the club's third round League Cup defeat to Northampton Town at Anfield.

On 1 November 2010, Ince linked up with his father Paul Ince, who was the manager of League One club Notts County, signing a short-term loan deal from Liverpool until January 2011.

He signed on loan alongside 22-year-old right back Stephen Darby.

Ince made his County debut on 6 November in the 2–0 FA Cup first round victory against Gateshead.

On 13 November, he made his league debut in the 3–1 away loss to Exeter City.

On 11 December, Ince scored his first career goal, in County's 2–0 league win against Milton Keynes Dons.

At the end of December 2010, Ince said that joining his father at Notts County had benefited him as he had "got a bit lost" at Liverpool, who had tried to change his style of play.

He found that his father "wanted me to be the player that I was" and that the move had "given me a fresher life".

Ince's contract expired at the end of the 2010–11 season and they would not let Ince go back out on loan unless he signed a new long-term contract.

Ince's father described the contract offer as "derisory" and called Liverpool "silly" for refusing to let Ince re-join his club on loan.

Ultimately, Ince declined to sign a new contract with Liverpool and so he left the club on a free transfer at the end of the season.

As Blackpool had been relegated from the Premier League at the end of the 2010–11 season, Ince thus dropped down to the Championship to join the club, who were managed by Ian Holloway.

Ince scored for County for a second time on 3 January 2011 in a 3–0 win against Hartlepool United before his loan expired on 10 January and he returned to Liverpool.

Despite his father's repeated attempts to re-sign his son on loan, Liverpool refused.

On 3 August 2011, Ince signed a two-year contract with Blackpool, with an option for a third.

As Ince was under 24 years of age and had been offered a new contract by his previous club, a compensation deal had to be agreed.

Liverpool and Blackpool agreed an undisclosed fee and a sell-on clause which entitled Liverpool to 35% of any fee that Blackpool later received for selling Ince.

He made his Blackpool debut in the League Cup defeat to Sheffield Wednesday on 11 August 2011.

He scored his first goals for Blackpool with both in a 2–1 win over Doncaster Rovers on 18 October 2011.

On 25 February 2012 he scored another brace in a 3–1 away win against Bristol City.

In the Championship play-off final at Wembley on 19 May 2012, he scored an equaliser against West Ham United but Blackpool lost the match 2–1.

He also won the 2013 Football League Young Player of the Year Award and was named in the 2012–13 PFA Team of the Year.

He became a father on 11 July 2013.

In January 2014, he signed on loan for Premier League club Crystal Palace, for whom he scored his first Premier League goal, and returned to the division permanently at the end of the season, joining Hull City on a free transfer.

Ince did not feature regularly for Hull in the 2014–15 season, spending time on loan at the end of 2014 with Nottingham Forest before returning briefly to Hull.

A loan spell at the end of the season with Derby County was a success, with Ince scoring 11 goals in 18 appearances.

At the end of the season, he joined Derby for a fee of £4.75 million, briefly becoming the club's most-expensive signing.

Ince spent the 2017–18 season with Huddersfield Town before joining Stoke City in July 2018 for a fee of £10million.

Ince spent four seasons with Stoke before joining Reading in the summer of 2022.

Ince has been capped internationally for England at under-17, under-19 and under-21 levels.

Ince was born in Stockport, Greater Manchester.

His father Paul played professional football at a high level with England, Inter Milan, Manchester United and Liverpool.

When Ince was three years old he moved to Italy after Paul had signed for Inter Milan where he attended an Italian school and became fluent in Italian, the family spent two years in Italy before returning to England.