| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Sam Thomas Winnall[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1991-01-19)19 January 1991 (age 34)[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Wolverhampton, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[3] | ||
| Position(s) | Striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Goodrich | |||
| –2009 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2009–2013 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 0 | (0) |
| 2011 | →Burton Albion (loan) | 19 | (7) |
| 2011 | →Hereford United (loan) | 8 | (2) |
| 2012 | →Inverness CT (loan) | 2 | (0) |
| 2012 | →Shrewsbury Town (loan) | 4 | (0) |
| 2013–2014 | Scunthorpe United | 45 | (23) |
| 2014–2017 | Barnsley | 97 | (41) |
| 2017–2020 | Sheffield Wednesday | 36 | (5) |
| 2017–2018 | →Derby County (loan) | 17 | (6) |
| 2020–2022 | Oxford United | 44 | (5) |
| 2022–2023 | Burton Albion | 16 | (3) |
| Total | 288 | (93) | |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Sam Thomas Winnall (born 19 January 1991) is an English former professionalfootballer who played as astriker.
Winnall joined the youth ranks ofWolverhampton Wanderers as a teenager, before signing professional forms in May 2009. He recovered from a cruciate knee injury[4] to make his senior debut on 24 August 2010 in aLeague Cup victory overSouthend United,[5] which was to be his only Wolves first team appearance.
In February 2011 he moved on a month's loan toLeague Two sideBurton Albion,[6] later extended to the end of the season after a run of four goals in six appearances.[7]
The striker went out on loan again, joiningLeague Two sideHereford United on a month's loan from 26 August.[8] After returning to Wolves at its conclusion, he moved on loan again in January 2012, to joinScottish Premier League sideInverness Caledonian Thistle for the rest of the season.[9]
During pre-season for the 2012–13 season Winnall was given permission to undergo a trial withPreston North End but was not offered a contract.[10] Instead his next move was a loan atLeague One clubShrewsbury Town whom he joined in a one-month deal on 28 September 2012.[11]
At the end of the 2012–13 season his contract with Wolves expired and was not renewed, meaning the striker left the club having made only one first team appearance during his time atMolineux.[12]
Following a successful trial spell during pre-season, he subsequently signed forLeague Two clubScunthorpe United in a one-year deal,[13] scoring on his debut on 3 August 2013 againstMansfield Town.[14] He was both Scunthorpe's and League Two's leading scorer in 2013–2014, and was nominated for the latter's Player of the Year Award in March 2014.
Scunthorpe took up a one-year option on his contract in May 2014, extending his deal until 2015. At the same time, Winnall was offered a new contract which – according to Scunthorpe chairmanPeter Swann – was a "vast improvement" on his current deal. Swann said: "It's important that the fans know that we do rate him and that we want him to stay here."[15]
On 23 July 2014, Winnall signed for fellow League One clubBarnsley for an undisclosed fee.[16] He scored his first goal for the club on 23 August in a 4–1 win at home toGillingham.[17] On 8 November 2014, Winnall scored his first senior hat trick, in Barnsley's 5–0FA Cup first round win overBurton Albion.[18] On 28 January 2016, Barnsley rejected an offer for Winnall from Championship clubLeeds United.[19]
Winnall remained at Barnsley and he played a big part in Barnsley's season, including beatingOxford United 3–2 to win theFootball League Trophy on 3 April 2016.[20] On 14 May 2016, Winnall's double helped keep Barnsley on course for a return trip to Wembley as a 3–0 first-leg win against Walsall gave them a big advantage in their League One play-off semi-finals.[21] Barnsley went on to beatWalsall 6–1 on aggregate, and then beat Millwall 3–1 in the play-off final at Wembley Stadium to earn promotion to the Championship.[22] He scored 24 goals in all competition, with 23 of them league goals for Barnsley, and contributed 8 assists during the 2015–16 season and finished as the third highest goalscorer in League One behindWill Grigg andNicky Ajose.[23]
On 13 January 2017, Winnall signed for fellowChampionship teamSheffield Wednesday.[24][25] He scored his first goal for Wednesday in a 3–0 win againstBirmingham City on 10 February 2017.[26] In a heated return to Oakwell in April, Winnall scored the opening goal against former club Barnsley.[27] On 31 August 2017, Winnall joinedDerby County as part of a loan swap deal for midfielderJacob Butterfield.[28] He scored his first goal for Derby in a 1–1 draw withBirmingham City on 23 September 2017.[29] His best moment in a Derby shirt was againstIpswich Town when he scored a brace in a 2–1 win on 30 December 2017.[30]
On 24 June 2020, it was announced that he wasn't offered a new contract and would be leaving the club on the 30 June.[31]
Winnall signed a two-year deal withLeague One clubOxford United with the option of a third year on 11 September 2020.[32] He scored his first goals for Oxford when he scored twice in anEFL Trophy tie againstAFC Wimbledon on 2 February 2021.[33] Winnall was released by the club at the end of the2021–22 season.[34]
| Club | Season | League | Domestic Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | 2010–11[35] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | |
| Burton Albion (loan) | 2010–11[35] | League Two | 19 | 7 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 19 | 7 | |
| Hereford United (loan) | 2011–12[36] | League Two | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[a] | 0 | 9 | 2 |
| Inverness Caledonian Thistle (loan) | 2011–12[36] | Scottish Premier League | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | |
| Shrewsbury Town (loan) | 2012–13[37] | League One | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Scunthorpe United | 2013–14[38] | League Two | 45 | 23 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1[a] | 0 | 49 | 23 |
| Barnsley | 2014–15[39] | League One | 32 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2[a] | 1 | 36 | 13 |
| 2015–16[40] | League One | 43 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 10[b] | 2 | 56 | 24 | |
| 2016–17[41] | Championship | 22 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 23 | 11 | ||
| Total | 97 | 41 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 3 | 115 | 48 | ||
| Sheffield Wednesday | 2016–17[41] | Championship | 14 | 3 | — | 0 | 0 | 1[c] | 0 | 15 | 3 | |
| 2017–18[42] | Championship | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | |
| 2018–19[43] | Championship | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | |
| 2019–20[44] | Championship | 13 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 2 | |
| Total | 36 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 43 | 6 | ||
| Derby County (loan) | 2017–18[42] | Championship | 17 | 6 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 17 | 6 | |
| Oxford United | 2020–21[45] | League One | 24 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4[d] | 2 | 30 | 6 |
| 2021–22[46] | League One | 20 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 1 | |
| Total | 44 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 52 | 7 | ||
| Burton Albion | 2022–23[47] | League One | 16 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2[e] | 1 | 20 | 6 |
| Career total | 288 | 93 | 11 | 6 | 10 | 1 | 22 | 6 | 332 | 105 | ||
Barnsley
Individual
