_(cropped).jpg) Tomkins playing forWest Ham United in 2015 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | James Oliver Charles Tomkins[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1989-03-29)29 March 1989 (age 36)[2] | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Basildon, England | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (1.92 m)[3] | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Centre-back[2] | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1997–2008 | West Ham United | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2008–2016 | West Ham United | 208 | (8) | ||||||||||||||
| 2008 | →Derby County (loan) | 7 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2016–2024 | Crystal Palace | 125 | (10) | ||||||||||||||
| Total | 340 | (18) | |||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2004–2005 | England U16 | 4 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2004–2006 | England U17 | 13 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2006 | England U18 | 1 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2007–2008 | England U19 | 8 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2009 | England U20 | 1 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2009–2011 | England U21 | 10 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2012 | Great Britain Olympic | 2 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 17:51, 19 May 2024 (UTC) | |||||||||||||||||
James Oliver Charles Tomkins (born 29 March 1989) is an English former professionalfootballer who played as acentre-back.[4] He represented England at all levels up to theunder-21 team and representedGreat Britain at the2012 London Olympics.[5] He is a product of theWest Ham youth academy.
During his 17-year career, Tomkins played forWest Ham,Crystal Palace, andDerby County, until his retirement in March 2025.
Aged seven, Tomkins was spotted while playing for his local Sunday League side and signed intoWest Ham United'syouth academy. Initially a striker, he eventually switched to his current position in central defence. He signed scholarship forms in 2005. Prior to making his first-team debut, his career had been marred by several injuries.
Tomkins made his Premier League debut on 22 March 2008 in a 1–1 drawaway toEverton.[6] Although his costly slip allowedYakubu to score the opening goal,[7] He made five more starts and a substitute appearance. As first choice centre backsJames Collins,Danny Gabbidon andMatthew Upson were all out injured during various times in the season, he enjoyed an extended run in the first team for the remainder of the season, winning the Young Hammer of the Year for2007–08.
On 27 November, Tomkins signed forDerby County on a five-week loan spell.[8] He made his debut for Derby in their 3–0 away defeat toBurnley on 29 November 2008.[9] He played 8 times in all competitions for Derby County during his loan spell, before being recalled to West Ham on 31 December 2008 by managerGianfranco Zola.[10]After his stint with Derby, he started to feature regularly with the Hammers first-team. On 21 March 2009, he started and played the full 90 minutes alongsideJonathan Spector in a 1–1 draw withBlackburn Rovers atEwood Park. Initially desputising for the injured Collins, he managed to stake his claim ahead of the Welsh international, and on 4 April 2009, scored his first senior goal, a header from Mark Noble's corner, in a 2–0 win overSunderland.[11][12] The same month, he and several fellow youth products were awarded long-term contract extensions.
After the departure ofJames Collins and withDanny Gabbidon injured, Tomkins retained his place in the starting eleven at the beginning of the 2009–10 season, losing it to new signingManuel da Costa for several games. He regained his place, starting alongside captainMatthew Upson.[13] He was named Man of the Match bySky Sports as he and Upson helped keep the Hammers' first clean sheet of the year in the away draw againstAston Villa on 17 January 2010.[14]
Tomkins made 28 appearances in all competitions in the 2010–11 season scoring once againstManchester City atUpton Park. On 1 January 2011, he made his 50th first-team appearance for West Ham in a 2–0 victory overWolverhampton Wanderers.[15]
It was the 2011–12 season that Tomkins found his feet in the West Ham United first team, forging a partnership at the back with New Zealand'sWinston Reid. He scored the first goal in the 4–0 win againstWatford atVicarage Road and also received WHUFC player of the month for August, the opening month of the season. During the 2011–12 season, he was linked with a £4 million move to bothQueens Park Rangers andNewcastle United of the Premier League, but the speculation soon ended about his future when he signed a new four-and-a-half-year deal at West Ham on 21 January running until summer 2016.[16] After signing he also proved his commitment and love for the club by saying "I'm a local boy and have come through the ranks at the club and loyalty is a far bigger currency to me than money".[17] For his outstanding performance in the 2011–12 Championship season he was voted by his fellow professionals into the PFA Championship Team of the Year, along with fellow HammerMark Noble.[18] He was also voted runner-up Hammer of the Year by West Ham fans, losing out to Mark Noble.[19][20]
In 2015, Tomkins signed a new, long-term contract which would keep him with West Ham until 2020.[21] Shortly after he dislocated his shoulder in training, an injury which was expected to keep him from playing for several weeks.[22] In March, he received surgery for the same injury.[23] He played 25 games in all competitions for West Ham including three FA Cup games.[24] He scored a single goal, in a 2–1 away win againstWest Bromwich Albion on 2 December 2014.[25] His shoulder injury kept him out of the side from March 2015, finally returning for the last game of the season, replacingReece Burke in the 69th minute, a 2–0 away defeat toNewcastle United.[26]
Tomkins opened the2015–16 season by scoring the third goal in aUEFA Europa League game on 2 July 2015. West Ham won the game againstAndorran teamLusitanos 3–0 with him as captain and with the other goals coming fromDiafra Sakho.[27] On 16 July 2015, he scored anotherUEFA Europa League goal in the 1–0 win overBikirkara in the 90th minute.[28] In the second-leg, in Malta, on 23 July 2015, he was sent-off after pushing Birkirkara's Nikola Vukanac as West Ham went through to the next round, 5–3 on penalties.[29]
On 5 July 2016, Tomkins joinedLondon rivalsCrystal Palace on a five-year deal for a fee of £10 million.[30] He had played for West Ham for over 20 years from boyhood right up to 2016, he made 243 appearances for West Ham's senior team.[31] In October 2019, Tomkins signed a contract extension keeping him at Crystal Palace until the end of the 2021–22 season[32] and in June 2022, signed a further extension keeping him at the club until 2023.[33] On 5 June 2024, the club announced that he would be leaving when his contract expired on 30 June.[34]
On 24 March 2025, Tomkins announced he had retired from professional football at the age of 35.[35]
Tomkins has represented England at U15,[36]U16,[37]U17,U19 andU21 levels[5] and played in every match of the2008 UEFA U-19 Championships along with club mateFreddie Sears. His U21 debut came on 8 June 2009 in the 7–0 home win against theAzerbaijan U21 team.[38][39] He was called up for the2009 UEFA U-21 Championships as back up after the withdrawals of first-choice centre backsSteven Taylor andDavid Wheater through injury. After the tournament, he was recalled to the squad and regularly partneredMichael Mancienne in defence. He was called up for severalEuropean Championship qualifiers but withdrew after being ruled out with an injury sustained during training.[40]
After the success of the 2011–12 Championship season, where Tomkins was named in thePFA Championship Team of the Year and was the runner-up for theHammer of the Year, he was called for the final squad forGreat Britain's Olympic football squad for theLondon Olympics 2012.[41][42] He played twice for the Great Britain Team. On 20 July 2012 he played the first half in a 2–0 defeat toBrazil in a warm-up game[43] and on 29 July 2012 in a 3–1 victory againstUAE.[44] He blamed his inclusion in the Olympic squad and lack of games on a loss of form at the start of the2012–13 West Ham season.[45]
Tomkins was born inBasildon, Essex.[2] On 23 December 2013 Tomkins was charged with theassault of a police officer,resisting arrest and beingdrunk and disorderly following an incident on 22 December at theSugar Hut nightclub inBrentwood, Essex. He was bailed until 9 January 2014 to appear at Basildon Magistrates Court.[46] Tomkins averted the need for a trial by pleading guilty to assaulting a police constable, being drunk and disorderly in a public place and obstructing a constable. On 29 September 2014, he was fined £7,605.[47]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| West Ham United | 2007–08 | Premier League | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 6 | 0 | ||
| 2008–09 | Premier League | 12 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 15 | 1 | |||
| 2009–10 | Premier League | 23 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 26 | 0 | |||
| 2010–11 | Premier League | 19 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 0 | — | — | 28 | 1 | |||
| 2011–12 | Championship | 44 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 3[a] | 0 | 47 | 4 | ||
| 2012–13 | Premier League | 26 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 29 | 1 | |||
| 2013–14 | Premier League | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 35 | 0 | |||
| 2014–15 | Premier League | 22 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 25 | 1 | |||
| 2015–16 | Premier League | 25 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4[b] | 2 | — | 32 | 3 | ||
| Total | 208 | 8 | 14 | 1 | 14 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 243 | 11 | ||
| Derby County (loan) | 2008–09 | Championship | 7 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 7 | 0 | ||||
| Crystal Palace | 2016–17 | Premier League | 24 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 27 | 3 | ||
| 2017–18 | Premier League | 28 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 30 | 3 | |||
| 2018–19 | Premier League | 29 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 30 | 1 | |||
| 2019–20 | Premier League | 18 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 19 | 1 | |||
| 2020–21 | Premier League | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 9 | 0 | |||
| 2021–22 | Premier League | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 9 | 1 | |||
| 2022–23 | Premier League | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 7 | 1 | |||
| 2023–24 | Premier League | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 5 | 0 | |||
| Total | 125 | 10 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 0 | — | — | 136 | 10 | ||||
| Career total | 340 | 18 | 19 | 1 | 20 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 386 | 21 | ||
West Ham United
Individual
