 Hoole playing forBristol Rovers in 2022. | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Luca Anthony Hoole[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (2002-06-02)2 June 2002 (age 22) | ||
| Place of birth | Newport, Wales[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Full-back, centre-back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Shrewsbury Town | ||
| Number | 2 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2014–2019 | Bristol Rovers | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2019–2024 | Bristol Rovers | 89 | (3) |
| 2020 | →Taunton Town (loan) | 0 | (0) |
| 2024– | Shrewsbury Town | 25 | (1) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2019 | Wales U19 | 1 | (0) |
| 2020 | Wales U20 | 1 | (0) |
| 2022–2024 | Wales U21 | 12 | (1) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18:57, 22 February 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 10:10, 15 October 2024 (UTC) | |||
Luca Anthony Hoole (born 2 June 2002) is a Welsh professionalfootballer who plays as afull-back orcentre-back forEFL League One clubShrewsbury Town. He is aWales under-21 international.
Hoole attendedYsgol Gyfun Gwynllyw, aWelsh language school inPontypool.[3] In 2014, Hoole joined theBristol Rovers academy.[4] In April 2018, Bristol Rovers confirmed Hoole had signed a scholarship with the club.[5] On 3 September 2019, Hoole made his debut for Bristol Rovers in a 1–1EFL Trophy draw againstPlymouth Argyle.[6]
On 30 October 2020, Hoole joinedTaunton Town on a one-month loan deal.[7] Taunton played one match, a match that Hoole was not registered in time to feature in, before football was suspended on account of thelockdown measures brought in for COVID-19.[8]
After impressing for the club in pre-season, Hoole made his league debut on the opening day of the2021–22 season, impressing in the right-back position during a 2–1 away defeat toMansfield Town.[9] On 29 January 2022, Hoole received a first sending off of his career as he received two bookings in the space of five first-half minutes as ten-man Rovers scored a last-minute winner to defeatWalsall.[10] In February 2022, Hoole signed a new two-year extension to his contract.[11] Following a 4–0 thrashing ofStevenage, Rovers' managerJoey Barton said that Hoole had made the right-back position his own having dipped in and out of the team earlier in the season.[12] On 26 February 2022, Hoole scored a first senior goal with the opener in a 1–1 draw withExeter City.[13] Hoole's first senior season ended with Rovers overtakingNorthampton Town on the final day of the season to gain automatic promotion by goals scored, a dramatic 7–0 victory overScunthorpe United securing this feat.[14]
Ahead of the2022–23 season, Hoole featured for the club in pre-season in a less familiarcentre-back role, impressing as Rovers defeated Championship sideStoke City.[15] For the first match of the new season, Hoole continued in this role with defensive partnerJames Connolly as Rovers fell to a late 2–1 defeat againstForest Green Rovers.[16] As the season developed, he began to find himself out of favour at the club and suffered from low confidence, however an impressive return to the first-team in December leading manager Barton to claim that he could one day captain the side.[17] His improvement in form continued into the second half of the season despite a rocky time for the team, impressing in a 3–0 victory overOxford United that saw the team claim a first victory in seven weeks, Hoole scoring the third goal.[18]
Hoole was offered a new contract at the end of the2023–24 season.[19] Following the start of pre-season, managerMatt Taylor confirmed that with Hoole still yet to return to the club, they had moved on from expecting him to sign the contract and were instead focusing on how much compensation the club could recoup.[20]
On 16 July 2024, Hoole signed a two-year contract with fellow League One clubShrewsbury Town after a compensation package was agreed between the two clubs.[21] Following the transfer, he claimed the desire of a new challenge to be key in his reasoning behind the switch.[22]
On 13 November 2019, Hoole made his debut forWales under-19's in a 3–0 win againstPoland U19.[23]
In May 2022, Hoole was called up to theWales U21 team for the first time for the final2023 U21 European Championship qualifiers against theNetherlands andGibraltar.[24][25] Hoole made his debut in the second of the two matches, coming off of the bench with fifteen minutes left as Wales finished their campaign with a 2–0 win.[26]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Bristol Rovers | 2019–20[28] | League One | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[a] | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2020–21[29] | League One | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2021–22[30] | League Two | 29 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[a] | 0 | 32 | 1 | |
| 2022–23[31] | League One | 37 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6[a] | 1 | 44 | 3 | |
| 2023–24[32] | League One | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1[a] | 0 | 25 | 0 | |
| Career total | 89 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 102 | 4 | ||