| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Lyndon John Dykes[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1995-10-07)7 October 1995 (age 29) | ||
| Place of birth | Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia | ||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Striker | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Birmingham City | ||
| Number | 17 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Mudgeeraba | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2013 | Mudgeeraba | 5 | (5) |
| 2014 | Merrimac | 16 | (28) |
| 2014–2015 | Queen of the South | 0 | (0) |
| 2015 | Redlands United | 15 | (15) |
| 2015 | Gold Coast City | 1 | (1) |
| 2016 | Surfers Paradise Apollo | 15 | (17) |
| 2016–2019 | Queen of the South | 100 | (11) |
| 2019–2020 | Livingston | 28 | (11) |
| 2019 | →Queen of the South (loan) | 14 | (5) |
| 2020–2024 | Queens Park Rangers | 156 | (35) |
| 2024– | Birmingham City | 25 | (1) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2020– | Scotland | 42 | (9) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 09:36, 23 February 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 15:04, 23 November 2024 (UTC) | |||
Lyndon John Dykes (born 7 October 1995) is a professionalfootballer who plays as astriker forEFL League One clubBirmingham City. Born and raised in Australia to Scottish parents, he plays for theScotland national team. Dykes previously played forMudgeeraba,Merrimac,Redlands United andSurfers Paradise Apollo in Australia, forQueen of the South andLivingston in Scotland. and spent four years with English clubQueens Park Rangers.
Dykes was born on theGold Coast inQueensland, Australia. He moved toCanberra,Australian Capital Territory, playingrugby league as a youth.[2] As a child, Dykes had a season pass to theCanberra Raiders and idolised captainRuben Wiki at the time. In his youth, Dykes also playedbasketball,rugby union andAussie Rules football.[3] After returning to Australia from a stint withQueen of the South Under-20s team, Dykes worked in a factory for sports companyBLK.[4]
Dykes said of his background, "My parents are Scottish. They are fromDumfries. My dad is from just outside Dumfries, a small town calledMoniaive."[5] His elder sisterHollie was a gold medal-winning gymnast for Australia at the2006 Commonwealth Games.[6] Dykes' son was born in Scotland.[7]
Dykes was coached by caretaker Queen of the South managerJim Thomson. His wife Victoria was previously married to Thomson.[8][9]
Dykes spent part of his younger years living and playingrugby league inCanberra where his family settled. Dykes attracted the interest of the Canberra Raiders after helpingGungahlin Bulls to a cup final win. The move never came about as Dykes suffered an injury and his family moved back to the Gold Coast.[2]
His uncle a former footballer, introduced him toassociation football as he moved back to the Gold Coast.[3] Dykes played youth football forMudgeeraba before joiningMerrimac. He then played in the 2015National Premier Leagues Queensland withRedlands United and joinedGold Coast City FC the year after but soon departed to play that season forSurfers Paradise Apollo SC for one month.[10] Dykes was rejected byA-League sides such asBrisbane Roar when playing football in Australia.[2]
Dykes toured England with theAustralian schoolboys, after which he visited relatives inDumfries, the home town of his parents. He then returned to Dumfries to play for theQueen of the South Under-20s team.[10] He scored 22 goals in 14 competitive matches at this level before returning to Australia in January 2015.[11]
On 7 June 2016, Dykes returned to Scotland and signed for Queen of the South, who hadGavin Skelton as their manager at that time.[11] Dykes' senior competitive debut was representing Queen's when aged 20 in a 2–0Scottish League Cup win versusQueen's Park at theExcelsior Stadium on 16 July. His first senior goal was on 9 August in the Queen's 3–1 League Cup win overHibernian.[10]
On 7 December 2017, Dykes signed an extension to his contract that kept him at the club until 31 May 2019.[12] In three years in Dumfries, he played in 86 league matches, scoring 10 league goals and in 31 cup matches scoring nine cup goals for the Doonhamers. His best position for theDoonhamers was as a foil for Queens main strikerStephen Dobbie, especially when Dobbie scored 43 goals in the2018–19 season, although he was also played on the wings.[10]
On 30 January 2019, Dykes secured a two-year contract to joinLivingston, but theDoonhamers reached an agreement with theWest Lothian club for him to return toPalmerston Park on loan until the end of the2018-19 season.[13][14] Dykes was utilised as a central striker at theLions. He scored on his senior competitive debut for the Lions in a 1–1 League Cup draw atFalkirk on 13 July. On 12 September, he extended his contract with the Lions for an additional season until May 2022. On 6 October, he scored the second goal in the 2–0 home league win versusCeltic. On 21 December, he scored ahat-trick in a 4–0 win versusRoss County, the first time a Livingston player had done so in the top flight.[15]
On 16 August 2020, Livingston announced that a bid has been accepted from aChampionship club for Dykes.[16] Three days later, it was announced that he joinedQueens Park Rangers.[17] Dykes' transfer fee broke Livingston's club record previously held by the sale ofDavid Fernandez toCeltic in 2002.[16] Queen of the South are due a six-figure fee as part of the deal, as a sell-on clause was included when Dykes was sold to Livingston, with the figure likely to surpass the club's £250,000 record fee received whenAndy Thomson moved toSouthend United in 1994.[18]
On 19 August 2020, Dykes signed a four-year deal for English clubQueens Park Rangers for a reported fee of £2m.[19] On 12 September, Dykes scored on his competitive debut for the club, scoring a penalty in the 54th minute, in a 2–0 win versusNottingham Forest.[20] In April 2021, Dykes was named the club's Player of the Month after scoring six goals in six games most notably scoring a brace in a 4–1 win overSheffield Wednesday on 10 April.[21] Dykes had finished the season as QPR's top scorer with 12 goals and 5 assists.[22]
On 16 October 2021, Dykes scored in theWest London derby inQueens Park Rangers' 4–1 loss againstFulham in theChampionship.[23]
In January 2023, Dykes was admitted to hospital with the club said to be "closely monitoring" the striker.[24] He spent eight days in hospital having been diagnosed with pneumonia following a CT scan on his lungs.[25]
On 26 June 2023, Dykes signed a new three-year contract with the club.[26]
Dykes signed forLeague One clubBirmingham City on a three-year contract on 28 August 2024; the fee was undisclosed.[27]
Dykes played for Australia schoolboys prior to joining Queen of the South.[10] He was eligible to represent eitherAustralia (where he was born) orScotland.[7]
When playing with Livingston, Australia's assistant managerRene Meulensteen came to watch Dykes play againstCeltic in October 2019. The same week, Scotland managerSteve Clarke also contacted Dykes, who "went with my heart and my gut" and chose Scotland.[4] On 25 August 2020, Dykes was named in the Scotland squad for the first time forUEFA Nations League matches versusIsrael and theCzech Republic.[28][29] He made his international debut in a 1–1 draw with Israel on 4 September and then scored his first goal for Scotland a few days later in a 2–1 victory over the Czech Republic.[30][31] On 11 October, Dykes scored the winner in a Nations League match againstSlovakia which ended 1–0 after steering homeStephen O'Donnell's low cross.[32]
On 19 May 2021, Dykes was named in Scotland'sUEFA Euro 2020 squad after becoming the nation's first choice striker alongsideChe Adams.[33] On 14 June, he played 79 minutes of Scotland's opening game which resulted in a 2–0 defeat to the Czech Republic.[34] On 18 June, he played the full 90 minutes in the fixture againstEngland atWembley Stadium which ended in a 0–0 draw.[35] On 22 June, he started in a 3–1 defeat toCroatia which ended Scotland's Euros campaign.[36]
On 4 September 2021, Dykes scored in the only goal againstMoldova in a2022 World Cup qualifier.[37] Three days later he scored a 30th-minute penalty in another 1–0 win for Scotland, this time away toAustria in the same competition.[38] The following month, Dykes scored in narrow wins over Israel and theFaroe Islands, becoming the first Scotland player to score in four consecutive matches sinceColin Stein in 1969.[39]
In aUEFA Nations League match againstUkraine on 21 September 2022, Dykes came off the bench in the 77th minute to score a brace, in the 80th and 87th minutes respectively, to secure a 3–0 win for Scotland.[40]
Dykes helped Scotland qualify forUEFA Euro 2024, scoring the equaliser in a 2–1 away win againstNorway in June 2023.[41] He was selected in a 28-man provisional squad for the Euro 2024 finals,[42] but he had to withdraw prior to the tournament after suffering an ankle injury in training.[43][44]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Queen of the South | 2016–17[45] | Scottish Championship | 30 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 3[c] | 1 | 40 | 4 |
| 2017–18[46] | Scottish Championship | 34 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3[c] | 1 | 44 | 8 | |
| 2018–19[47] | Scottish Championship | 36 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 7[d] | 4 | 52 | 10 | |
| Total | 100 | 11 | 8 | 1 | 15 | 4 | 13 | 6 | 136 | 22 | ||
| Livingston | 2019–20[48] | Scottish Premiership | 25 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 2 | — | 33 | 12 | |
| 2020–21[49] | Scottish Premiership | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | 3 | 2 | ||||
| Total | 28 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 2 | — | 36 | 14 | |||
| Queens Park Rangers | 2020–21[49] | Championship | 42 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 43 | 12 | |
| 2021–22[50] | Championship | 33 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | 37 | 9 | ||
| 2022–23[51] | Championship | 39 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 40 | 8 | ||
| 2023–24[52] | Championship | 41 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 43 | 7 | ||
| 2024–25[53] | Championship | 1 | 1 | — | 1 | 0 | — | 2 | 1 | |||
| Total | 156 | 35 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 0 | — | 165 | 37 | |||
| Birmingham City | 2024–25[53] | League One | 25 | 1 | 3 | 2 | — | 4[e] | 2 | 32 | 5 | |
| Career total | 309 | 58 | 18 | 6 | 25 | 6 | 17 | 8 | 369 | 78 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scotland | 2020 | 7 | 2 |
| 2021 | 13 | 4 | |
| 2022 | 6 | 2 | |
| 2023 | 9 | 1 | |
| 2024 | 7 | 0 | |
| Total | 42 | 9 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 September 2020 | Andrův stadion,Olomouc, Czech Republic |  Czech Republic | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2020–21 UEFA Nations League B |
| 2 | 11 October 2020 | Hampden Park,Glasgow, Scotland |  Slovakia | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2020–21 UEFA Nations League B |
| 3 | 4 September 2021 | Hampden Park,Glasgow, Scotland |  Moldova | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 4 | 7 September 2021 | Ernst Happel Stadium,Vienna, Austria |  Austria | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 5 | 9 October 2021 | Hampden Park,Glasgow, Scotland |  Israel | 2–2 | 3–2 | 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 6 | 12 October 2021 | Tórsvøllur,Tórshavn, Faroe Islands |  Faroe Islands | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 7 | 21 September 2022 | Hampden Park,Glasgow, Scotland |  Ukraine | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2022–23 UEFA Nations League B |
| 8 | 3–0 | |||||
| 9 | 17 June 2023 | Ullevaal Stadion,Oslo, Norway |  Norway | 1–1 | 2–1 | UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying |
 | ||