Tom Ince
Thomas Christopher Ince is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder, left winger or forward for club Watford.
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. 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.
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.
Early and personal life
Ince was born in Stockport, Greater Manchester. He has a younger brother and sister. 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.He has two daughters with Charly Cottrell, the eldest born on 11 July 2013.
Club career
Liverpool
Ince signed for Liverpool as a youth player in 2008 and was handed a first-team squad number at the start of the 2010–11 season. 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 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. 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.
Blackpool
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. 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.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.
The first League game of Blackpool's 2012–13 season, on 18 August 2012, saw Ince score the only goals of the game in a 2–0 win at Millwall. Following the game, manager Ian Holloway revealed that Blackpool had received an offer from an unknown club, but that Ince had committed his future to the Seasiders after talking to his father. Holloway stated, "There was interest in Tom last week. No one has heard about it but I'll share it with you. His dad wants him to stay with us." On 7 August, he scored twice in a 6–0 win against Ipswich Town. In September, he scored in back-to-back games against Barnsley and Middlesbrough. He scored his tenth goal of the season on 3 November, completing a run of scoring in four successive games. The previous day, Holloway left Blackpool to become the new manager of Crystal Palace. Michael Appleton was appointed to replace him. In December 2012, it was reported that Ince's form was attracting the attention of his former club Liverpool, who were preparing a bid of £4 million in the January transfer window. In January, Liverpool entered into negotiations with Blackpool, but The Seasiders' asking price of £8.5 million proved too much for Liverpool after they had already signed Daniel Sturridge and paid off Joe Cole's contract so they withdrew from talks. Reading made a late bid to sign him, offering a fee just below Blackpool's £8m valuation the transfer window closed with Ince still at Blackpool. On 11 January 2013, Appleton resigned to become manager of Blackburn Rovers. He was replaced by Ince's father Paul.
At the 2013 Football League Awards on 24 March, Ince won the award for The Football League Young Player of the Year. In April 2013, after Wilfried Zaha had moved from Crystal Palace to Manchester United for £15 million, and with Ince the fifth-top scorer in the Championship on 18 goals, Ince's father commented that Tom should be valued at £25 million. On 30 June 2013, Blackpool accepted what was believed to be an £8 million offer from Cardiff City. It was reported that Swansea City were also interested in signing Ince, but were put off by the asking price. Despite agreeing personal terms and passing a medical with Cardiff City, Ince turned down the move on 12 July to stay in Blackpool with his newborn child. Aston Villa and Everton were subsequently linked with him, but Ince chose to remain at Blackpool.
In his first ten league games of the 2013–14 season, Ince scored six goals as the team moved into fourth place in The Championship. However, he then went on a lean streak and scored just one goal in his next thirteen league matches, the equaliser in a 1–1 draw against Leeds United on 26 December 2013. In that month, Blackpool offered him a new contract, but chairman Karl Oyston expected that Ince would leave. On 18 January 2014, he played 90 minutes in a 2–0 away defeat at Barnsley. It was his last game for Blackpool. During his time at the club, Ince made 113 appearances, scoring 33 goals. Three days later, his father was sacked as manager. With negotiations undergoing for Ince's transfer away from Blackpool, he was left out of the squad for their matches against Doncaster on 25 January and Reading on 28 January.
Loan to Crystal Palace
In the January 2014 transfer window, numerous clubs approached Blackpool to enquire about signing Ince, who held talks with Everton, Cardiff, Newcastle, Hull City, Sunderland, Stoke City, Swansea City, Tottenham Hotspur, Crystal Palace and his former club Liverpool again. However, Ince once again spurned Liverpool's advances, believing that he was not ready to move to a club of their size. European clubs Ajax, Inter Milan and Paris Saint-Germain also revealed their interest and French club Monaco were reported to be leading the race to sign Ince on a free transfer in the summer. Ince and his father Paul met with representatives from Monaco in London on 16 January, just two days before Blackpool's 2–0 defeat to Barnsley, which was believed to be one of the reasons for his father being sacked as Blackpool manager.His father's departure was reported to be likely to accelerate Ince's departure from Blackpool, with a domestic loan deal considered most likely as it would allow him the freedom of choice in the summer when his Blackpool contract had expired. A loan move to Crystal Palace, Stoke City, Swansea, Sunderland or Hull City was considered most likely, with the deal coming down to the size of the loan fee and what percentage of his wages was paid by the club loaning him out. On 30 January 2014, Ince signed for Premier League club Crystal Palace on loan for the remainder of the 2013–14 season for a loan fee of £1 million. Ince made his debut on 8 February 2014, playing 90 minutes and scoring the first of three goals for Crystal Palace on the day, in a 3–1 win against West Bromwich Albion.
Ince started the next two matches, a 2–0 defeat to Manchester United on 22 February and a 0–0 draw with Swansea City on 2 March, then came off the bench in a 1–0 defeat to Southampton on 8 March. He started against Sunderland on 15 March, a match that also ended 0–0, and then did not make another appearance for over a month. He was an unused substitute for the next six Premier League matches, as manager Tony Pulis preferred to play Yannick Bolasie and Jason Puncheon on the wings. He came off the bench in a 2–0 defeat to Manchester City on 27 April and in a 3–3 draw against Liverpool on 5 May before starting the final game of the season, a 2–2 draw with Fulham on 11 May.