1067 Tom Eaves

Biography

Tall and powerful, striker Eaves joined City in July 2019 after building a strong reputation in the lower leagues for goals and assists. His early appearances showed flashes of good touches for a big man, but it wasn’t until the first day of October that Eaves opened his goal account with a spectacular flying header that won the game against Sheffield Wednesday. He then scored more regularly, pinnacling with a game winning hattrick in the FA Cup against Rotherham, before suffering a nasty ankle injury in late February at Preston. Eaves returned to first team action in June 2020.

During the 2020/21 season Eaves battled with Josh Magennis for the centre forward role, after a poor start to the season Tom found form as the winter months approached only to be stopped in his tracks in January 2021 by a two month lay-off with a thigh injury. While the route back to the first eleven only became open when Magennis was absent on international duty, Eaves continued to plug away and won the crucial penalty at Lincoln in April 2021 that was converted by Mallik Wilks and secured promotion back to the Championship at the first attempt.

Back in the Championship, Tom was largely sidelined in the opening weeks of the 2021/22 season but again showed his worth in late September when he came off the bench to secure an unlikely draw for the ten-man Tigers against Blackpool. When Josh Magennis was sold to Wigan in January 2022 Eaves stepped up, turned in five star performances and scored a towering header to secure victory over Blackburn in new owner Acun Ilicali’s first game as new club owner – big Tom was a man for the big occasion. A run of starts in Shota Arveladze’s side came to an abrupt end on April Fools’ Day when Tom was dismissed for two yellow card offences, a pair of textbook ‘striker’s tackles’. But he returned to first team action in the closing weeks of the season and ended the season as he began his City career, as an impact substitute. At the end of May 2022 it was announced that Tom would not be retained and he left Hull City.

Eaves was born in Liverpool and cut his teeth at Oldham Athletic where he made 15 senior appearances during the 2009/10 season after making his league debut a few days after his 18th birthday. In August 2010 Eaves switched to Bolton Wanderers after scoring a hattrick against them in a pre-season friendly. His six years at Bolton featured only five first team appearances for the Trotters and he built up his experience with loan spells to lower league sides. In the 2012/13 season Eaves scored seven goals in 17 appearances starts for Bristol Rovers during the first half of the season then six more goals in 10 appearances for Shrewsbury Town in the second half. Over the next two seasons he went on to score 1 goal in 9 appearances for Rotherham, 2 goals in 25 appearances when returning to Shrewsbury and 1 goal in 9 appearances for Bury.

Released by the Trotters in July 2016, Eaves was snapped up by Yeovil Town and after one season in the South West as a first team regular, in which he scored seven goals in 48 appearances, he switched to Gillingham. Tom hit his straps at the Priestfield Stadium and over a two year spell in scored 40 goals in 97 senior appearances before refusing a new contract in June 2019.

In June 2022 Eaves signed for newly-promoted Championship rivals Rotherham United, a club he had briefly served on loan nine years earlier. He made 21 goalless appearances for the Millers, mainly off the bench, in the 2022/23 season and finally re-opened his goal account against Plymouth Argyle in December 2023.

Details

Nationality: England
Date/Place of Birth: 4 December 1991, Liverpool
Hull City First Game: 3 August 2019, Swansea City A (Championship), 27 years, 242 days old
Hull City Final Game: 7 May 2022, Nottingham Forest H (Championship), 30 years, 154 days old

Clubs

Oldham Athletic (2008-2010), Bolton Wanderers (2010-2016), Bristol Rovers (2012-2013, loan), Shrewsbury Town (2013, loan), Rotherham United (2013, loan), Shrewsbury Town (2013-2014, loan), Yeovil Town (2014-2015, loan), Bury (2015, loan), Yeovil Town (2016-2017), Gillingham (2017-2019), Hull City (2019-2022), Rotherham United (2022-current)

Hull City Record

Career: 108 apps, 18 goals

Tom Eaves
SeasonLGE
App
LGE
Gls
FAC
App
FAC
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FLC
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FLC
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EUR
App
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OTH
App
OTH
Gls
2019/2022 (18)52 (0)30 (2)0----
2020/216 (20)41 (0)11 (0)0--3 (0)0
2021/2212 (19)51 (0)01 (0)0----

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