Nathan Luscombe

Nathan Luscombe
Personal information
Full name Nathan John Luscombe[1]
Date of birth (1989-11-06) 6 November 1989 (age 35)[1]
Place of birth Gateshead, England
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[2]
Position(s) Winger
Youth career
–2008 Sunderland
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2011 Sunderland 0 (0)
2011–2013 Hartlepool United 26 (1)
2013–2014 Celtic Nation
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 15:42, 12 August 2013 (UTC)

Nathan John Luscombe (born 6 November 1989) is an English former footballer who played as a winger.

Career

Born in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, Luscombe progressed through the Sunderland youth system and signed a professional contract on 1 July 2008.[1] He made his first team debut on 4 February 2009 in an FA Cup fourth round tie against Blackburn Rovers, aged 19.[3] He had a trial with Conference National club York City in November 2010, playing in a reserve team game against the Middlesbrough academy.[4] He was amongst eight players to be released by Sunderland on 7 April 2011 and on 15 April he agreed to sign for League One side Hartlepool United on 1 July.[5][6]

Luscombe came under scrutiny upon joining Hartlepool in 2011 after an image taken of the winger in pre-season training of the winger appearing overweight, after this Luscombe admitted that he was "embarrassed" by the image stating "I've always said I was ashamed when I came back. I was embarrassed to see a photo in one of the papers and I could have been a sumo wrestler, I was that big. It wasn't the fact I couldn't run, but it took me longer to get in shape where I could be at my best" and vowed to continue to lose weight with doing extra work in training.[7]

He scored his first career goal in a 2–0 home win for Hartlepool against Exeter in September 2011.[8] He made 13 league appearances at the end of his first season with Hartlepool.

Luscombe was excluded from Hartlepool's 2012 pre-season tour of Holland due to him returning to training overweight which left boss Neale Cooper "raging" and "unable to speak to him".[9][10]

He was released by Hartlepool in May 2013 [11] after making 26 league appearances for the club, 21 of which were substitute appearances.[12]

He was signed by Northern League club Celtic Nation and played his first game for the side in a 1–1 draw at home to Bishop Auckland.[13] Luscombe was released by Celtic Nation at the end of the season and ended up quitting football.

References

  1. ^ a b c Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2009). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2009–10. Mainstream Publishing. p. 258. ISBN 978-1-84596-474-0.
  2. ^ "Nathan Luscombe". Sunderland A.F.C. Retrieved 11 July 2009.
  3. ^ "Blackburn 2–1 Sunderland (aet)". BBC Sport. 4 February 2009. Retrieved 11 July 2009.
  4. ^ Flett, Dave (13 November 2010). "York City seal loan deals and target Barrow's Jason Walker". The Press. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
  5. ^ "Sunderland to release eight". Sunderland A.F.C. 7 April 2011. Retrieved 7 April 2011.
  6. ^ "Hartlepool sign Sunderland midfielder Nathan Luscombe". BBC Sport. 15 April 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
  7. ^ Steel, Adam (4 November 2011). "Nathan Luscombe vows to keep losing weight". Gazette Live. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  8. ^ "Hartlepool 2–0 Exeter". BBC Sport. 3 September 2011. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  9. ^ "Nathan Luscombe thrown Pools lifeline after boss admits "I couldn't even speak to him"". Peterlee Star. 26 July 2012. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  10. ^ "Nathan Luscombe Excluded From Pools' Holland Trip". Vital Hartlepool. 13 July 2012. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  11. ^ "Pools Announce Retained List". Hartlepool United F.C. 7 May 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  12. ^ "Games played by Nathan Luscombe in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  13. ^ "Celtic Nation Match Report". Celtic Nation F.C. 10 August 2013. Archived from the original on 8 September 2013. Retrieved 15 August 2013.