Looking back at five years of highs and lows for the Wolves men's first-team players before the 2023/24 season, next up is the recent career of Old Gold goalkeeper Tom King.
2018/19
- Millwall (0 apps | 0 clean sheets)
- AFC Wimbledon - loan (16 apps | 6 clean sheets)
In his final season as a Millwall player, King spent time on loan at AFC Wimbledon, the last of his four loan spells away from The Den, which also including periods with Welling United, Braintree Town and Stevenage. He featured 12 times in League One as the team got their 2018/19 campaign off to an impressive start. The keeper kept three clean sheets in his opening trio of matches in the third tier, against Fleetwood Town, Coventry City and Barnsley. Once King was taken out of the starting 11 following a 3-2 loss to Scunthorpe United, Wimbledon dropped down the league, earning just seven points from a run of 14 matches. The keeper was reinstated to the team before Christmas and helped them to seven points in the next three games, but his loan was cut short in January as the Dons picked up Aaron Ramsdale from AFC Bournemouth.
2019/20
- Newport County (35 apps | 14 clean sheets)
Ahead of the 2019/20 season, King made the permanent move away from Millwall for the first time in his professional career as he moved to south Wales and joined Newport County. On his debut in a 2-2 draw against Mansfield Town, King saved a second half penalty, before being nominated for the August PFA League Two Player of the Month Award after five consecutive clean sheets. He had also gone more than 500 minutes of football without conceding a goal, helping Newport up to second place in the standings. During this time, King earned his first call up to the Welsh national team in time for their Euro 2020 qualifying matches. Another spell on the sidelines coincided with the Exiles pick up just a single point, so it wasn’t long before King was back in the side and keeping clean sheets in the wins over Swindon Town, Macclesfield and Morecambe. He also featured in an FA Cup third round clash against former club Millwall on his return to the Den.
2020/21
- Newport County (17 apps | 9 clean sheets)
King began the following season as back-up to former Birmingham City stopper Nick Townsend, however he did feature in Newport’s 1-0 Carabao Cup second round win over Cambridge United in August 2020, before keeping another clean sheet in the FA Cup second round, as County claimed a 3-0 victory at home to Salford City. A month later, King was back in the first-team, just in time to score the first, and so far only, goal of his career. Taking a goal kick in the 12th minute of Newport’s clash at Cheltenham Town, the keeper launched the ball from his box and flew to the other end of the pitch, looped over the home keeper and into the back of the net – breaking the Guiness World Record for the longest goal in football with a distance of 96.01 metres. Following another spell on the bench, King returned for the final month of the season, which saw Newport reach the play-off final, although ultimately fall to Morecambe in extra time.
2021/22
- Salford City (38 apps | 14 clean sheets)
Following two years at Rodney Parade, King signed for League Two rivals Salford, where he started the season as first-choice keeper. The 2021/22 campaign was a mixed one for King and the Ammies, as the team struggled to put a run of results together, although the stopper played his part in several clean sheets, including in a 3-0 win over previous club Newport, as well as Bradford City and Colchester United. King continued to be present in the national team throughout this time, without making a debut appearance, as he was mainly relied upon as Wales’ third-choice keeper. During this season, King would end the season with 14 shutouts to his name as Salford bounced around mid-table in League Two, before a run of 11 games without defeat saw the team make a late push for a play-off spot, but it wasn’t to be, with Salford finishing the season in 10th position.
2022/23
- Salford City (26 apps | 12 clean sheets)
- Northampton Town (8 apps | 4 clean sheets)
Further Wales call-ups greeted King at the start of the 2022/23 season, as he featured on the bench in the Nations League matches against Belgium and the Netherlands. He also enjoyed a positive start to the campaign with Salford, keeping three clean sheets to start the season, before a 3-2 win over Newport in game four seeing the team top the league. King was present in the Salford team for the entire first half of the season, with the Welshman not conceding in almost half of his outings. This alerted the attention of fellow League Two side Northampton Town, who brought him to Sixfields Stadium. Although he went straight into the side, keeping four clean sheets in his opening eight appearances, King fell out of favour with boss Jon Brady, and was relegated to number two behind Lee Burge as the Cobblers finished third to book a place in League One.
This article originally featured in Wolves' official 2023/24 matchday programme. Last season's programmes are still available to purchase online through retailers Curtis Sports.
