David Lucas (footballer)

Club career

Preston North End

As a young goalkeeper, Lucas started his career at Preston North End. He went on to spend nearly ten years as a professional at the Lancashire club, punctuated by loan appearances for Darlington, Scunthorpe and Sheffield Wednesday. Lucas was capped by England under-18 and under-20 teams while a Preston player.

Whilst at Preston, he won two divisional championship medals in 1996 and 2000 as North End won the third and second division titles and, in May 2001, he was part of Preston's unsuccessful first division playoff final team that lost 3-0 to Bolton.

Regularly sharing glove duty with Preston's other goalkeeper Teuvo Moilanen, Lucas remained at his boyhood club until 2004 when, like his Finnish counterpart, he was moved on by new manager Craig Brown.
there are no contemporary sources for him winning u21 caps: his profile at the FA gives U18 and U20 only, and he isn't in the list of U21 internationals in the Sky Sports annual

Sheffield Wednesday

Lucas had another spell at Sheffield Wednesday, having signed a permanent deal with the Yorkshire side in the summer of 2004 after impressing during his two loan spells the previous season. During Wednesday's promotion season of 2004–05, Lucas made 41 appearances for the team and totalled 15 clean sheets, despite twice having to battle against injuries.

Lucas started the first 18 matches of Sheffield Wednesday's 2005–06 campaign before a knee injury again ruled him out until January. His comeback was short-lived and Lucas was injured again against Millwall on 4 February 2006 after playing only two full games; the new injury again ruled him out until January 2007.

Lucas announced that he would not be renewing his contract with Sheffield Wednesday at the end of the 2005–06 season, although he continued to receive treatment at their training ground whilst he was recovering from his knee injury.

Barnsley

Lucas subsequently joined South Yorkshire rivals Barnsley on a free transfer in January 2007, but only made three appearances for them. During his second game for Barnsley, he came out to deal with a high ball and collided with the Derby County player Giles Barnes. He was knocked unconscious and left the field on a spinal board after several minutes' treatment. He was expected to need at least ten days to recover from concussion.

Leeds United

Lucas signed for Leeds United in September 2007 on a short-term contract, making his debut in the Football League Trophy second round against Darlington.

He was released in May 2009.

Swindon Town

Lucas signed for Swindon Town in June 2009 on a two-year contract. He was assigned the number 1 jersey with previous incumbent Phil Smith being relegated to the number 12. Lucas had a successful season, which played a major part in Swindon reaching the Football League One play-offs. He played in both legs of the semi-final against Charlton Athletic, but injured his shoulder in the second minute of the second leg and played no further part in the competition.

Rochdale

Lucas' contract with Swindon was terminated one year early by mutual consent, and he signed a one-year deal with Rochdale on 3 August 2011, taking up a player/coach role. He made his Rochdale playing debut in the League Cup against Chesterfield on 9 August. Lucas was released by Rochdale at the end of the season.

Birmingham City and Fleetwood Town

Lucas signed a one-year contract with Championship club Birmingham City on 10 July 2012. He made his debut on 14 August in the first round of the League Cup at home to Barnet. That was the only appearance he made before leaving when the January 2013 transfer window opened. He joined League Two club Fleetwood Town, reuniting with former Preston North End teammates Graham Alexander, now manager of Fleetwood, and first team coach Chris Lucketti. He joined as goalkeeping coach while retaining his playing registration. He made his league début for Fleetwood on 16 February 2013 against Burton Albion coming on as a substitute in the 57th minute after regular goalkeeper Scott Davies was sent off. Lucas let in four goals and the game ended in a 4–0 defeat.

Honours

Preston North End

• Football League Second Division: 1999–2000

Sheffield Wednesday

• Football League One play-offs: 2005

Fleetwood Town

• Football League Two play-offs: 2014

References

References

1. "David Lucas". The Football Association.
2. (19 June 2006). "Keeper Lucas to quit Hillsborough". [[BBC Sport]].
3. (3 January 2007). "Barnsley snap up Lucas and McCann". BBC Sport.
4. Johnson, William. (2 April 2007). "Dozen reasons why Derby enjoy away days". The Daily Telegraph.
5. {{soccerbase season. 4633. 2006
6. (11 September 2007). "Goalkeeper Lucas earns Leeds deal". BBC Sport.
7. (22 May 2009). "Douglas and Lucas to leave Leeds". BBC Sport.
8. (2 June 2009). "Swindon bring in goalkeeper Lucas". BBC Sport.
9. (5 August 2009). "Updated squad list". Swindon Town F.C.
10. (3 August 2011). "Lucas Joins Ranks". Rochdale A.F.C.
11. (10 July 2012). "David Lucas becomes Birmingham City's latest signing". BBC Sport.
12. (14 August 2012). "Blues hammer sorry Bees in cup". BBC Sport.
13. (1 January 2013). "Lucas joins Fleetwood". Birmingham City F.C.
14. (16 February 2013). "Fleetwood 0–4 Burton". BBC Sport.
15. (26 May 2014). "Starting Lineups - Burton Alb vs Fleetwood".