Sam Vokes

Early career

Born in Southampton and raised in Lymington, Vokes stepped up into Bournemouth's first team on 5 December 2006 in a 2–0 victory over Nottingham Forest. His first senior goal came in a 1–1 draw at Gillingham on 16 December. This form saw the club give him a three-and-a-half-year professional contract during the following month.

The striker remained at Bournemouth during the 2007–08 season, despite being linked to several other clubs, including Newcastle United, Aston Villa, Everton and Celtic. The youngster was a bright spark in an otherwise tumultuous season for the Cherries as they were embroiled in a club ownership saga. His 12-goal tally could not prevent Bournemouth from being relegated to League Two.

Wolves

He eventually signed a four-year contract with Championship side Wolverhampton Wanderers on 23 May 2008. Vokes marked his debut for the club by coming off the bench to equalise in a 2–2 draw away to Plymouth Argyle on the opening day of the 2008–09 season.

With the goalscoring form of Chris Iwelumo and Sylvan Ebanks-Blake firing the club to the top of the table – that they led for almost the entire season – Vokes was mostly only employed as a substitute. Nonetheless he contributed a number of vital goals to help the team win promotion to the Premier League as champions.

To gain playing time, Vokes moved to League One side Leeds United in October 2009 on loan until the New Year, making his Leeds debut in a 2–1 victory over Norwich City on 19 October. He scored once for the club against Bristol Rovers but competition between Leeds strikers meant Vokes returned to Wolves when the deal ended.

Vokes went out on loan once more in August 2010 when he moved to Championship side Bristol City. He endured a miserable stay, tearing his hamstring within minutes of making his debut in a match against Millwall and re-aggravating the injury in a reserve match in December. He returned to Wolves when his loan expired in January having played just 13 minutes of first team football.

Once again fit, he moved on a month-long loan to another Championship side, Sheffield United, in February 2011 and made his début the same evening in a 1–1 draw with Reading. With their other attacking options regaining fitness, the Blades elected not to extend Vokes' loan period, meaning he was instead signed up by promotion-chasing Norwich City on 23 March on an emergency loan for the rest of the season. However, an injury to Wolves' leading goalscorer Kevin Doyle saw the club recall him after just four appearances for the Canaries, during which he scored once. Back at Molineux, he made two substitute appearances for the team during the run-in as they narrowly avoided relegation on the final day.

During the 2011–12 season, he made four Premier League appearances for Wolves, but did not start a league match. In November 2011 he once more went out on loan to a Championship side, this time joining Burnley until 15 January.

On 30 January 2012, Vokes joined Championship side Brighton & Hove Albion on loan until the end of the season. He scored on his full home debut in a 2–2 draw with Millwall on 14 February 2012. He scored three goals in total during his 14 appearances for the Seagulls.

Burnley

On 31 July 2012, Vokes joined Championship side Burnley permanently signing a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee, believed to be £350k. On 2 December, Vokes scored an equalising goal for Burnley in the 89th-minute against fierce rivals Blackburn Rovers a match which ended 1–1. Despite this goal, Vokes struggled to establish himself in the first eleven and was used predominantly as a substitute. This was mainly down to the form of top scorer Charlie Austin, with manager Sean Dyche often opting to partner Austin with fellow strikers Martin Paterson or Danny Ings, both being quicker and more mobile than Vokes.

On the eve of the 2013–2014 Championship season, Burnley agreed a deal with Queens Park Rangers for the transfer of Charlie Austin, who had attracted lots of attention from Premier League teams throughout the summer. With Austin moving out of the club, this gave Vokes his long-awaited chance in the starting eleven, and he finished the season with 21 goals in 44 matches.

On 8 August 2015, on the opening day of the 2015–16 Championship season, Vokes scored his first league goal since returning from a knee injury for Burnley against former club Leeds United in a 1–1 draw. He scored his first Premier League goal on 20 August 2016 at Turf Moor in a 2–0 win against Liverpool.

International career

Born and brought up in England, Vokes is eligible to represent Wales through a grandfather born there. Upon discovering Vokes' eligibility, Wales U21 coach Brian Flynn called him up to the Welsh under-21 team, and he made his debut against Northern Ireland on 6 February 2007. The seventeen-year-old made an instant impression by scoring after 36 seconds, a team record, in a 4–0 victory. He remained in the team and featured in their European U-21 Championship qualifying campaign.

He was soon called up to the senior squad and made his debut in a 1–0 friendly win over Iceland on 28 May 2008. Vokes scored his first senior international goal when he netted the winner in a 1–0 win over Azerbaijan in their opening 2010 World Cup qualifier on 6 September 2008; his second international goal came in a friendly against Montenegro on 12 August 2009. In November 2011 Vokes came on as an 85th-minute substitute and scored two goals in a 4–1 win over Norway. In February 2013 he scored one goal against Austria. Just over a year later he scored again in March 2014, against Iceland.

In May 2016, Vokes was listed for the 29-man squad for a pre-Euro 2016 training camp, and was retained for the tournament final squad. On 1 July 2016, Vokes came on as a substitute and scored for Wales in a 3–1 win over Belgium at the finals, sealing the victory to take Wales to their first ever semi-final appearance at a major tournament.

Club

International

International goals

Honours

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Burnley