What football team does Love Island star Luke Trotman play for, what is his position and how did he get injured?
23 January 2020, 21:00 | Updated: 23 January 2020, 21:01
Here's everything you need to know about Luke Trotman's career as a football player...
Love Island might have only been on for less than two weeks, but there’s already enough drama to last us a lifetime.
And things were stepped up a notch tonight when Luke Trotman made his debut alongside fellow bombshell Luke Mabbott.
But as he gets set to make a stir in the South African villa, let's take a look into the 22-year-old’s past career as a footballer.
What football team does Love Island’s Luke Trotman play for and what position does he play?
Luke is a defender for Darlington F.C., regularly sharing snaps of himself training on Instagram.
He started his career at Luton Town and made his debut for the club at 16 against Cambridge in 2013.
After signing a pro deal with his childhood club, Luke's priorities changed when he suffered a bad leg break in a youth fixture and the player decided to put his football career on hold to go to University.
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During his recovery, Luke played for St Neots Town as he studied banking, finance and management at Loughborough Uni.
He then joined Nuneaton during his studies, before signing for Darlington in November 2017.
He was also called to play for the England C team – which recognises the finest non-league talent – where he played against Wales and Estonia.
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How did Love Island’s Luke get injured?
Unfortunately, he suffered a nasty injury back in August 2019 and ruptured an Achilles tendon during a match and was told he couldn’t play for eight months.
Posting a photo from his hospital bed back last summer, he wrote: “Successful Operation, Road to recovery starts now✌🏾 Swipe to see me eating hospital food while the surgeon tells me it’s 7-9 months before I’m back playing 🥴”
He has since posted snaps of his recovery alongside inspirational messages such as: “Stay focused through adversity 🎯🏃🏿♂️”
Speaking to the Northern Echo back in October, Luke said: "I fully ruptured my Achilles, so they stitched it and I've had to let it heal for two months in a plastic boot.
"But he added that being at a university with renowned sporting facilities was ideally suited to his rehabilitation: "Being at Loughborough, I couldn’t be at a better place.
"The strength and conditioning, the physios, it’s the best there is. They even supply Man City with people. The gym is unreal, so it’s probably why I’ve made quite good progress."
Despite Luke seemingly not returning to football just yet, on the official Darlington FC website, a statement was issued to wish him good luck in Love Island.
It reads: “Darlington defender Luke Trotman has been invited to appear on ITV2 series Love Island.
“Player of the season in 2018-19 Luke, who is sidelined with an Achilles tendon injury for the rest of this season, has the full backing and full support of the club.”
It continued: “The possibility of Luke appearing on Love Island was discussed by Luke and club representatives, and he is doing rehab on the island under physio instruction.
“He has also had a gym access and a programme to continue rehab. We would like to wish Luke the best of luck in his adventure.”
