Luke Rooney (footballer)

**Luke William Rooney** (born 28 December 1990) is an English footballer who plays as a midfielder for Chatham Town.

## Career

### Gillingham

Born in Bermondsey, London, Rooney joined Gillingham as an apprentice professional in 2007. He forced his way into the first team squad in early December 2008 and was an unused substitute in the FA Cup second round replay at Stockport County. In early 2009 he was loaned out to Lewes of the Conference National, where he made six appearances. He turned full-time professional with Gillingham at the start of the 2009–10 season and made his first team debut against Plymouth Argyle in the first round of the Football League Cup. His first Football League appearance was in the 3–0 home win over Exeter City on 5 September 2009, in which he scored his first ever goal for the Gillingham senior team.

On 15 March 2010, Rooney joined Conference National side Eastbourne Borough on loan until the end of that season, and made a scoring debut in the 1–1 draw with Grays Athletic. He made his senior debut as a second-half substitute in the 2–1 Football League Cup defeat of Plymouth Argyle and marked his League bow with a goal in the 3–0 win over Exeter City. Soon after he doubled his tally for the campaign with a curling strike from the right edge of the box against Southampton at St Mary's Stadium. He continued his development throughout the season, making a further 23 league appearances, either side of another loan stint at Eastbourne. The highlight of his campaign was a 25-yard drive which snatched a late point for Gillingham in the 1–1 draw with Torquay United at Plainmoor.

The midfielder made a goalscoring start to the 2011–12 campaign, netting Gillingham's second in the 3–0 defeat of Plymouth Argyle at Priestfield before scoring from the spot to clinch a point in the 1–1 draw with Accrington Stanley. His third goal of the campaign came in the 5–2 win at Torquay United in October. In total, Rooney made 20 appearances for Gillingham, scoring three times.

### Swindon Town

On 6 January 2012, Swindon Town made a 'six-figure sum' offer for Rooney, which was eventually turned down by the Kent-based club. On 16 January 2012 a new undisclosed offer was made and accepted by Gillingham. On 17 January he signed a two and a half-year deal with Swindon. Rooney made his Swindon debut on 21 January 2012 in a league match at home to Macclesfield Town as a substitute, coming on in the 52nd minute. He made an instant impact providing the cross for Paul Benson to head home the only goal of the game. Rooney scored his first goal for the club in the 3–0 win against promotion rivals Crawley Town. Rooney joined Crawley on loan until January 2014 on 6 August 2013. Following the completion of this loan, he joined Maidstone United on non-contract terms.

### Luton Town

On 21 March 2014, Rooney joined Luton Town on a contract until the end of the 2013–14 season. He played in six games as Luton won promotion to the Football League. In July 2014, Rooney signed a six-month contract extension with Luton. After playing in 12 games, scoring five goals, Rooney's contract was extended until the end of the 2014–15 season. However, he only played in only one more game before his contract was mutually terminated in March 2015.

### Subsequent career

In March 2015, Rooney joined Ebbsfleet United of the Conference South on a contract until the end of the 2014–15 season. He played in six matches before being released. Rooney signed for Crawley Town on 23 June 2015 on a free transfer on a one-year deal. On 8 March 2016, Rooney signed for Phoenix Rising FC in the USA.

On 14 February 2018, Rooney signed for Billericay Town. At the start of the following season he appeared in pre-season for Southern Counties East League league side Stansfeld. In December 2018, he joined National League South side Welling United, making his debut on 22 December in a 1–1 draw with Hemel Hempstead Town.

## Honours

Swindon Town
* League Two: 2011–12

Luton Town
* Conference Premier: 2013–14

## References

<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />

1. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `Hugman2010-11 360`
2. ↑ Games played by Luke Rooney in 2008/2009. *Soccerbase*. Racing Post. Retrieved on August 26, 2009.
3. ↑ Games played by Luke Rooney in 2009/2010. *Soccerbase*. Racing Post. Retrieved on August 26, 2009.
4. ↑ Eastbourne sign Gillingham midfielder Luke Rooney. BBC Sport (15 March 2010). Retrieved on March 15, 2010.
5. ↑ Eastbourne Borough seal Luke Rooney loan deal. BBC Sport (22 October 2010). Retrieved on October 22, 2010.
6. ↑ BBC Sport (6 January 2012). Swindon Town make bid for Gillingham's Luke Rooney. BBC Sport. Retrieved on January 17, 2012.
7. ↑ BBC Sport (16 January 2012). Swindon Town's Luke Rooney bid accepted by Gillingham. BBC Sport. Retrieved on January 17, 2012.
8. ↑ Swindon Town sign Luke Rooney from Gillingham. BBC Sport (17 January 2012). Retrieved on January 17, 2012.
9. ↑ Luke Rooney: Swindon winger signs for Crawley Town on loan. BBC Sport (6 August 2013). Retrieved on August 6, 2013.
10. ↑ Archived copy.
11. ↑ Luton sign Rooney. Luton Town F.C. (21 March 2014). Retrieved on April 28, 2014.
12. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
13. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
14. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
15. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
16. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
17. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
18. ↑ Rooney leaves Reds.
19. ↑ Harry Wheeler's delight as Luke Rooney joins Billericay Town (14 February 2018). Retrieved on February 5, 2019.
20. ↑ Good start but Blair lose.... Hollands & Blair F.C. (21 July 2018). Retrieved on February 5, 2019.
21. ↑ Hemel Hempstead Town 1–1 Welling United (22 December 2018). Retrieved on February 5, 2019.
**Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".**

## External links

* Template:Soccerbase
* Template:Soccerway