Joel Lynch
Encyclopedia
Joel John Lynch is an English
footballer who is currently plays for Football League Championship
side Nottingham Forest
. Lynch plays as a defender
.
's youth set up and was part of a history breaking youth team which saw them reach the quarter-finals of the FA Youth Cup
. His reward, along with fellow team-mate Joe Gatting
, was a place in the squad for the first team which saw him make his debut against Southampton
on 3 January 2006.
In summer 2006 Lynch signed a professional three-year contract with Brighton, a deal which was later extended.
Lynch attracted the interest of several Premier League and Championship
clubs during his career with Brighton, with Nottingham Forest
and Portsmouth
keeping a close scrutinty on the player.
After starting the 2008–09
season out of the Brighton
first-team, Lynch handed in a written transfer request which was formally rejected by the club. Lynch then handed in a second written transfer request during September 2008 and Brighton reluctantly allowed him to join Nottingham Forest on loan, initially for a month.
He made only one start and two substitute appearances for Brighton in the 2008-09 season.
Lynch made a total of 68 league starts for Brighton and scored a total of two goals.
on loan in September 2008. After five appearances, the following month this loan spell was extended until 28 December. In January 2009, the loan deal was extended to keep Lynch at the City Ground for the remainder of the season. Forest paid the player's contrctual wages and paid Brighton a fee of £25,000 where he made 23 appearances for Forest. He found himself playing at left full-back, covering for the long term absence through injury of Julian Bennett.
On 21 July 2009, Lynch was signed permanently by Forest on a three-year contract for a fee of £200,000. As part of this transfer deal, Forest loaned midfielder Matt Thornhill
to Brighton for an initial six months.
Lynch's first team opportunities at Forest have been limited, especially in his favoured position of centre-back as he has been down the pecking order to Wes Morgan
, Kelvin Wilson
and Luke Chambers
. He has also suffered from injuries. Most of his appearances have come from filling in at left full-back. In the 2009-10 season, Lynch made only 11 starts in all competitions (3 at centre-back; 8 at left-back). In the 2010-11 season, he made only 5 starts in all competitions (1 at centre-back; 4 at left-back).
During the 2011-12 season, he was given a chance to play in his preferred position in the centre of defence, along side Wes Morgan. He put in a series of very impressive displays and began to regularly hold down a starting place and showing signs of fulfilling his potential. On Saturday November 19th, Lynch scored his first goal for Nottingham Forest in the 3-2 win against Ipswich Town.
|2005–06
||rowspan="4"|Brighton & Hove Albion
||Championship
||16||1||0||0||0||0||16||1
|-
|2006–07
||rowspan="3"|League One
||39||0||3||0||2||0||44||0
|-
|2007–08
||22||1||3||0||1||0||26||1
|-
|rowspan="2"|2008–09
||2||0||0||0||0||0||2||0
|-
|Nottingham Forest
(loan)||rowspan="4"|Championship
||23||0||1||0||0||0||24||0
|-
|2009–10||rowspan="3"|Nottingham Forest
||10||0||0||0||2||0||12||0
|-
|2010–11||12||0||2||0||1||0||15||0
|-
|2011–12||12||0||0||0||2||0||14||0
116||2||9||0||6||0||131||2
116||2||9||0||6||0||131||2
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
footballer who is currently plays for Football League Championship
Football League Championship
The Football League Championship is the highest division of The Football League and second-highest division overall in the English football league system after the Premier League...
side Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest F.C.
Nottingham Forest Football Club is an English Association Football club based in West Bridgford, Nottingham, that plays in the Football League Championship...
. Lynch plays as a defender
Defender (association football)
Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....
.
Brighton & Hove Albion
Lynch came through Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton & Hove Albion F.C.
Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club are an English association football club based in the coastal city of Brighton & Hove, East Sussex. They currently play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system....
's youth set up and was part of a history breaking youth team which saw them reach the quarter-finals of the FA Youth Cup
FA Youth Cup
The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under–18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part...
. His reward, along with fellow team-mate Joe Gatting
Joe Gatting
Joe Stephen Gatting is a footballer and cricketer who plays for Whitehawk and Sussex respectively. Gatting previously played football for Brighton & Hove Albion as a striker before being released on 31 October 2008...
, was a place in the squad for the first team which saw him make his debut against Southampton
Southampton F.C.
Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club...
on 3 January 2006.
In summer 2006 Lynch signed a professional three-year contract with Brighton, a deal which was later extended.
Lynch attracted the interest of several Premier League and Championship
Football League Championship
The Football League Championship is the highest division of The Football League and second-highest division overall in the English football league system after the Premier League...
clubs during his career with Brighton, with Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest F.C.
Nottingham Forest Football Club is an English Association Football club based in West Bridgford, Nottingham, that plays in the Football League Championship...
and Portsmouth
Portsmouth F.C.
Portsmouth Football Club is an English football club based in the city of Portsmouth. The club is nicknamed Pompey. Portsmouth's home matches have been played at Fratton Park since the club's formation in 1898. The team currently play in the Football League Championship after being relegated from...
keeping a close scrutinty on the player.
After starting the 2008–09
2008–09 in English football
The 2008–09 season was the 129th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:* West Bromwich Albion, Stoke City and Hull City were all playing in the Premier League after winning promotion from the Championship last season. Stoke returned to the top flight after a 23-year absence, while...
season out of the Brighton
Brighton & Hove Albion F.C.
Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club are an English association football club based in the coastal city of Brighton & Hove, East Sussex. They currently play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system....
first-team, Lynch handed in a written transfer request which was formally rejected by the club. Lynch then handed in a second written transfer request during September 2008 and Brighton reluctantly allowed him to join Nottingham Forest on loan, initially for a month.
He made only one start and two substitute appearances for Brighton in the 2008-09 season.
Lynch made a total of 68 league starts for Brighton and scored a total of two goals.
Nottingham Forest
Lynch joined Nottingham ForestNottingham Forest F.C.
Nottingham Forest Football Club is an English Association Football club based in West Bridgford, Nottingham, that plays in the Football League Championship...
on loan in September 2008. After five appearances, the following month this loan spell was extended until 28 December. In January 2009, the loan deal was extended to keep Lynch at the City Ground for the remainder of the season. Forest paid the player's contrctual wages and paid Brighton a fee of £25,000 where he made 23 appearances for Forest. He found himself playing at left full-back, covering for the long term absence through injury of Julian Bennett.
On 21 July 2009, Lynch was signed permanently by Forest on a three-year contract for a fee of £200,000. As part of this transfer deal, Forest loaned midfielder Matt Thornhill
Matt Thornhill
Matthew Mark Thornhill is an English footballer, who currently plays for Hibernian in the Scottish Premier League. Thornhill began his career with Nottingham Forest.-Career:...
to Brighton for an initial six months.
Lynch's first team opportunities at Forest have been limited, especially in his favoured position of centre-back as he has been down the pecking order to Wes Morgan
Wes Morgan
Westley Nathan "Wes" Morgan is an English footballer who plays for Nottingham Forest as a defender. He has been a regular at centre-back for the club for several years, and is currently the club's longest-serving player.-Career:...
, Kelvin Wilson
Kelvin Wilson
Kelvin James Wilson is an English footballer who currently plays as a centre back for Scottish Premier League side Celtic....
and Luke Chambers
Luke Chambers
Luke Chambers is an English footballer currently playing for Nottingham Forest. He is a centre-back but has also played as a right-back.-Northampton Town:Chambers made his Town debut against Mansfield in 2003...
. He has also suffered from injuries. Most of his appearances have come from filling in at left full-back. In the 2009-10 season, Lynch made only 11 starts in all competitions (3 at centre-back; 8 at left-back). In the 2010-11 season, he made only 5 starts in all competitions (1 at centre-back; 4 at left-back).
During the 2011-12 season, he was given a chance to play in his preferred position in the centre of defence, along side Wes Morgan. He put in a series of very impressive displays and began to regularly hold down a starting place and showing signs of fulfilling his potential. On Saturday November 19th, Lynch scored his first goal for Nottingham Forest in the 3-2 win against Ipswich Town.
Career statistics
|-|2005–06
The Football League 2005-06
The 2005–2006 season was the 106th completed season of The Football League.-Overview:In this season of Football League, Reading was the only club in England to get more than 100 points and they also have won the League Championship...
||rowspan="4"|Brighton & Hove Albion
Brighton & Hove Albion F.C.
Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club are an English association football club based in the coastal city of Brighton & Hove, East Sussex. They currently play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system....
||Championship
Football League Championship
The Football League Championship is the highest division of The Football League and second-highest division overall in the English football league system after the Premier League...
||16||1||0||0||0||0||16||1
|-
|2006–07
The Football League 2006-07
The 2006–2007 season was the 107th completed season of the Football League.-Overview:The Football League was contested through three Divisions in England and Wales. The divisions were the Football League Championship, Football League One and Football League Two...
||rowspan="3"|League One
Football League One
Football League One is the second-highest division of The Football League and third-highest division overall in the English football league system....
||39||0||3||0||2||0||44||0
|-
|2007–08
The Football League 2007-08
The Football League is contested through three divisions in England and Wales. The divisions are the League Championship, League One and League Two. The winner and the runner up of the League Championship will be automatically promoted to the Premier League and they will be joined by the winner of...
||22||1||3||0||1||0||26||1
|-
|rowspan="2"|2008–09
The Football League 2008-09
The Football League 2008–09, titled the Coca-Cola Football League, was the 109th completed season of the Football League. It began in August 2008 and concluded in May 2009, with the promotion play-off finals....
||2||0||0||0||0||0||2||0
|-
|Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest F.C.
Nottingham Forest Football Club is an English Association Football club based in West Bridgford, Nottingham, that plays in the Football League Championship...
(loan)||rowspan="4"|Championship
Football League Championship
The Football League Championship is the highest division of The Football League and second-highest division overall in the English football league system after the Premier League...
||23||0||1||0||0||0||24||0
|-
|2009–10||rowspan="3"|Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest F.C.
Nottingham Forest Football Club is an English Association Football club based in West Bridgford, Nottingham, that plays in the Football League Championship...
||10||0||0||0||2||0||12||0
|-
|2010–11||12||0||2||0||1||0||15||0
|-
|2011–12||12||0||0||0||2||0||14||0
116||2||9||0||6||0||131||2
116||2||9||0||6||0||131||2
External links
- Joel Lynch player profile at Nottingham Forest website
- Joel Lynch player profile at Brighton & Hove Albion website