Introduction
Luke Matthew Waterfall (born 30 July 1990) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for National League club Lincoln City. He has previously played for Barnsley, Tranmere Rovers, Altricham, Ilkeston Town and Gainsborough Trinity and Scunthorpe United, Macclesfield Town, Mansfield Town and Wrexham.
Career
Born in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, Waterfall started his career with Barnsley and was a regular for their youth and reserve teams in the 2007–08 season. After being released he signed for League One club Tranmere Rovers in July 2008. He made his debut after coming on as a 63rd minute substitute, away to Grimsby Town, in a 2–0 defeat in the League Cup on 12 August 2008. He made his first start in a 1–0 victory over Accrington Stanley in the Football League Trophy on 2 September 2008.
He joined Conference National club Altrincham on loan on 14 October 2008, and made three appearances for the club. He was released by Tranmere at the end of 2008–09 in May 2009. He was handed a one-week trial at Oxford United in July 2009, and after not being offered a contract he started a trial with York City. He came on as a second-half substitute for York in a pre-season friendly against Bradford City, but was not offered a contract by the club.
Waterfall signed for Conference North club Ilkeston Town on 1 August 2009 following a trial and he finished 2009–10 with 43 appearances and 2 goals. He signed for Ilkeston's divisional rivals Gainsborough Trinity in May 2010.
Following three years with Trinity, Waterfall and Terry Hawkridge followed ex Blues chairman Peter Swann to Scunthorpe United.
In January 2015, Waterfall joined Wrexham on an 18-month contract having been released by Scunthorpe. He spent only half a season with Wrexham before joining Lincoln City on a two-year contract in June 2015.
Career statistics
- As of match played 1 January 2017
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Tranmere Rovers | 2008–09 | League One | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Altrincham (loan) | 2008–09 | Conference Premier | 1 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
| Ilkeston Town | 2009–10 | Conference North | 35 | 2 | 5 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | 43 | 2 | |
| Gainsborough Trinity | 2010–11 | Conference North | 36 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | 38 | 1 | |
| 2011–12 | Conference North | 27 | 3 | 1 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | 31 | 3 | ||
| 2012–13 | Conference North | 41 | 4 | 2 | 0 | — | 8 | 1 | 51 | 5 | ||
| Total | 104 | 8 | 4 | 0 | — | 12 | 1 | 120 | 9 | |||
| Scunthorpe United | 2013–14 | League Two | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 |
| 2014–15 | League One | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 | ||
| Macclesfield Town (loan) | 2014–15 | Conference Premier | 17 | 2 | — | — | — | 17 | 2 | |||
| Mansfield Town (loan) | 2014–15 | League Two | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 7 | 0 | ||
| Wrexham | 2014–15 | Conference Premier | 9 | 1 | — | — | 5 | 0 | 14 | 1 | ||
| Lincoln City | 2015–16 | National League | 36 | 6 | 3 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | 40 | 6 | |
| 2016–17 | National League | 25 | 6 | 4 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 29 | 6 | ||
| Total | 61 | 12 | 7 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | 69 | 12 | |||
| Career total | 241 | 26 | 19 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 24 | 1 | 285 | 27 | ||