TOM FLANAGAN

Full Name: Thomas Michael Flanagan

Born: 21 October 1991

Came from: Milton Keynes Dons   Went to: Milton Keynes Dons

First game: 10 January 2015   Last game: 31 January 2015

Appearances: 4 (4/0)   Goals: 0

Born in Hammersmith, the 6ft 4in centre-back began an apprenticeship at Milton Keynes Dons in 2008 and captained their under-18 team in January 2010 whilst a second year scholar. His Football League debut came as an 82nd minute substitute a month later, and that summer he accepted his first professional contract.

In January 2011 Flanagan was loaned to Kettering Town for two months, and then in the summer of 2012 he signed a six-month loan deal with Gillingham, although the arrangement ended in the November after he broke a bone in his foot in a training ground accident. Only a few days earlier Flanagan had won his first international cap for Northern Ireland in the under-21's 2-0 defeat by England. (Although born in London, his ancestry allowed him to play for the province's national side.)

Another loan deal in March 2013 saw Flanagan move to Barnet for the remainder of the season, but it wasn't enough to prevent the north London club from dropping out of the Football League. A year later, in March 2014, he was loaned to fellow League One side Stevenage, again for the remainder of the season, but the arrangement was cut short when he was recalled in the last week of April because of injuries at Stadium MK.

Flanagan came to Home Park on a one-month loan from MK Dons in January 2015. The 23-year-old, having had five years' experience of first team football including 45 appearances for the Dons and 48 for his other four loan clubs, was brought in as cover for the injured Peter Hartley, but the loan coincided with a poor run of form for Argyle. The defender did not play in a winning side in his four appearances, and with Hartley returning to full fitness, Flanagan returned to Buckinghamshire at the end of his loan spell.

In August 2015 Flanagan joined Burton Albion on a one-year deal following his release from MK Dons, having made no further appearances for them. He ended up playing three seasons for the Brewers, making 82 appearances and scoring twice before being released at the end of the 2017-18 season, following the club's relegation from the Championship.

In July 2018 he joined Sunderland and five months later returned to Home Park to help the Black Cats win 2-0. In July 2020 he signed a two-year contract extension at the Stadium of Light.

In three-and-a-half League One seasons on Wearside, he made 115 appearances and scored five before moving to Shrewsbury on the last day of the January 2022 transfer window. He spent the next three seasons at the New Meadow, playing 81 times and scoring twice.

In July 2024 he then signed a one-year contract with League Two Colchester United, and was made club captain ahead of the 2024-25 season.