Joshua John Francis Earl (born 24 October 1998) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for Fleetwood Town.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Joshua John Francis Earl[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1998-10-24) 24 October 1998 (age 24)[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Southport, England | ||
| Height | 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Defender | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Fleetwood Town | ||
| Number | 32 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2007–2017 | Preston North End | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2017–2022 | Preston North End | 67 | (1) |
| 2017 | → Lancaster City (loan) | 6 | (0) |
| 2019–2020 | → Bolton Wanderers (loan) | 9 | (0) |
| 2020 | → Ipswich Town (loan) | 7 | (0) |
| 2021 | → Burton Albion (loan) | 8 | (0) |
| 2022– | Fleetwood Town | 16 | (1) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:49, 4 November 2022 (UTC) | |||
Earl joined Preston North End at the age of nine and signed a scholarship in July 2015. He featured for the youth team as a defender midfielder and striker. He was also part of the side that reached the FA Youth Cup quarter-finals and scored two goals during the campaign.[3] Earl signed his first professional deal in April 2017.[4]
On 19 August 2017, Earl made his debut in a 1–0 win over Reading. He was called into the side after Greg Cunningham was ruled out due to injury.[5]
On 24 March 2017, Earl joined Northern Premier League Division One North champions Lancaster City on loan for the remainder of the season.[6] Earl made his debut off the bench in a 3–0 win at Radcliffe Borough the following day.[7]
On 3 August 2019, Earl joined League One side Bolton Wanderers on loan until January 2020.[8] He made his debut in a 2–0 defeat at Wycombe Wanderers the same day but had to be substituted after 15 minutes due to an injury[9] which kept him out of action for three months.[10] He returned to the bench on 19 October for Bolton's 1–3 defeat against Rochdale[11] and started in the next game, Bolton's first win of the season, on 22 October, a 2–0 away win against Bristol Rovers.[12]
On 13 January 2020, Earl joined League One side Ipswich Town on loan until the end of the 2019–20 season.[13] He made his debut on 8 February, featuring as a second-half substitute in a 1–0 loss to Sunderland.[14] He made 7 appearances before returning to Preston on 4 May.[15]
On 1 February 2021, Earl was loaned out again, this time joining League One side Burton Albion until the end of the season.[16]
On 27 June 2022, Earl joined League One club Fleetwood Town on a two-year contract[17] after his contract was terminated by mutual consent.[18]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Preston North End | 2017–18[19] | Championship | 19 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 20 | 0 | |
| 2018–19[20] | Championship | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 16 | 0 | ||
| 2019–20[21] | Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2020–21[22] | Championship | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 7 | 0 | ||
| Total | 38 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 0 | ||
| Lancaster City (loan) | 2016–17 | NPL Division One North | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | |
| Bolton Wanderers (loan) | 2019–20[21] | League One | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| Ipswich Town (loan) | 2019–20[21] | League One | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| Burton Albion (loan) | 2020–21[22] | League One | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Career total | 62 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 69 | 0 | ||
Lancaster City
Fleetwood Town F.C. – current squad | |
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