Josh Sims (footballer)

English footballer

Josh Sims
Personal information
Full name Joshua Samuel Sims[1]
Date of birth (1997-03-28) 28 March 1997 (age 27)[2]
Place of birth Yeovil, England
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)[2]
Position(s) Winger
Team information
Current team
 Yeovil Town
Number 19
Youth career
2011–2015 Southampton
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2021 Southampton 20 (0)
2018–2019 → Reading (loan) 17 (0)
2019–2020 → New York Red Bulls (loan) 10 (0)
2020–2021 → Doncaster Rovers (loan) 28 (1)
2022–2024 Ross County 49 (3)
2024– Yeovil Town 6 (0)
International career‡
2014 England U17 8 (1)
2014–2015 England U18 6 (1)
2017–2019 England U20 8 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 11:20, 8 September 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 12:54, 16 October 2020 (UTC)

Joshua Samuel Sims (born 28 March 1997) is an English professional footballer who plays as a winger for National League side Yeovil Town.

Club career

Southampton

Sims joined Southampton's Academy from the Elite Training Centre in 2011.[3][4] After impressing with the under-23 side, Sims made his professional debut for Southampton on 27 November 2016 against Everton in a Premier League match. He took only a few moments to achieve his first assist of his senior career when he set up Charlie Austin for a headed goal in the first minute. Sims ended the first half with 95% passing accuracy, the best among all players on the pitch, as Southampton went on to win 1–0.[5]

Sims made his Europa League debut for Southampton on 8 December, in a 1–1 draw against Hapoel Be'er Sheva.[6]

Sims continued to stay in the mix for the first team into January and provided the game-winning assist for Shane Long in a 1–0 away win against Liverpool to send Southampton into the 2017 EFL Cup final.[7]

Reading (loan)

On 20 August 2018, Sims joined Reading on a season-long loan.[8] He made his debut for Reading two days later, in a 2–2 away draw with Blackburn Rovers in the Championship. Sims was brought on just after the hour-mark to replace Sone Aluko.[9] He was recalled in January.

New York Red Bulls (loan)

On 7 August 2019, Sims joined New York Red Bulls on loan until the end of the calendar year.[10] On 20 October 2019, Sims scored his first goal as a professional to help New York to a 1–0 lead against Philadelphia Union in the 2019 MLS Cup Playoffs, New York would eventually lose 4–3 in overtime.[11] After appearing in nine matches and scoring one goal, Sims' loan with New York Red Bulls was extended until 30 June 2020.[12]

Doncaster Rovers (loan)

Sims moved to League One side Doncaster Rovers on 16 October 2020 on a three month loan.[13] He scored his first goal for Doncaster, and his first professional goal in English football, in a 2–1 loss to Crewe Alexandra on 24 October 2020.[14] On 27 January 2021, it was announced that Sims had rejoined Doncaster for the remainder of the 2020–21 season.[15]

On 4 June 2021, Southampton confirmed that Sims had been released at the end of the 2020–21 season.[16]

Ross County

On 14 February 2022, Sims signed for Scottish Premiership side Ross County.[17] He left Ross County when his contract expired in July 2024.[18]

Yeovil Town

On 15 August 2024, Sims signed for National League side Yeovil Town.[19]

International career

Sims has represented England at U17 through to U20 level. He was a part of the squad that won the 2014 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship.[20]

Personal life

Sims grew up in the town of Gillingham, Dorset and attended Gillingham School.[21]

At the beginning of January 2022, Sims tested positive for COVID-19, and despite having no symptoms, Sims explained how he 'didn't feel the same' and 'felt fatigued' when playing after returning to Doncaster following a hamstring injury he suffered in December.[22] In late March 2021, Sims suffered a glute injury, which he recovered from, but still suffered from fatigue.[22] Sims explained how he lost his appetite and subsequently lost weight.[22] In April 2021, Sims was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis.[22]

In May 2021, Sims felt unwell and went to hospital, and was diagnosed with myocarditis.[22] He stayed in hospital for three nights before being released.[22] However, within three hours of returning home, Sims couldn't get out of bed and developed 'bad chest pain' and had to go back to hospital for a week due to pericarditis.[22] In late June 2021, Sims was admitted to hospital again as the swelling had moved to his lungs.[22] In early August 2021, Sims started to feel unwell, and woke up one morning with a 'stabbing pain' but has since recovered.[22]

Career statistics

As of match played 7 September 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup[a] League Cup[b] Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Southampton 2015–16[23] Premier League 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2016–17[24] Premier League 7 0 3 0 2 0 1[c] 0 13 0
2017–18[25] Premier League 6 0 1 0 0 0 — 7 0
2018–19[26] Premier League 7 0 0 0 — — 7 0
2019–20[27] Premier League 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 0
2020–21[28] Premier League 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 0
Total 20 0 4 0 2 0 1 0 27 0
Southampton U23 2016–17[24] — — — 3[d] 0 3 0
Reading (loan) 2018–19[26] Championship 17 0 0 0 1 0 – 18 0
New York Red Bulls (loan) 2019[29] Major League Soccer 8 0 0 0 — 1[e] 1 9 1
2020[29] Major League Soccer 2 0 0 0 — 0 0 2 0
Total 10 0 0 0 — 1 1 11 1
Doncaster Rovers (loan) 2020–21[28] League One 28 1 2 2 — 0 0 30 3
Ross County 2021–22[30] Scottish Premiership 1 0 0 0 0 0 — 1 0
2022–23[31] Scottish Premiership 20 0 1 0 5 1 1[f] 0 27 1
2023–24[32] Scottish Premiership 28 3 1 0 6 1 1[g] 0 36 4
Total 49 3 2 0 11 2 2 0 64 5
Yeovil Town 2024–25[29] National League 6 0 0 0 — 0 0 6 0
Career total 130 4 8 2 14 2 7 1 159 9
  1. ^ Includes FA Cup, Scottish Cup
  2. ^ Includes EFL Cup, Scottish League Cup
  3. ^ Appearance in UEFA Europa League
  4. ^ Appearances in EFL Trophy
  5. ^ Appearance in MLS Cup
  6. ^ Appearances in Scottish Premiership play-offs
  7. ^ Appearances in Scottish Premiership play-offs

Honours

Club

Southampton

International

England U-17

References

  1. ^ "Squads for 2016/17 Premier League confirmed". Premierleague.com. 1 September 2016. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  2. ^ a b "Josh Sims". 11v11. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  3. ^ "Sims extends Saints stay until 2018". Southampton Football Club. 4 December 2015. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  4. ^ "Hall of Fame". Elite Training Centre. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  5. ^ "Southampton 1–0 Everton". BBC Sport. 27 November 2016. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  6. ^ Rose, Gary (8 December 2016). "Southampton 1–1 Happoel Be'er Sheva". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
  7. ^ Burt, Jason (25 January 2017). "Saints go marching to Wembley as Shane Long hits sucker punch winner". The Telegraph. London. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  8. ^ "Josh Sims: Reading sign Southampton winger on season-long loan". BBC Sport. 20 August 2018. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  9. ^ "Blackburn Rovers 2–2 Reading". www.readingfc.co.uk. Reading FC. 22 August 2018. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
  10. ^ "Sims agrees New York Red Bulls loan". Southampton F.C. 7 August 2019. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  11. ^ "Philadelphia Union 4, New York Red Bulls 3". philadelphiaunion.com. 20 October 2019. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  12. ^ "New York Red Bulls re-acquire Josh Sims on loan from Southampton". mlssoccer.com. 21 January 2020. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
  13. ^ "Rovers complete Sims deal". Doncaster Rovers F.C. 16 October 2020. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  14. ^ "Doncaster 1–2 Crewe". BBC. 24 October 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  15. ^ "Sims re-joins Doncaster". Southampton FC. 27 January 2021. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  16. ^ "Southampton FC announce 2021 retained list". Southampton FC. 4 June 2021. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  17. ^ "Josh Sims joins Ross County". RCFC. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  18. ^ "Sims leaves County after contract expires". BBC Sport. 10 July 2024. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  19. ^ "Signing | Josh Sims signs for the Glovers". Yeovil Town F.C. 15 August 2024. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  20. ^ "Josh Sims". The FA. Archived from the original on 6 May 2014. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  21. ^ "Gillingham School". www.gillingham-dorset.co.uk. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
  22. ^ a b c d e f g h i Sheldon, Dan (17 November 2022). "'I had this stabbing pain… I thought I it was a heart attack' – Josh Sims explains why he hasn't kicked a ball since May". The Athletic. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  23. ^ "Games played by Josh Sims in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
  24. ^ a b "Games played by Josh Sims in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
  25. ^ "Games played by Josh Sims in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
  26. ^ a b "Games played by Josh Sims in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
  27. ^ "Games played by Josh Sims in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
  28. ^ a b "Games played by Josh Sims in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
  29. ^ a b c "J. Sims: Summary". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
  30. ^ "Games played by Josh Sims in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  31. ^ "Games played by Josh Sims in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  32. ^ "Games played by Josh Sims in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  33. ^ "Report: Southampton 2–1 Blackburn Rovers (Under-21 Premier League Cup final second leg)". Southampton FC. 20 April 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  34. ^ McNulty, Phil (26 February 2017). "Manchester United 3 Southampton 2". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  35. ^ "Sims and England U17s crowned Euro champions!". Southamptonfc.com. Southampton F.C. 21 May 2016.
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Yeovil Town F.C. – current squad