| Joe Willock | |
| Full Name: | Joseph George Willock[1] |
| Birth Date: | 20 August 1999[2] |
| Birth Place: | Waltham Forest, England |
| Height: | 1.79m (05.87feet)[3] |
| Position: | Midfielder |
| Currentclub: | Newcastle United |
| Clubnumber: | 28 |
| Youthyears1: | 2014–2017 |
| Youthclubs1: | Arsenal |
| Years1: | 2017–2021 |
| Clubs1: | Arsenal |
| Caps1: | 40 |
| Goals1: | 1 |
| Years2: | 2021 |
| Clubs2: | → Newcastle United (loan) |
| Caps2: | 14 |
| Goals2: | 8 |
| Years3: | 2021– |
| Clubs3: | Newcastle United |
| Caps3: | 73 |
| Goals3: | 6 |
| Nationalyears1: | 2014 |
| Nationalteam1: | England U16 |
| Nationalcaps1: | 2 |
| Nationalgoals1: | 1 |
| Nationalyears2: | 2017–2018 |
| Nationalteam2: | England U19 |
| Nationalcaps2: | 6 |
| Nationalgoals2: | 0 |
| Nationalyears3: | 2018–2019 |
| Nationalteam3: | England U20 |
| Nationalcaps3: | 7 |
| Nationalgoals3: | 4 |
| Nationalyears4: | 2019–2020 |
| Nationalteam4: | England U21 |
| Nationalcaps4: | 4 |
| Nationalgoals4: | 0 |
| Club-Update: | 23:06, 6 April 2024 (UTC) |
Joseph George Willock (born 20 August 1999) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Newcastle United.
A youth product of Arsenal, Willock joined Arsenal at age four-and-a-half, having been allowed to play alongside his older brothers.[4] He made his first-team debut for the club on 20 September 2017 in the EFL Cup against Doncaster Rovers.[5]
Willock made his Premier League debut against Newcastle United on 15 April 2018.[6] He scored his first senior goal on 29 November 2018 in a 3–0 UEFA Europa League victory away at Vorskla Poltava.[7] He then scored his first brace in a 3–0 FA Cup victory away at Blackpool on 5 January 2019.[8]
On 12 September 2019, it was announced that Willock had signed a new long-term contract with Arsenal.[9] [10] On 19 September 2019, he played as Arsenal won 3–0 against Eintracht Frankfurt by scoring a deflected effort to open the scoring in the opening matchday of the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League.[11] Willock scored his first goal at the Emirates Stadium on 24 September 2019 after tapping-in Arsenal's third goal in a 5–0 EFL Cup win over Nottingham Forest, set-up by Héctor Bellerín.[12] On 25 June 2020, he scored his first Premier League goal in a 2–0 win over Southampton.[13]
On 1 February 2021, Willock joined Newcastle United on loan for the remainder of the 2020–21 season.[14] On 6 February, Willock scored in the 16th minute on his debut in a 3–2 win over Southampton.[15] After scoring in three consecutive substitute appearances against Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United and Liverpool,[16] [17] [18] Willock was rewarded with a start against Leicester City, where he was once again on target, scoring the opening goal in a 4–2 win.[19] On 14 May, Willock scored in a 4–3 defeat against Manchester City.[20] On 19 May, he scored in his sixth consecutive league game, becoming the youngest player in Premier League history to do so at the age of 21 years and 272 days, a record previously held by Romelu Lukaku.[21] This was surpassed by Rasmus Højlund on 18 February 2024.[22] Four days later, on the final day of the Premier League season, he scored again to equal the club record of consecutive games scored in, set by Alan Shearer.[23]
On 13 August 2021, Newcastle confirmed the signing of Willock on a six-year contract.[24] The fee was reported to be £25 million.[25] On 19 February 2022, Willock scored his first goal since signing permanently for the club, in a 1–1 draw against West Ham United.[26] The following week, he scored Newcastle's second goal in a 2–0 win over Brentford.[27]
Willock scored for the England under-16 team against Scotland in the 2014 Victory Shield.[28] He also represented the England under-19 team but was one of a number of players withdrawn from selection for the 2018 UEFA European Under-19 Championship by their club.[29]
Willock represented the England under-20 team in the 2018–19 Under 20 Elite League and scored the winning goals in games against Italy[30] and Germany.[31] Willock was a member of an England Under-20 side at the 2019 Toulon Tournament and scored in group stage defeats against Portugal[32] and Chile.[33]
On 30 August 2019, Willock was included in the England under-21 squad for the first time[34] but had to withdraw due to injury.[35] He eventually made his U21 debut on 11 October 2019 during a 2–2 with Slovenia in Maribor.[36]
Willock was born in Walthamstow [37] which is located in Waltham Forest, Greater London.[38] His brothers, Chris and Matty, are also footballers. All three brothers shared a pitch when Manchester United played a reserve game against Arsenal in May 2017.[39] He is of Montserratian descent.[40]
| Season | League | FA Cup | EFL Cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Arsenal | 2017–18 | Premier League | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | |
| 2018–19 | Premier League | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | — | 6 | 3 | |||
| 2019–20 | Premier League | 29 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 2 | — | 44 | 5 | |||
| 2020–21 | Premier League | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 3 | ||
| Total | 40 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 21 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 78 | 11 | |||
| Arsenal U21 | 2018–19 | — | — | — | — | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | ||||||
| Newcastle United (loan) | 2020–21 | Premier League | 14 | 8 | — | — | — | — | 14 | 8 | |||||
| Newcastle United | 2021–22 | Premier League | 29 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 31 | 2 | |||
| 2022–23 | Premier League | 35 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | — | — | 43 | 3 | ||||
| 2023–24 | Premier League | 9 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | 14 | 2 | |||
| Total | 87 | 14 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | 102 | 15 | ||||
| Career total | 125 | 15 | 12 | 2 | 17 | 3 | 23 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 180 | 28 | |||
Arsenal
Newcastle United
Individual
May 2021[46]