Tom Holmes signs three-year deal with the Royals

Holmes is where the heart is...22-year-old defender commits to the club until 2025

We are delighted to announce that defender Tom Holmes has signed a new contract with Reading Football Club, committing his future to the club with a contract which runs until 2025.

The 22-year-old Academy graduate, who has been with the club since the age of eight, will spend the next three years in blue and white hoops.

Mark Bowen, Head of Football Operations, said: “Tom has had a sharp rise in the past two seasons and quickly established himself as a very important player for Reading at a very young age. He is an intelligent footballer with a lot of the traits that a modern centre-half needs, and importantly he strives to improve all the time. He has his best years ahead of him and we’re delighted that he has committed the next three seasons to this club.”

Local lad Holmes had his first taste of senior-team football back in 2018 when he was handed a surprise start against a Bolton Wanderers side that featured former Royals favourites Jem Karacan and Adam Le Fondre, just six days before his 18th birthday – and he helped the team to a 1-1 draw.

He went on to pick up experience on foreign shores by spending the 2019-20 campaign on loan in Belgium. And upon his return, he quickly established himself as a regular by featuring 40 times in all competitions for the Royals in the 2020-21 campaign – featuring at centre-back and right-back – as we narrowly missed out on a play-off berth in his breakthrough year.

Holmes added a further 34 appearances to his name last year – including captaining a young Royals side in the Carabao Cup at the start of the campaign – taking his total appearance count to 75 at the age of just 22.

His maiden goal at senior level came in December 2021 – and it was worth the wait! Having been denied by some outstanding goalkeeping interventions in his fledgling career, he finally broke his duck against Hull City as he unleashed a bicycle kick to put us ahead against Hull City in front of a packed-out Club 1871 at the Select Car Leasing Stadium.

Three quarters of the way to his century of senior appearances, with countless more to his name during what was more than a decade spent in our youth system…we’re delighted that we’ll see Tom wearing the crest with pride in 2022-23 and beyond.

Manager Paul Ince said, “In my short time here, Tom has shown that he is confident on the ball and can create from the back, as well as being powerful, brave and committed in defending his goal – a blend that makes him a real asset in the modern era. It is easy to forget that he is one of the younger members of the squad because he bears a lot of responsibility on his shoulders and is developing into a real leader, on and off the pitch. I’m delighted that he has chosen to commit to Reading and I’m looking forward to having him on board as we prepare for the challenge of a new season.”