Liam Michael Sercombe (born 25 April 1990) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Forest Green Rovers.
Career
Exeter City Sercombe came through the youth ranks at Exeter City, and signed a full professional contract with the club in June 2007.
Sercombe made a number of appearances at reserve team level before making his debut on 11 August 2007 against Altrincham in the Conference National, coming on after just 11 minutes to replace the injured Andy Taylor. Exeter went on to win the match 4–1. Sercombe made seven appearances that season, helping Exeter win promotion to League Two after a five-year absence, as they beat Torquay United in the play-off semi-finals, and then Cambridge United 1–0 in the final at Wembley Stadium.
Sercombe began to play more regularly the following season and scored his first goal on 21 October 2008 as Exeter beat Port Vale 3–1 at Vale Park."Port Vale 1–3 Exeter" Exeter City F.C. 18 May 2008. Retrieved 9 April 2012. He scored his second goal for the club in a 2–1 away win against Luton Town."Luton 1–2 Exeter" Exeter City F.C. 7 March 2009. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
Exeter achieved successive promotions, and Sercombe helped them seal promotion as they beat Rotherham United 1–0 away on the final day of the 2008–09 season, manager Paul Tisdale guiding Exeter to League One for only the fourth time in their 105-year history."Rotherham 0–1 Exeter" Exeter City F.C. 2 May 2009. Retrieved 9 April 2012. Sercombe scored just once in the 2009–10 season, in a 2–2 draw against Wycombe Wanderers on 20 March 2010."Wycombe 2–2 Exeter" Exeter City F.C. 20 March 2010. Retrieved 9 April 2012. He scored his first goal of the 2010–11 season in a 5–1 win against Sheffield Wednesday;"Exeter 5–1 Sheff Wed" Exeter City F.C. 18 December 2010. Retrieved 9 April 2012. he scored two further goals that season, in a 3–1 win against Charlton Athletic,"Charlton 1–3 Exeter" Exeter City F.C. 19 February 2010. Retrieved 9 April 2012. and a 1–1 draw against Tranmere Rovers."Exeter 1–1 Tranmere" Exeter City F.C. 1 March 2010. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
On 9 April 2012, Sercombe scored twice as Exeter beat Leyton Orient 3–0 at St James Park."Exeter 3–0 Leyton Orient" BBC Sport. 9 April 2012. Retrieved 9 April 2012. The following game, he scored in a 3–2 defeat to relegation rivals Rochdale. He had given Exeter a 2–0 lead at the time, but Rochdale scored three times in the last 10 minutes of the game to win the game 3–2."Rochdale 3–2 Exeter" BBC Sport. 14 April 2012. Retrieved 21 April 2012. Sercombe scored again the following game, this time in a 4–2 home win against Walsall."Exeter 4–2 Walsall" BBC Sport. 21 April 2012. Retrieved 21 April 2012. On 28 April, he scored for the fourth game in a row; however, Exeter lost the game 4–1 to Carlisle United and were relegated from League One."Carlisle 4–1 Exeter" BBC Sport. 28 April 2012. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
Oxford United On 13 May 2015, Sercombe signed a two-year contract with Oxford United after his contract expired with former club Exeter City."Liam Sercombe: Oxford United sign Exeter midfielder" BBC Sport. 13 May 2015. Retrieved 13 May 2015. He scored a career-best total of 17 goals from the centre of midfield in his first season, helping the Us secure promotion to League One. His goals included a penalty in a memorable 3–2 home win over Swansea City of the Premier League in the third round of the FA Cup. In November the following season he ruptured his medial knee ligament and was expected to miss the rest of the season, but his recovery was quicker than expected and he returned to first-team action as a substitute against Rotherham United in an FA Cup third-round victory on 4 January 2017. In February 2017 he scored Oxford's opening goal in a 2–1 away victory over local rivals Swindon Town.
He appeared at Wembley Stadium in the 2016 Football League Trophy Final, in which Oxford lost 3–2 to Barnsley, and scored his side's only goal in the final of the same competition the following year, a 2–1 defeat to Coventry City.
Bristol Rovers
After being sidelined by Oxford for undisclosed "disciplinary reasons", on 31 May 2017 Sercombe signed with Bristol Rovers for an undisclosed six-figure fee believed to be in the region of £150,000.
Sercombe made his debut on the opening day in a 1–0 defeat to Charlton Athletic. The following Tuesday Sercombe started in an EFL Cup game against Cambridge United in which Rovers won 4–1 with Sercombe scoring the fourth goal.
At the end of the 2019–20 season, after a successful spell at the club, Sercombe was released by Bristol Rovers.
Cheltenham Town Following his release from Bristol Rovers, Cheltenham Town announced the signing of Sercombe on 4 August 2020. He made his debut for Cheltenham by scoring the winning goal in a 1–0 EFL Cup away victory over Peterborough United in September 2020.
Sercombe signed a new one-year deal with the club at the end of the 2021–22 season. During the 2023/24 season, Sercombe finished as Cheltenham's top goalscorer, with 11 goals. On 22 May 2024, the club announced he would be leaving in the summer when his contract expired. Sercombe left Cheltenham
Forest Green Rovers On 24 May 2024, Sercombe agreed to join National League side Forest Green Rovers upon the expiration of his Cheltenham Town contract.
On 13 November 2025, Sercombe joined National League South club Weston-super-Mare on a one-month loan. On 8 May 2026, Forest Green announced it was releasing the player.
Career statistics
+Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueFA CupLeague CupOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsExeter City2007–08Conference National7000—00702008–09League Two2920000002922009–10League One28110101Appearances in Football League Trophy03112010–11League One4231010504932011–12League One3372010003672012–13League Two2011010102312013–14League Two4451010104752014–15League Two404100000414Total2432370508026323Oxford United2015–16League Two451452216058172016–17League One30340217Appearances in EFL Trophy1435Total7517924213110122Bristol Rovers2017–18League One42811312248122018–19League One3942010504742019–20League One221611031223Total10313925110312719Cheltenham Town2020–21League Two3872121004292021–22League One4133020004632022–23League One4111010534842023–24League One45111010204911Total1652271617318527Forest Green Rovers2024–25National League354110030395Career total6217933620441770596
Honours Exeter City Football League Two second-place promotion: 2008–09 Conference Premier play-offs: 2008
Oxford United Football League Two second-place promotion: 2015–16 Football League Trophy / EFL Trophy runner-up: 2015–16, 2016–17
Cheltenham Town EFL League Two: 2020–21
Individual Bristol Rovers Player of the Year: 2017–18 Cheltenham Town Player of the Year: 2023–24
References
External links