Tom Cleverley

Early career

Tom Cleverley was born in Basingstoke, Hampshire, but grew up in Bradford, West Yorkshire. He went to Hanson School. He was part of Bradford City's youth set-up, but joined Manchester United as an 11-year-old trainee in July 2000. During the 2005–06 season, he made nine appearances for the under-18 team. He was also a substitute for the reserve team's 4–1 away win over Everton on 21 February 2006. His first appearance for the reserves came in a 0–0 away draw to Bolton Wanderers almost a year later, on 15 February 2007, by which time he had become a regular in the under-18 team. However, just over a month later, he suffered a long-term injury and was ruled out for seven months. He returned to action in October 2007, playing for the reserves in a 1–1 home draw with Liverpool. The 2007–08 season marked Cleverley's emergence as a regular in the Manchester United reserve team, making 21 appearances as the team went on to win both the Manchester Senior Cup and the Lancashire Senior Cup, in which he scored in the final against Liverpool. He also scored his first goals in a Manchester United shirt on 23 January 2008, when he scored both of United's goals in a 2–0 away win over Bolton Wanderers in the Premier Reserve League. His consistent performances for the reserves earned him the captaincy of the team in the absence of regular captain Sam Hewson, as well as a nomination for the Denzil Haroun Reserve Player of the Year award – he lost out to Richard…

England U20

Cleverley was called up to Noel Blake's England under-20 team for the first time on 12 March 2009. However, following a dislocated shoulder suffered while on loan at Leicester City a few days later, he was forced to withdraw from the squad and was replaced by Leeds United midfielder Adam Clayton. Cleverley eventually made his Under-20 debut on 11 August 2009 in a 5–0 friendly win over Montenegro at The Hawthorns, missing an early penalty but going on to score two-second-half goals.

England U21

Cleverley made his England U-21 debut as substitute for Junior Stanislas in a 2–1 win away to Macedonia on 4 September 2009.

Great Britain Olympic team

On 2 July 2012, Cleverley was named in Stuart Pearce's 18-man Great Britain squad for the 2012 Summer Olympics. On 20 July 2012, Cleverley played in a warm up match for the Olympics at the Riverside Stadium in Middlesbrough against Brazil national under-23 football team. The match finished 2–0 to Brazil, with Cleverley playing the full match. He played the full match in the tournament's opening fixture against Senegal; which ended 1–1. In the second group match against the United Arab Emirates, Cleverley was instrumental in GB's victory. He set up the winner with a through-ball for Daniel Sturridge and generally impressed with his range of passing.

England senior team

In August 2011, he was called up to the England senior team by Fabio Capello for a friendly against the Netherlands. but…

Watford

Following the dismissal of Watford manager Valérien Ismaël on 9 March 2024, Cleverley was named as interim head coach. On 16 March, in his first match in charge, he guided Watford to a 1–0 away win against Birmingham City. On 24 April 2024, Cleverley was given the head coach role on a permanent basis having lost only once in his seven matches in interim charge. On 6 May 2025, he was dismissed from his role as head coach of Watford.

Plymouth Argyle

On 13 June 2025, Cleverley signed a three-year contract as head coach of League One side Plymouth Argyle. Despite a poor start to the season that saw the club pick up thirteen points from the first fourteen matches, the club issued a statement on 29 October to confirm that they continued to defend Cleverley and that he remained the 'right person' for the job. The club's fortunes changed in the second half of the season, a run of thirteen points from five unbeaten matches seeing Cleverley named EFL League One Manager of the Month for March 2026 as Plymouth continued to push for the play-offs.

Growing up, Cleverley suffered from a childhood speech impediment and was given a nickname, "Chunks". In October 2011, Cleverley accepted substantial undisclosed libel damages over a false claim made by The Sun newspaper the previous August that he had "badgered" a girl for sex in Blackpool. Cleverley was at home with his girlfriend in Manchester when the newspaper said the incident had occurred. In 2012, Cleverley began dating The Only Way is Essex television personality Georgina Dorsett. They had a daughter in 2013 and married at Claridge's hotel in London in 2015. Their son was born in 2016. In October 2015, Cleverley was present in his house, with his wife and baby daughter, when he was burgled by armed thieves. Watches, designer handbags, jewellery and two Range Rovers were stolen.