Thomas David Heaton (born 15 April 1986) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Premier League club Manchester United.

Heaton began his career in the Manchester United academy but was unable to break into the first team and spent time on loan with Swindon Town, Royal Antwerp, Cardiff City, Queens Park Rangers, Rochdale, and Wycombe Wanderers, before joining Cardiff permanently after his release by Manchester United in July 2010.

He became a regular in the Under-17 team during the 2002–03 season, and picked up an FA Youth Cup winner's medal despite playing second fiddle to Luke Steele throughout the entire competition.

[7] Heaton spent the 2007–08 season with the first team-squad at Manchester United, appearing on the bench when Edwin van der Sar was out due to injury.

[14] He played in every match until late November, with the exception of the League Cup third round tie against Swansea City, when he was replaced by Enckelman.

[20] On 15 August 2009, Heaton was signed by Queens Park Rangers on an emergency three-month loan deal, the terms of which allowed him to compete in the League Cup.

[28] Meeting with Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson on his future at the club amidst an expiring contract, Heaton declined an offer to stay at Old Trafford, deciding instead to leave on free transfer in pursuit of regular playing time.

[31] After first-choice goalkeeper David Marshall suffered an elbow injury, Heaton established himself as Cardiff's new number one starter.

[37] Despite the successful cup run, Heaton still found himself second string to Marshall and was released at the end of the season after rejecting a new contract in the Welsh capital.

[45] He decided to stay in the Championship, and Burnley offered Heaton a two-year contract attaching him to the club until June 2015, with an option of a third year.

[62] In the same season on 22 January 2017, Heaton made his 150th league appearance for the club as he was beaten by a 97th-minute penalty from Alexis Sánchez that saw Arsenal win 2–1.

[63][64] Heaton signed for newly promoted Premier League club Aston Villa on 1 August 2019 for an undisclosed fee,[65] believed to be £8 million.

[68] On 10 November 2020, after over ten months out, Heaton made his return to football for Aston Villa U23s – in a 2–2 draw away at Burnley U23s in the Premier League 2.

[69] On 26 December 2020, Heaton returned to the first team squad for the first time since his injury, featuring as an unused substitute in a 3–0 home win over Crystal Palace.

[72] On 8 December 2021, Heaton finally made his first-team debut, replacing Dean Henderson in the 68th minute of the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League match against Young Boys.

[74] On 1 February 2023, he started in the second leg of the semi-final against Nottingham Forest, keeping another clean sheet as his team won 2–0 on the night (5–0 on aggregate) to reach the final.

[citation needed] On 21 May 2015, Heaton was called up to the England senior team for the first time ahead of a friendly against the Republic of Ireland and a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying match against Slovenia.

[78] Heaton continued to be included in Roy Hodgson's squads before finally making his debut as an 87th-minute substitute in place of Fraser Forster in England's Euro 2016 warm-up match against Australia, played at Sunderland's Stadium of Light.