Thomas Christopher Ince (born 30 January 1992) is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder, left winger or forward for EFL Championship club Watford.

[4] His father Paul played professional football at a high level with England, Inter Milan, Manchester United and Liverpool.

He made his debut for Liverpool on 22 September 2010 as a 106th-minute substitute for Daniel Pacheco in the club's third round League Cup defeat to Northampton Town at Anfield.

[11] At the end of December 2010, Ince said that joining his father at Notts County had benefited him as he had "got a bit lost" at Liverpool, who had tried to change his style of play.

[14] Ultimately, Ince declined to sign a new contract with Liverpool and so he left the club on a free transfer at the end of the season.

[15][16] As Blackpool had been relegated from the Premier League at the end of the 2010–11 season, Ince thus dropped down to the Championship to join the club, who were managed by Ian Holloway.

[19] In the Championship play-off final at Wembley on 19 May 2012, he scored an equaliser against West Ham United but Blackpool lost the match 2–1.

Following the game, manager Ian Holloway revealed that Blackpool had received an offer from an unknown club, but that Ince had committed his future to the Seasiders after talking to his father.

In December 2012, it was reported that Ince's form was attracting the attention of his former club Liverpool, who were preparing a bid of £4 million in the January transfer window.

[33] Despite agreeing personal terms and passing a medical with Cardiff City, Ince turned down the move on 12 July to stay in Blackpool with his newborn child.

In his first ten league games of the 2013–14 season, Ince scored six goals as the team moved into fourth place in The Championship.

[36] However, he then went on a lean streak and scored just one goal in his next thirteen league matches, the equaliser in a 1–1 draw against Leeds United on 26 December 2013.

[50] Ince made his debut on 8 February 2014, playing 90 minutes and scoring the first of three goals for Crystal Palace on the day, in a 3–1 win against West Bromwich Albion.

He was an unused substitute for the next six Premier League matches, as manager Tony Pulis preferred to play Yannick Bolasie and Jason Puncheon on the wings.

With his contract expiring at Blackpool and Ince unwilling to take up the option of a third year, clubs began to show an interest in signing him.

[52] He said that "after lengthy discussions with my family I have decided that my immediate future in the game lies in the Premier League" although he "still had ambitions to one day play in Europe".

Likewise, although the history and memories from his father's time at Inter Milan were attractive, the club was in a transitional period – "they weren't trying to challenge up at the top again, and it was a rebuilding process.

He also came off the bench in both legs of the Europa League play-off round against Belgian side Sporting Lokeren; sandwiched between those matches, he started in a 1–1 draw against Stoke City on 24 August.

[53] On 30 October 2014, having played in only three of Hull's nine league matches of the season thus far, Ince signed on loan with Championship side Nottingham Forest until 28 December.

He came off the bench two days later in a 1–0 defeat to Leicester and then started against Arsenal in the FA Cup on 4 January, a match Hull lost 2–0.

[68] The next four games saw more good performances for Ince but no goals: he hit the post, had a free kick "brilliantly" saved by Sheffield Wednesday keeper Keiren Westwood, narrowly curled an effort wide and won a penalty in a 3–2 win against Wednesday on 21 February;[69] was a "constant threat" and placed a shot just wide in a 2–0 win against Charlton Athletic on 24 February;[70] was twice denied by deflections late in the second half of a 2–0 defeat to Fulham on 28 February;[71] and missed several chances in a 2–0 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion on 3 March that saw Derby register 19 attempts at goal.

He had injured his ankle but it was not as bad as first feared[79] and although he missed the next two League matches against Rotherham United and QPR, he returned to the team for the East Midlands derby against his former club Nottingham Forest on 6 November.

[81] The result moved Derby up to third in the table and manager Paul Clement praised Ince, saying that "he's been a little bit inconsistent by his standards so far this season so it was a very good performance from him and will be brilliant for his confidence.

His man-of-the-match performance also saw him provide three good chances, for teammates Bradley Johnson, Chris Martin and Johnny Russell, as well as have a 25-yard free-kick saved by Ipswich goalie Dean Gerken.

[83] He missed two good opportunities in the next match, a 2–0 win over Fulham on Boxing Day,[84] but atoned against fierce rivals Leeds United on 29 December.

[88] On 4 July 2017, Ince signed for newly promoted Premier League club Huddersfield Town on an initial three-year contract for an undisclosed fee.

[95] Despite a change of manager, Ince continued to struggle to have an impact on the team and came in for heavy criticism after an anonymous performance against Wigan Athletic 30 June 2020 where he completed just one pass in 57 minutes.

[99] Five days later, he made his debut for the Hatters as a substitute for Harry Cornick in a 1–1 home league draw against Huddersfield Town.

On 29 August 2012 he was called up to the Under 21 squad by manager Stuart Pearce for the European Championship qualifying games against Azerbaijan on 1 September and Norway four days later.

I felt at the time I hadn't really played a lot of club football, and I'd been getting banded from pillar to post, and needed a summer off to settle down, and plan my next move.