Rob sheds light on Lockyer Incident, his pride, and their special bond

Every 90 minutes - the length of a football match - at least five people in the UK suffer an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Learn CPR in just 15 minutes for free at the British Heart Foundation.

It’s been more than seven months since that harrowing day down at the Vitality Stadium, when promotion-winning captain Tom Lockyer suffered a second severe incident on a football pitch. The first, on a sweltering day in a Wembley play-off final, had fans uncertain of what had happened, which at the time seemed to soften the gravity of the situation. This time at Bournemouth the knowledge of the past made everyone associated with Luton Town and the wider football family fear the worst.

A Luton Town fan holds up a shirt in support of Tom Lockyer who returned to the Vitality Stadium in March for the first time since he suffered a cardiac arrest on the pitch. Credit: Action Images via Reuters.

In an touching interview with Jake Humphrey and Damian Hughes on their High Performance podcast, when asked by Jake what moment he was most proud of last season, Rob shared his memories of the events that transpired that day.

“The most difficult period, and the most challenging period was obviously the time around Tom Lockyer. Nothing can prepare you for that, and that was probably the most challenging, and look I love the guy, but I’m not his fiancé, I’m not his dad who was there in the stadium, he’s one of my team members, and for what he’s done for me and for the football club I’ll always love him. I love him for the person that he is but then it became bigger than football, and more important than football.”

“After what happened at Wembley, I could tell very quickly that this was different. This looked, and it was, so much more serious. So yeah, I just ran on, the players were incredible, Bournemouth’s players as well were incredible, cleared the way and got people on really really quickly, and then the medics were allowed to do their thing. It was harrowing, it was, because it was silent, it was deathly silent.

“Tom’s fiancé was then on the touchline, people were trying to comfort her, and the medics were working on him, and it’s really difficult. Now the games’ gone, once they brought him round, once they restarted his heart, then it took a while and they got him off, I’ve got to be honest then I was a wreck inside.”

On the events that happened in the dressing room once the players’ had been taken off of the pitch:

“I remember speaking to the players and saying ‘look, I’m supposed to lead you now, I’m supposed to know what to say, but I don’t, there’s another half an hour of a game to be played, I can’t lead you in that, I can’t right now’.

“The lads were incredible, I was checking in on Tom and then some of the players said to the staff ‘we can do it now, we can do it for him right now’, there was one or two of the lads that felt like that, but then some of the lads, I could see it, were spaced out and not with it. It wasn’t the right thing, in that moment, for their players as well, everybody, but yeah, I needed everyone, I needed the staff, Gary as well to be able to manage that whole situation because it had affected me right there and right then.

“I needed a few days to try and make some sense of it, but what helped was fairly immediately after I was able to go to the hospital and sit up and see him and give him a hug and see that he was okay, and that helped me that night within an hour or two. Once I knew he was okay I was able to start dealing with it.”

Despite an extremely difficult day for all involved, as Rob alluded to earlier in the interview, the world doesn’t stop. This meant that everyone, and in particular Rob, his coaching staff, and the players, had to carry on an prepare for another big Premier League fixture the following weekend, welcoming Newcastle United to Kenilworth Road. Speaking about the events the followed, Rob highlighted the steps the Club took to ensure everyone was given the correct support and allowed to deal with the aftermath in their own way.

“It was difficult. Once we knew he was okay, and he was on the mend, and then he was going to be getting moved and in great hands, that eased the worry. The plan was always to give everyone a couple of days after that game anyway because the way the schedule worked, we were going to have a couple of days off anyway and get ready for the next game, which was Newcastle, we ended up sticking with that plan.

“I needed a day or two, obviously there’d be some calls and text messages, but I think everyone needed a little bit of time. But then I remember speaking to Gary our CEO into the second day, and he was great and wanted to help but he was also saying ‘look Rob, we need you now as well, and the lads will need you as well,’ and that sticks with me I remember that conversation really well, I thought ‘okay, yeah I know, and I’ll be okay, I’ll be fine to do that.’

“We wanted to be able to support the boys so we had Sporting Chance that came in, we had that organised so that we could get professional help, if needed, we didn’t want to force it on anyone, but we want to say look we’re here if needed, there’s numbers. I think one or two people leaned on that as well, I think everyone deals with it differently.

Tom Lockyer celebrates scoring during the Hatters’ league win at Everton. Credit: Action Images via Reuters.

On his communication with the players in the build up to that game at Newcastle:

“The way I then dealt with it was when we got everyone back in a couple days later, I wanted to talk about Tom. I wanted to talk about what he means to me, and how then we were going to move forward. So, the first thing was right ‘he’s okay, this is where he’s at at the moment’ to reassure a few people. Some of the lads would’ve heard from him and texted him, some of them were his closest mates, but some of them wouldn’t have as much information on it, so ‘he’s okay, he’s in good hands.’

“Then I wanted to talk about him, and him as a man. What I didn’t want to do, and I think I said this in the press, I didn’t want to be selfish with it and try and use it as fuel or motivation to try and win a game of football, I thought that was selfish and I didn’t think it was the right way to be, I’d never want to do that. But I knew Tom would want us to win, and I knew the lads were still competitive beasts and we’re going into a game of football we’ve got to: we want to try and win a game of football.

“But I want to talk about him and about what he means to me and what he embodies as a person, I wanted us to try and use that, what he is, he’s not the quickest, he’s not the biggest, he’s not the best technical player in the world, but he’s fought to get himself from the National League, to be captain in the Premier League, scoring a goal at Goodison Park, he is someone who makes the absolute most out of what he has got. He’s brave, he’s the bravest person I know, and he’s honest, he’s determined, he’s a fighter, and I wanted us to embody what he is.

“I spoke about that with the players, you won’t be surprised I got emotional again, because my wife hammers me as all I seem to be doing is crying these last 18 months, so I opened up a little and talked about embodying what Tom is, but also being careful to not use it as a selfish motivation tool or something, and I think after that it was good, I managed to get a few things of my chest, talk about him, we all knew he was alright and then it was like ‘alright okay let’s focus, let’s get on with what the job is here, he would want us to try and win this game: let’s go and do it.’”

Gratefully, six weeks later, after a culmination of elite medical care that meant Lockyer could fully recover at home with his family, he returned to Kenilworth Road for the first time to a rapturous applause from the Hatters’ faithful before the match against Brighton & Hove Albion. That evening led to arguably the Club’s best result during that Premier League season, with Rob having the same view:

“One of the best days for us last year was the Brighton game at home, so he was there for that game, he went out before the game around the stadium. That was the first time all of our supporters were able to see him again up on his feet, he could get the love and support that he deserved, and we backed that up with a great performance and a really good win that night, it was phenomenal night for the club, for him, and it was really really good.”

Tom Lockyer returning before the Hatters’ 4-0 win at home to Brighton & Hove Albion. Credit: REUTERS.

Later in the interview, Rob was shown a video message recorded in advance by Tom Lockyer, where he was asked to describe Rob Edwards. In the message, Tom shared his love for his manager, for what he’s done for him and his family, for his humility in the work he’s done at both Forest Green Rovers and Luton Town, and ending with his hope ‘to run through brick walls for him again in the future’. In response, Rob highlighted just what Tom also means to him:

“He’s really special to me, and I do think we have got a really special bond but it’s lovely to hear that from someone like him, because that’s ultimately how I’d really like to be remembered, by people that I’ve worked with, it’s nice to hear, it means a lot.

“I always want him around wherever I am, I genuinely love the guy, as a person, I will never ever forget what he’s done, not just for the club, for me as well. He played probably the biggest part in that team that got promoted to the Premier League. He played about eight to ten minutes that day at Wembley, but he played the biggest part for us that year in the promotion. Not just what he did on the pitch, but how he’d led the group off it, the standards that he set.”

Expanding on just what makes Tom Lockyer a captain, Rob said:

“He’s honest, when he speaks he speaks with the authority of a 50-year-old manager who I think has got way more experience than me. Sometimes I think ‘flippin’ heck Tom you could come and do what I do now’, he’s eloquent, he knows the right tone to hit, and I think for a player it’s fairly rare that to be able to nail every single time.

“He knows when to be quiet, he knows when to listen, but he just has such high standards, whether that was in training, matchday before the game, I wasn’t privy to them all but on a matchday the lads would do their warmup and then they’d do their huddle and sometimes Richie or Trolls my assistants would come in and go ‘wow what Locks said today’, yeah he’s leader.”

Now, ahead of the 2024/25 Championship season, the Hatters’ fans remain unsure what the future holds for Tom Lockyer. Despite what the Luton captain may want to try to do, there may be recommendations on what is the best course of action for his health.

Now with a baby daughter, family is most important and either way we remain grateful for everyone involved who has contributed to his recovery. Regardless of what comes of Locks’ playing career, one thing is certain: he will always be remembered as the (playing) captain who achieved the unthinkable, Luton Town’s return to the Premier League, and for that we’ll always be thankful.

Every 90 minutes - the length of a football match - at least five people in the UK suffer an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Learn CPR in just 15 minutes for free at the British Heart Foundation.

Watch the interview in full here, or go to High Performance to listen to more interviews.