Luke Ivan Varney (born 28 September 1982) is a former English professional footballer who played as a striker. Across his career he had spells with 11 different teams.
He began his career with non-League club Quorn, a club in his home county of Leicestershire, before moving to league football with Crewe Alexandra. His performances during Crewe's 2006–07 campaign, where he was named in the League One "Team of the Year" despite Crewe's finishing only mid-table and scoring against Manchester United in the League Cup saw him come to the attentions of bigger clubs and consecutive £1m-plus transfers to the Championship followed, as he joined Charlton Athletic and then Derby County. He had made over 200 league appearances, and scored his 50th career league goal, and career first top-flight goal, in the Premier League, with a 76th-minute strike against Fulham on his debut for Blackpool.
Career
Crewe Alexandra
Varney was born in Leicester and played for Leicester youth up front and began his career as a semi-professional footballer at non-league level with Quorn before being spotted by Crewe's scout Darryl Finney. The Englishman signed for the Railwaymen in 2003 and spent four years at the club, appearing in 95 league games and scoring 27 goals. Varney signed for Crewe Alexandra from non-league Quorn in 2003 for £50,000. Varney's deal also had a 20% sell-on clause with the Leicestershire club. Whilst at Quorn, he worked as a quality controller at a factory. Varney made his Crewe debut five months later in a 3–1 away defeat to Wimbledon. The young Englishman also managed to get his first goal for the club four games after his debut in Crewe's 3–1 away win over Crystal Palace, Dean Ashton scoring the other two goals for The Railwaymen. Unfortunately, Varney picked up a shoulder injury during January 2004, denying him a chance of making any further appearances during the rest of the 2003–04 season.
Varney recovered from his injury in time for the following season, making 26 appearances for Crewe, scoring four goals in those appearances. The striker also picked up two yellow cards during the course of the year. He became more involved in the first team during the 2004–05 season, making 27 appearances and scoring five goals.
In 2006, Crewe Alexandra were relegated to League One. Varney would make his name during the 2006–07 season, scoring 25 goals in all competitions during the season, which saw the Englishman take the honour of the League's third top goalscorer. Varney also formed a notable partnership with Nicky Maynard, as the two became League One's most productive partnership, scoring a total of 44 goals between them.
However, it was Varney's performance against Manchester United in the League Cup that gained attention from the bigger clubs as during the weeks following the game, which saw Varney score the goal that forced extra time, FA Premier League clubs such as Portsmouth were reported to be interested in signing him. On the contrary, however, Varney himself played down any talk of him moving clubs. Varney's season however was cut short in March 2007 after breaking his toe in Crewe's 1–1 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion.
Charlton Athletic
Varney completed a move to Charlton Athletic for £2 million in May 2007 with a percentage of the fee going to Quorn, rising to £2.5 million depending on appearances. Charlton manager Alan Pardew commented that "Luke is an exciting young player and perfectly fits the mould of a Charlton player". "The deal was done very quickly" Dario Gradi recalled, "Alan [Pardew] rang me out of the blue really and asked me about Luke. It was a surprise because I had no indication that they were interested before. I said what we wanted for him and then we discussed his strengths and his weaknesses" he added. Varney's first goal for the Addicks came against Leicester City in September 2007, the club he had supported as a boy. Varney scored eight goals in 39 league appearances. In the 2008–09 season, Varney made a further 18 league appearances, scoring twice, joining Derby County on loan.