Bristol Rovers have agreed a deal with Bolton Wanderers to sign goalkeeper Luke Southwood, Bristol Live understands, with the 27-year-old set to come in as the Gas’ new number one.
Southwood played 26 times for the Whites across all competitions last season as he closely competed with Nathan Baxter, who has since joined Championship club Watford, for the number one shirt at the Toughsheet Community Stadium.
Although born in Oxford, Southwood has been capped at senior level by Northern Ireland and was most recently on the bench for their friendlies against Denmark and Iceland earlier this month. Due to being part of that camp, he was given an extended break by Bolton.
As well as being from Oxford, the goalkeeper has previously played in the West Country, spending two seasons at Cheltenham Town where he worked alongside current Rovers head coach Darrell Clarke. He also had a loan spell at Bath City as a youngster.
Southwood spent the 2022/23 campaign on loan from Reading before joining the Robins permanently and playing all 46 of their League One matches the following season. He then joined Bolton last summer following Cheltenham’s relegation to League Two.
Reading is where the 27-year-old got his first taste of regular EFL football, having come through the youth ranks at the Royals as well as having loan spells in the National League and the Scottish Premiership. The goalkeeper made 25 Championship appearances in the 2021/22 season.
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