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What religion is Ivan Toney?
Ivan Toney is an English professional footballer who is a practicing Christian. He was raised as a devout Christian by his mother, Lisa. Toney also has a large tattoo of the Ten Commandments on his back and a cross tattoo on his neck.
Ivan Toney plays as a striker for Saudi Pro League club Al-Ahli and the England national team. He is a product of the Northampton Town youth academy. In 2015, he joined Premier League club Newcastle United before spending several spells on loan and eventually moving to Peterborough United permanently in 2018. Brentford F.C. then signed him in 2020, where he scored a record-breaking 31 Championship goals to secure promotion. Following a highly successful Premier League stint, Al-Ahli signed him in 2024 for a transfer worth £40 million.
Toney’s personal achievements include winning the EFL League One Golden Boot, being named League One Player of the Season, winning the EFL Championship Golden Boot, and being included in both the PFA Team of the Year for League One and the Championship. He has also represented England at the senior international level, most notably playing at UEFA Euro 2024 and the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Betting case
The Football Association charged Ivan Toney with 262 betting breaches between February 2017 and January 2021. The FA later dropped 30 of the charges, and Toney admitted to the remaining 232. His actions included placing 13 bets on his own team to lose across seven different matches while out on loan. However, he did not actually play in any of those games. He also admitted to telling a friend that he would start a match before that news was made public, and he lied to investigators when first questioned.
An independent panel banned him from all football activities for eight months and fined him £50,000. The panel initially planned an 11-month ban but cut it by three months after a medical report diagnosed Toney with a gambling addiction. They also took into account his young age, his guilty plea, and his clear regret. He was not allowed to train with Brentford for the first four months of the ban. He finally returned to full training in September 2023 and started playing matches again in January 2024.
Early life
Ivan Benjamin Elijah Toney was born on March 16, 1996, in Northampton, England. He is of Vincentian descent through his father and Jamaican descent through his mother, Lisa. He was raised by his mother alongside his two sisters and two half-brothers.
Ivan Toney started his career at his local club, Northampton Town, and at the age of just 16, he became the youngest player to feature for the first team when he made his debut in 2012.
Club career
Toney made 60 appearances across all competitions for Northampton, scoring 13 goals, before his move to the Premier League in 2015.
Newcastle United
In August 2015, Newcastle signed Toney from League Two side Northampton for an undisclosed fee. He made his debut for the club later that month as a substitute in a 4–1 cup win over his old team. He played his first Premier League match in September 2015 as a late substitute in a 2-2 draw with Chelsea.
Toney played only four games for Newcastle’s first team during his time there. He found it hard to win a starting spot over the club’s main strikers under manager Rafael Benítez. Because of this, Newcastle sent him out on several loans to get more experience. He had two spells at Barnsley, where he won a cup and earned promotion. He also went on loan to Shrewsbury Town, Wigan Athletic, and Scunthorpe United, helping Scunthorpe reach the playoffs twice.
Peterborough United
Toney signed for the League One club, Peterborough United, on 9 August 2018, on a long-term contract for a reported fee of around £650,000. He immediately became the main striker for the team. During his first season, Toney finished as the club’s top scorer with 16 league goals and 23 goals across all competitions.
His second year was even more impressive. He scored 24 league goals and 26 goals overall in just 37 matches. This great run happened even though the season ended early because of the COVID-19 pandemic. His excellent form won him both the League One Golden Boot and the league’s Player of the Season award. In total, Toney scored 49 goals in 94 games for Peterborough, averaging more than one goal every two matches.
Brentford
On 31 August 2020, Toney completed a medical and signed for Brentford on a five-year deal. The fee was reported to be in the region of £5 million and around £10 million with add-ons. In his very first season, he scored a record-breaking 31 goals in the regular league matches. He added two more goals in the playoffs, finishing with 33 goals in total. His incredible form helped Brentford beat Swansea City 2–0 in the playoff final at Wembley to earn promotion to the Premier League for the first time ever.
Toney adjusted quickly to the top league, scoring 12 goals during Brentford’s first year in the Premier League. Early the following season, his excellent form earned him his first call-up to the England national team in September 2022. He went on to score 20 goals in the top flight that year, though his season ended early in May 2023 due to a suspension for breaking betting rules. He returned from his ban in January 2024 and scored immediately in a 3–2 win over Nottingham Forest. In total, Toney scored 72 goals in 141 games for Brentford, and manager Thomas Frank called him a club legend when he left.
Al-Ahli
On 30 August 2024, it was announced that Toney had completed a transfer to Saudi Pro League club Al Ahli for a reported fee of £40 million. He signed a three-year contract worth around €490,577 per week, which made him one of the highest-paid English players in the world.
He made an immediate impact by scoring 23 goals in his first Saudi Pro League season. He finished the year as the league’s second-highest scorer, right behind Cristiano Ronaldo. With Al Ahli, he won the AFC Champions League Elite and the 2025 Saudi Super Cup. His excellent goal-scoring form also earned him a recall to the England national team in 2025.
England national team
In March 2023, Ivan Toney replaced Harry Kane in the 81st minute to make his England debut against Ukraine. He made the final squad for UEFA Euro 2024, which was his first major international tournament. During the quarter-final match against Switzerland, he scored a famous penalty in the shootout by looking directly at the keeper instead of the ball. He also played as a late substitute in the final, where England lost to Spain.
After moving to Saudi Arabia, he was left out of the team for a short time. However, manager Thomas Tuchel recalled him to the England squad in 2025 due to his great goal-scoring form. Toney kept his place in the team and made the final squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, marking his very first World Cup appearance.
Personal life
Toney and his partner, Katie, have two sons together, Ivan Toney Jr., born in August 2019, and Ikari, born in 2022.
On 31 July 2026, Toney was charged with assault causing actual bodily harm. He will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Sept. 24. The charge relates to an incident from Dec. 6, 2025, in Soho.