The Thistle Archive

Lucas was born in Huddersfield to Grenadian parents. He rose through the ranks at hometown club, Huddersfield Town, making his debut in August 2007, before enjoying a brief loan spell at Northwich Victoria. In July 2008, he went on trial with Premier League Hamilton Academical (newly promoted), appearing in several pre-season matches over a two-week period. He impressed manager Billy Reid and signed a two-year contract on 22 July 2008. His competitive debut came in the opening match of the 2008–09 season, coming on as a 67th-minute substitute in a 3–1 home victory over Dundee United at New Douglas Park. He featured predominantly as a substitute during the first half of the season, with seven of his 13 appearances coming from the bench. In January 2009, Reid indicated his intention to loan out Akins to gain first-team experience, and he subsequently joined First Division Partick Thistle for the remainder of the 2008–09 season. He made his debut a day later as a substitute in a 2–2 away draw with Queen of the South. After a two-month absence, he returned as a second-half substitute in a 1–0 home defeat to Clyde in March 2009 and featured regularly thereafter, making nine appearances and scoring once in a 1–0 win against Greenock Morton on 18 April 2009. At the end of the loan, he returned to Accies but did not play during the 2009–10 season, and was released in May 2010.[

Tranmere Rovers captured his signature in 2010 before he earned a move to Stevenage in 2012. Lucas made another move to Burton Albion in 2014, going on to play a key role in the Brewer’s rise up the football league, enjoying promotion to the Championship in 2016. A fans’ favourite at the Pirelli Stadium, he won back-to-back supporters' and players' Player of the Year awards in 2018 and 2019. He made 345 appearances in all competitions for Albion, scoring 71 goals. Lucas also holds the club record for most appearances and goals scored for Burton in the Football League. The striker was first called up to the Grenada national team in March 2020, qualifying through his ancestry, although the matches were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

He joined Mansfield Town in the January transfer window in 2022, but tragedy soon struck when he was involved in a car crash in Huddersfield on 17 March 2022, which killed cyclist Adrian Daniel. With the incident hanging over him, he still played 49 times across all competitions in Stags’ promotion to League One season (2023-24), netting 14 times despite playing in multiple different positions. He received another call-up from Grenada for two 2026 World Cup qualification matches in June 2024, making his international debut in a 2–2 draw against Trinidad and Tobago on 5 June 2024. He scored his first international goal in his third appearance, a 2–0 CONCACAF Nations League win over Saint Martin on 6 September 2024.

In time, Lucas admitted causing death by careless or inconsiderate driving at Leeds Crown Court on 4 March 2025. Daniel's wife criticised Akins for not pleading guilty at the first opportunity, but stated she did not want him to be imprisoned. Akins was sentenced to 14 months in prison on 24 April 2025, serving seven months in custody and seven months on licence, and was also banned from driving for one year. After serving six months of his 14-month sentence, Akins returned to Mansfield in October 2025, with manager Nigel Clough stating that he was being reintegrated into the squad and would be given time to return to playing, while acknowledging that he would remain conscious of the impact of the incident on the victim's family. He returned to competitive football later that month, making 34 appearances and scoring 10 goals during the 2025–26 season. The 37-year-old was also re-introduced to the Grenada national team in March 2026, winning his 8th cap in a 0-4 friendly loss away to Rwanda. He signed a contract extension with Mansfield on 19 May 2026.

Lucas is included in our feature piece, The Definitive Who's Who Of The Partick Thistle Internationalists →

2009 - SFL FIRST DIVISION