LYNDON Dykes became a QPR player on August 19th 2020, joining the club on a four-year contract from Scottish club Livingston.

Born on Australia’s Gold Coast but with Scottish heritage, Dykes hails from Queensland and actually spent his younger years living and playing as a rugby league full-back in Canberra.

However, a subsequent return to the Gold Coast saw him take up association football and, following spells with youth teams Mudgeeraba and Merrimac, he joined Queen of the South’s Under-20s after spending time in the Scottish town of Dumfries – originally home to his parents.

Although he would play for QoS professionally, Dykes returned to Australia in 2015 to represent Redlands United, Gold Coast City and Surfers Paradise Apollo.

The 24-year-old then made his way back to Scotland to sign for QoS on pro terms, making his competitive debut in a League Cup victory over Queen’s Park (not Rangers!) in July 2016.

A real presence in attack, the striker went on to represent QoS for three seasons, scoring 22 goals in 136 competitive first-team games.

Half the final year of that three-season spell was spent on loan from Livingston, who signed Dykes in January 2019 but immediately loaned him back to QoS.

Despite only being with Livingston for a short period, he was handed a contract extension in September 2019, with his subsequent performances during 2019/20 and at the start of the 2020/21 SPL season catching the eye of a number of clubs further afield.

In all, Dykes scored 14 goals in 36 appearances for Livingston – opening the new 2020/21 SPL season with two goals in his first three outings.

He has dual nationality with Australia and Scotland, though has yet to commit to playing for either country, despite representing Australia schoolboys previously.

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