Early career Loach was a member of the academy at
Ipswich Town from 1997 to 2000. making two appearances. He joined
Boston Town in January 2005 on loan, which was extended until the end of the 2004–05 season, making 18 appearances. In August 2005, Loach was loaned to
Spalding United. In November 2005, he had a one-match spell with
Lincoln United. He returned to Boston Town later that month, before a period at
Grantham Town in March 2006.
Watford in 2009 Despite not being offered professional terms at Lincoln City, Loach joined
Watford in April 2006. He signed professional terms for Watford in June, with Lincoln City receiving a transfer fee of £50,000. In pre-season 2007 he was on trial at
Leeds United with a view to a loan move. Although he played in several pre-season friendlies, the move did not come to fruition due to a transfer embargo as a result of Leeds entering administration. In September 2007, Loach joined
Conference Premier club
Stafford Rangers on an initial one-month loan. It was later extended to three months, and Loach made 11 appearances for Stafford. He joined
Morecambe on loan in January 2008, making his debut on 1 January in a 2–1 defeat to
Stockport County. He made only one more league appearance for Morecambe, during which he saved a penalty from
Macclesfield Town's
Martin Gritton, before he returning to Watford after just two weeks. At the end of the month he joined
Bradford City, another
League Two club, on loan until the end of
2007–08 as replacement for
Donovan Ricketts, who was expected to move to
Queens Park Rangers until he was refused a work permit. Loach made his debut a day after joining Bradford, conceding twice in their 4–2 victory over
Shrewsbury Town. He followed it up five days later with a clean sheet against Macclesfield Town after he saved a second penalty at
Moss Rose in as many months. Loach played the remainder of the season with Bradford, making 20 appearances for the club, who finished in 10th place in League Two. Loach returned to Watford and made his debut in the 1–0 League Cup win over
Bristol Rovers. He made his league debut as a substitute on 20 September 2008 when he came on to replace
Mart Poom in the fourth minute of a match against
Reading. Loach conceded his first Watford goal when the referee and linesman gave a goal instead of a corner, an incident described as a
ghost goal. The match finished in a 2–2 draw. Loach remained a regular in the Watford team for the rest of
2008–09, under the management of
Aidy Boothroyd,
Malky Mackay and later
Brendan Rodgers. Loach featured in all 46 Watford league matches that season, and on 5 March 2010 extended his contract with Watford until 2013. Loach retained his place in the team for
2010–11, and once again played all 46 league fixtures. However, he subsequently admitted that his form had dipped towards the end of that season. After 130 consecutive league appearances, Loach missed a Championship match for the first time since 2008 on 27 September 2011. He regained the place from
Rene Gilmartin a few weeks later. Loach remained in the team until 18 February 2012, when he was replaced by loan player
Tomasz Kuszczak. Loach returned to the Watford team on their final day of
2011–12, in their 2–1 win against
Middlesbrough.
Ipswich Town Loach completed what he called his "dream move" by returning to his boyhood club for an undisclosed fee on 19 July 2012. He made his debut on 14 August in a 3–1 win against
Bristol Rovers in the
League Cup.
Rotherham United Loach signed for newly promoted Championship club
Rotherham United on 5 June 2014. On 10 November 2014, after only having made four appearances for Rotherham, Loach was loaned out to League One club
Bury until 17 January 2015. On 2 March 2015, following an injury to
Artur Krysiak, Loach joined League One club
Yeovil Town on a one-month emergency loan.
Notts County in 2017 On 15 July 2015, Loach signed for newly relegated League Two club
Notts County on a two-year contract. On 23 March 2017, Loach joined
National League club
York City on loan until the end of 2016–17, to replace the injured
Kyle Letheren. He made his debut two days later, starting in a 1–0 away defeat to
Dagenham & Redbridge. Loach remained in goal after Letheren returned to fitness, making nine appearances. He returned to Notts County after this match, as he was not eligible to play for York in the
2017 FA Trophy Final. He was subsequently released by Notts County, and ruled out joining York permanently.
Hartlepool United On 9 June 2017, Loach signed for newly relegated
National League club
Hartlepool United. At the end of the
2017–18 season, Loach won both Fans Player and Players' Player of the Year Awards. He also won the Players' Player of the Year Award in the
2018–19 season. Loach played his 100th consecutive appearance in all competitions for Hartlepool during their 3–2 victory over
Salford City in April 2019. At the end of the 2018–19 season, Loach left Hartlepool following the expiry of his contract.
Barnet Loach signed for National League club
Barnet on 14 June 2019. He played 72 times in two seasons before leaving the club at the end of the 2020-21 season.
Chesterfield On 11 June 2021, Loach joined fellow National League club
Chesterfield. He was the regular first choice keeper during his only season at the club making 48 appearances. He was used as a back-up keeper as he made three appearances during the
2022–23 season, all in the
EFL Trophy. Loach signed a one-year contract extension on 21 June 2023. Loach spent the
2023–24 season as third choice keeper and failed to make a first team appearance, he did feature as an unused substitute when second choice keeper
Josh Vickers was unable to play. On 18 May 2024, it was announced that Loach would leave Derby at the end of his contract on 30 June 2024, after three appearances over two seasons. On 18 June 2024, Loach announced his retirement from professional football after a twenty-year career and over 500 appearances, Loach retired to concentrate on a coaching career. On 31 March 2025, Loach signed for Northern Counties East League Division One Wakefield AFC for the remainder of the season. ==International career==