The son of former Liverpool captain, Paul Ince can play as a left winger or just off the striker in the "hole". He made his only appearance for Liverpool's first team on 22 September 2010 coming on as a substitute in the 106th minute in a shocking defeat to League Two's Northampton Town in the third round of the League Cup. When his father was appointed as the manager of Notts County towards the end of October 2010 he brought his son to Meadow Lane on a loan that lasted until 3 January 2011. Paul commented: "I've just brought my son in from Liverpool, not because he's my son but because he's a very good player." Tom played in eight matches, scoring twice. Paul lost his job at Notts County, thus ruining any chance of his son joining County. Thomas was frustrated at the lack of first-team opportunities at Liverpool and signed for Blackpool in the Championship before the 2011/12 season with Liverpool pocketing a measly £250,000 compensation. Tom had an excellent first season with Blackpool, playing in 34 Championship matches and scoring eight times, one of which was the equaliser in the play-off final against West Ham United at Wembley in May. Although the Seasiders lost 2-1, Ince's inclusion and influence on the team during the season was huge.
Tom played in forty-four of Blackpool's forty-six Championship matches in 2012/13, scoring eighteen times. He also appeared in three domestic cup-ties. Blackpool ended the season in fifteenth position, four points clear of the relegation zone and nine points behind the final play-off spot. On the final day of the January 2014 transfer-window Ince moved to Crystal Palace on loan for the remainder of the 2013/14 season. He had made 23 appearances for Blackpool in the Championship and scored 7 goals at the time of this loan move and added a further eight Premier League appearances for Palace, scoring once; on his debut for the Eagles against West Bromwich Albion at Selhurst Park in February. Having spent the summer flirting with a curious move to his father's old club, Inter, Tom signed a two-year deal with Premier League Hull City at the end of the first week of July, 2014. Following his struggles at Hull he was loaned out for two months to Championship club Nottingham Forest in October 2014. After making only six league appearances for Forest Ince was recalled by Hull just before Christmas 2014 and was then sent out on loan again, this time to Derby County, as the January 2015 transfer-window closed. After a successful spell in which he scored eleven goals in eighteen games, the move became permanent in the summer when he signed a four year contract with Hull receiving a £4.75 million transfer fee.
Ince was back in the Premier League for 2017-18, joining newly promoted Huddersfield. Ince played 33 games and scored two goals as Huddersfield stayed in the Premier League, but he dropped into the Championship with Stoke City when he signed for the Potters on 24 July 2018 on a four-year contract for an initial fee of £10 million, which could rise to £12 million with add-ons. Although 2018-19 was a good season for him personally, with six goals and eight assists from 36 starts, Stoke failed to challenge for promotion. 2019/20 was not quite so successful and although he was part of every matchday squad he was substituted in seventeen of his 31 starts and managed just three goals and two assists. After starting just two games in the first half of 2020/21 Ince joined Luton Town on loan for the rest of the season in a transfer deadline day move.
The first half of 2021/22 was a frustrating one for Ince as he made just one start for Stoke. In January he joined Reading on loan where he was a regular starter and it was confirmed at the end of the season that he would not be retained by Stoke. By a strange twist of fate, his father Paul had appointed interim manager of the Royals during his loan spell and was then offered the position on a permanent deal after guiding them to Championship safety. The father-son relationship then resumed with Tom agreeing a three year deal in June 2022. Ince scored nine goals but Reading were relegated to League One and he moved to Watford for an undisclosed fee, signing a two year deal.