Sam Matthews
Samuel Lloyd Matthews (born 10 March 1997) is an English footballer who plays as a midfielder for Havant & Waterlooville. CareerAFC BournemouthBorn in Poole,[3] Matthews joined AFC Bournemouth at the age of 10 and signed his first senior contract with the club in 2014, on his 17th birthday.[4] His first taste of senior football came in a loan spell with his hometown club of Poole Town in 2014. However, he suffered a serious ankle injury just 29 minutes into his debut in a 4–0 FA Cup win over Bradford Town and was forced to return to his parent club.[5] On 31 August 2016, Matthews and fellow Bournemouth youngster Brandon Goodship joined Braintree Town of the National League on loan until January 2017.[6] He was an unused substitute on 3 September in a 0–0 away draw at Guiseley,[7] and made his debut the following week in a 4–1 home defeat to Gateshead where he was a 66th minute replacement for Rohdell Gordon.[8] He scored his first goal for the club in a 6–1 away defeat at Dover Athletic as his goal gave Braintree the lead.[9] On 1 January 2017, Matthews' loan spell at Braintree ended and he returned to Bournemouth having made 13 appearances in all competitions, scoring 1 goal.[10] On 31 January 2017, Matthews joined fellow National League side Eastleigh on loan for the remainder of the season.[11] He made his debut for the club in a 1–1 away draw with Guiseley[12] and scored his first goal for the club with a brace in a 3–2 away victory over Torquay United.[13] He finished his loan spell with Eastleigh with 3 goals in 13 appearances.[10] He returned to Eastleigh on 8 August 2017, in a loan deal that would see him stay with the club until January.[14] On 12 August 2017, he was substituted on for Mark Yeates in the 81st minute of a 2–2 draw with Dagenham & Redbridge to appear for the first time in his second spell with the club.[15] He gave Eastleigh the lead in a dramatic 3–3 draw with FC Halifax Town to score his first goal back for the club[16] and went on to score another goal for the club before his loan spell ended on 9 January 2018. Eastleigh however decided to extend the loan spell until the end of the season.[17] Matthews finished the season for the spitfires with 6 goals in 39 appearances which included a hat-trick on the final day of the season in a 4–1 away victory against Solihull Moors.[18] Matthews' performances were rewarded when he was awarded with the Player of the Season award for Eastleigh.[19] Bristol RoversOn 6 June 2018, Matthews agreed to join League One side Bristol Rovers upon the expiration of his Bournemouth contract on 1 July 2018.[3][20] Matthews made his debut for the club when he came off the bench in the opening day defeat to Peterborough United when he replaced Kyle Bennett in the 66th minute.[21] Matthews joined Eastleigh for a third time on loan on 21 March 2019 and would go on to make 8 appearances before the end of the season.[22] He also came off the bench in both the play-off quarter-final victory over Wrexham[23] and the semi-final defeat to Salford City where Matthews had a penalty saved by Salford goalkeeper Chris Neal in the shootout.[24] At the end of the 2019–20 season, Matthews was released by Bristol Rovers.[25] Crawley TownMatthews signed for Crawley Town on a two-year deal in the summer of 2020.[26] He made his debut for Crawley Town on 19 September 2020 in a 1–0 League Two victory over Scunthorpe United.[27] On 22 February 2022, Matthews joined National League side Aldershot Town on loan for the remainder of the 2021–22 season.[28] WealdstoneOn 21 October 2022, Matthews signed for National League club Wealdstone on a short-term deal until January 2023.[29] On 17 November 2022 Matthews left National League club Wealdstone by mutual consent.[30] Havant & WaterloovilleOn 26 January 2023 Havant & Waterlooville announced the signing of Matthews on a deal until the end of the season.[31] Career statistics
References
External linksWikimedia Commons has media related to Sam Matthews.
|