Samuel_Matthews_(footballer)

Sam Matthews

Sam Matthews

English footballer

For other people with the same name, see Samuel Mathews.

Samuel Lloyd Matthews (born 10 March 1997) is an English footballer who plays as a midfielder for Havant & Waterlooville.

Quick Facts Personal information, Full name ...

Career

AFC Bournemouth

Born 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]

Matthews with Eastleigh in 2017

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 Rovers

On 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 Town

Matthews 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]

Wealdstone

On 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 & Waterlooville

On 26 January 2023 Havant & Waterlooville announced the signing of Matthews on a deal until the end of the season.[31]

Career statistics

As of end of 2021–22 season
More information Club, Season ...
  1. Appearance(s) in EFL Trophy
  2. Appearance(s) in National League play-offs

References

  1. [1]
    "Notification of shirt numbers: Bristol Rovers" (PDF). English Football League. p. 11. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  2. [2]
    "Sam Matthews – Midfielder". Bristol Rovers F.C. 3 August 2018. Archived from the original on 19 October 2019. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  3. [3]
    "Bristol Rovers snap up former Cherries youngster Sam Matthews". Bournemouth Echo. 6 June 2018. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  4. [4]
    "Rovers Tie Up Deal For AFC Bournemouth Product Sam Matthews". www.bristolrovers.co.uk. 6 June 2018.
  5. [5]
    "FA Cup: Poole Town boss Tom Killick saddened by Sam Matthews injury". www.bournemouthecho.co.uk. 14 September 2014.
  6. [6]
    "AFC Bournemouth's Brandon Goodship and Sam Matthews join Braintree Town". BBC Sport. 31 August 2016. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  7. [7]
    "Guiseley 0–0 Braintree Town". BBC Sport. 3 September 2016. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  8. [8]
    "Braintree Town 1–4 Gateshead". BBC Sport. 10 September 2016. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  9. [9]
    "Dover Athletic 6–1 Braintree Town". BBC Sport. 22 October 2016.
  10. [10]
    "Games played by Sam Matthews in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  11. [11]
    "Eastleigh:Sam Matthews and Ben Close join National League Club on loan". BBC Sport. 31 January 2017.
  12. [12]
    "Guiseley 1–1 Eastleigh". BBC Sport. 11 February 2017.
  13. [13]
    "Torquay United 2–3 Eastleigh". BBC Sport. 21 March 2017.
  14. [14]
    "Sam Matthews:Eastleigh re-sign Bournemouth Midfielder on Loan". BBC Sport. 8 August 2017.
  15. [15]
    "Eastleigh 2–2 Dagenham & Redbridge". BBC Sport. 12 August 2017.
  16. [16]
    "FC Halifax Town 3–3 Eastleigh". BBC Sport. 25 November 2017.
  17. [17]
    "Eastleigh extend Matthews Loan". www.afcb.co.uk. 9 January 2018.
  18. [18]
    "Solihull Moors 1–4 Eastleigh". BBC Sport. 28 April 2018.
  19. [19]
    "Matthews Moves On Up As Bristol Rovers Win The Race". www.thenationalleague.org.uk.
  20. [20]
    "Sam Matthews: Bristol Rovers to sign AFC Bournemouth midfielder". BBC Sport. 6 June 2018.
  21. [21]
    "Peterborough United 2–1 Bristol Rovers". BBC Sport. 4 August 2018.
  22. [22]
    "Sam Matthews Returns to Eastleigh On Loan". www.bristolrovers.co.uk. 21 March 2019. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  23. [23]
    "Wrexham 0–1 Eastleigh". BBC Sport. 2 May 2019. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  24. [24]
    "Salford City 1–1 Eastleigh (Salford City win 4–3 on penalties)". BBC Sport. 5 May 2019. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  25. [25]
    "Retained List Announced". www.bristolrovers.co.uk. Bristol Rovers F.C. 15 June 2020. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  26. [26]
    Dunford, Mark (18 June 2020). "Former Bournemouth and Bristol Rovers midfielder signs for Crawley Town". Crawley & Horley Observer. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  27. [27]
    Dunford, Mark (19 September 2020). "Crawley Town midfielder says winning goal against Scunthorpe was 'the football we want to be playing'". Crawley & Horley Observer. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  28. [28]
    "New Signing: Shots sign Matthews!". Aldershot Town FC. 22 February 2022. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  29. [29]
    "Stones sign exciting winger Sam Matthews". www.wealdstone-fc.com. 21 October 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  30. [30]
    "Matthews leaves Wealdstone". 17 November 2022.
  31. [31]
    "HWFC Sign Winger Sam Matthews". 26 January 2023. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  32. [32]
    "Sam Matthews Profile – Aylesbury United FC". Aylesbury United F.C. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  33. [33]
    "Games played by Sam Matthews in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  34. [34]
    "Games played by Sam Matthews in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  35. [35]
    "Games played by Sam Matthews in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  36. [36]
    "Games played by Sam Matthews in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  37. [37]
    "Games played by Sam Matthews in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
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