| Samuel Matthews | |
| Fullname: | Samuel Lloyd Matthews[1] |
| Birth Date: | 10 March 1997[2] |
| Birth Place: | Poole, England |
| Height: | 1.68m (05.51feet) |
| Position: | Midfielder |
| Currentclub: | Havant & Waterlooville |
| Youthyears1: | 2007–2018 |
| Youthclubs1: | AFC Bournemouth |
| Years1: | 2016–2018 |
| Clubs1: | AFC Bournemouth |
| Caps1: | 0 |
| Goals1: | 0 |
| Years2: | 2014 |
| Clubs2: | → Poole Town |
| Caps2: | 0 |
| Goals2: | 0 |
| Years3: | 2016–2017 |
| Clubs3: | → Braintree Town (loan) |
| Caps3: | 11 |
| Goals3: | 1 |
| Years4: | 2017 |
| Clubs4: | → Eastleigh (loan) |
| Caps4: | 13 |
| Goals4: | 3 |
| Years5: | 2017–2018 |
| Clubs5: | → Eastleigh (loan) |
| Caps5: | 39 |
| Goals5: | 6 |
| Years6: | 2018–2020 |
| Clubs6: | Bristol Rovers |
| Caps6: | 16 |
| Goals6: | 0 |
| Years7: | 2019 |
| Clubs7: | → Eastleigh (loan) |
| Caps7: | 8 |
| Goals7: | 0 |
| Years8: | 2020–2022 |
| Clubs8: | Crawley Town |
| Caps8: | 38 |
| Goals8: | 1 |
| Years9: | 2022 |
| Clubs9: | → Aldershot Town (loan) |
| Caps9: | 5 |
| Goals9: | 0 |
| Years10: | 2022 |
| Clubs10: | Wealdstone |
| Caps10: | 2 |
| Goals10: | 0 |
| Years11: | 2023– |
| Clubs11: | Havant & Waterlooville |
| Caps11: | 3 |
| Goals11: | 1 |
| Club-Update: | 14:13, 27 January 2023 (UTC) |
Samuel Lloyd Matthews (born 10 March 1997) is an English footballer who plays as a midfielder for Havant & Waterlooville.
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.
On 31 January 2017, Matthews joined fellow National League side Eastleigh on loan for the remainder of the season.[10] He made his debut for the club in a 1–1 away draw with Guiseley[11] and scored his first goal for the club with a brace in a 3–2 away victory over Torquay United.[12] He finished his loan spell with Eastleigh with 3 goals in 13 appearances.
He returned to Eastleigh on 8 August 2017, in a loan deal that would see him stay with the club until January.[13] 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.[14] He gave Eastleigh the lead in a dramatic 3–3 draw with FC Halifax Town to score his first goal back for the club[15] 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.[16] 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.[17] Matthews' performances were rewarded when he was awarded with the Player of the Season award for Eastleigh.[18]
On 6 June 2018, Matthews agreed to join League One side Bristol Rovers upon the expiration of his Bournemouth contract on 1 July 2018.[19] 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.[20]
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.[21] He also came off the bench in both the play-off quarter-final victory over Wrexham[22] and the semi-final defeat to Salford City where Matthews had a penalty saved by Salford goalkeeper Chris Neal in the shootout.[23]
At the end of the 2019–20 season, Matthews was released by Bristol Rovers.[24]
Matthews signed for Crawley Town on a two-year deal in the summer of 2020.[25] He made his debut for Crawley Town on 19 September 2020 in a 1–0 League Two victory over Scunthorpe United.[26] On 22 February 2022, Matthews joined National League side Aldershot Town on loan for the remainder of the 2021–22 season.[27]
On 21 October 2022, Matthews signed for National League club Wealdstone on a short-term deal until January 2023.[28] On 17 November 2022 Matthews left National League club Wealdstone by mutual consent. [29]
On 26 January 2023 Havant & Waterlooville announced the signing of Matthews on a deal until the end of the season.[30]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| AFC Bournemouth | 2016–17 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Poole Town (loan) | 2014–15[31] | Southern League Division One | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Braintree Town (loan) | 2016–17 | National League | 11 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 13 | 2 | ||
| Eastleigh (loan) | 2016–17 | National League | 13 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 13 | 3 | ||
| Eastleigh (loan) | 2017–18 | National League | 39 | 6 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 39 | 6 | ||
| Bristol Rovers | 2018–19 | League One | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5[32] | 0 | 24 | 0 | |
| 2019–20 | League One | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 24 | 0 | |||
| Eastleigh (loan) | 2018–19 | National League | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2[33] | 0 | 10 | 0 | ||
| Crawley Town | 2020–21 | League Two | 30 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 33 | 1 | |
| 2021–22 | League Two | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 | ||
| Total | 38 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 42 | 1 | |||
| Aldershot Town (loan) | 2021–22 | National League | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 130 | 11 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 147 | 11 | |||