- Dominic Matteo
-
Dominic Matteo Personal information Full name Dominic Matteo Date of birth 28 April 1974 Place of birth Dumfries, Scotland Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Playing position Centre-back, Left-back, Centre-midfielder Youth career 1990–1992 Liverpool Senior career* Years Team Apps† (Gls)† 1992–2000 Liverpool 129 (1) 1995 → Sunderland (loan) 1 (0) 2000–2004 Leeds United 115 (2) 2004–2007 Blackburn Rovers 34 (0) 2007–2009 Stoke City 23 (1) Total 302 (4) National team 1994 England U21 3 (0) 1998 England B 1 (0) 2000–2002 Scotland 6 (0) * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).Dominic Matteo (born 28 April 1974) is a former Scottish footballer and a Scottish national football team[1] international. He has played most recently as a defender for Stoke City, but spent most of his career at Liverpool and Leeds United.
Contents
Club career
Born in Dumfries[1] where his father, who "wanted his boy to play like Cesare Maldini"[2], ran Matthew's Cafe in Friars Vennel, Matteo started his career at Liverpool F.C., for whom he played between 1992 and 2000 (with a small Sunderland A.F.C. loan in between). He scored two goals for Liverpool, one against Southampton in the league[3] and another against Huddersfield in the FA Cup.[4] In August 2000 he joined Leeds United, and made his team debut against A.C. Milan the following month, in a UEFA Champions League contest.
He was one of Leeds' best players through their 2000–01 Champions League campaign, in which they achieved a semi-final place. He is fondly remembered by Leeds fans especially for the goal he scored at the San Siro against AC Milan,[5] in the first group stage which ensured they would progress through to the next round. He ended that Champions League campaign with two goals, having also scored earlier against Besiktas.[6]
When Rio Ferdinand moved to Manchester United in the summer of 2002, Matteo was handed team captaincy. Leeds were relegated at the end of 2003–04, despite Matteo's two goals against Fulham[7] and Wolverhampton Wanderers.[8] Subsequently, in July 2004 Matteo signed a three-year contract with Blackburn Rovers.[9] He made his Blackburn debut against West Bromwich Albion in a 1–1 draw. He scored his first and only goal for Blackburn in a 3-0 win over Colchester United in the FA Cup.[10]
In January 2007, Matteo moved to Championship side Stoke City on a free transfer, signing a short-term contract until the summer, playing a total of nine games and scoring one goal against Derby County.[11] Matteo still continued to play for Stoke during the club's 2007–08 pre-season campaign, despite being out of contract. However, he was offered a new 12-month contract by the club on 10 August 2007.[12] He was made captain there, but only played sporadically for the club, his last appearance coming in November 2007. Matteo is currently studying for his Uefa coaching qualifications.[13]
After retiring Matteo became involved at former club Leeds United where he was regarded as a cult hero. He works as a columnist for Yorkshire Evening Post and is Leeds United's Sporting Bet ambassador.
His book, In My defence, was published in 2011. In an interview, given at the time of the book's release, he said that he had liked working with David O'Leary and Peter Ridsdale at Leeds; " I loved working with David. He had been a great central defender at Arsenal. But, as things started to get on top of us, he spent more time in his office. He was nowhere near a failure and, if you finished fifth now, you would not expect the sack." [14]
International career
Matteo won Under-21 and 'B' caps for England,and was also called up for the main squad on two occasions but was never capped.[15][16] He later was called up for the Scotland side, having been born and lived as a young boy in Dumfries.[1] He went on to collect 6 caps for Scotland, making his debut against Australia in November 2000. But he retired from international duty to concentrate on his career at Leeds United after suffering injury problems.
Career statistics
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Europe Total Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Liverpool 1993–94 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 0 1994–95 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 Sunderland (loan) 1994–95 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Liverpool 1995–96 7 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 8 0 1996–97 26 0 2 0 3 0 7 0 38 0 1997–98 26 0 1 0 4 0 2 0 33 0 1998–99 20 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 22 1 1999–2000 32 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 33 1 Total 129 1 6 1 7 0 11 0 153 2 Leeds United 2000–01 30 0 2 0 1 0 15 2 48 2 2001–02 32 0 0 0 1 0 7 0 40 0 2002–03 20 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 24 0 2003–04 33 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 34 2 Total 115 2 6 0 2 0 23 2 146 4 Blackburn Rovers 2004–05 28 0 4 1 0 0 0 0 32 1 2005–06 6 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 Total 34 0 5 1 0 0 0 0 39 1 Stoke City 2006–07 9 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 10 1 2007–08 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 0 2008–09 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 Total 23 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 25 1 Career total 302 4 18 2 10 0 34 2 364 8 References
- ^ a b c [1]
- ^ 'i' from The Independent, 7 November 2011 , Gambling away millions. Leeds and Matteo were so alike, p.48-49
- ^ "Saints demolished by rampant Reds". BBC. 16 January 1999. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sport/football/fa_carling_premiership/256050.stm. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
- ^ "Liverpool escape tricky terriers". BBC. 12 December 1999. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sport/football/fa_cup/561362.stm. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
- ^ "Leeds make their point". BBC. 8 November 2000. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/champions_league/1010997.stm. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
- ^ Shaw, Phil (26 September 2000). "Leeds in overdrive to belittle Besiktas". London: The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/leeds-in-overdrive-to-belittle-besiktas-700832.html. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
- ^ "Leeds edge past Fulham". BBC. 14 December 2003. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/3249110.stm. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
- ^ "Leeds 4-1 Wolves". BBC. 10 February 2004. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/3456281.stm. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
- ^ "Blackburn sign Matteo". BBC Sport. 2004-07-07. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/b/blackburn_rovers/3795003.stm. Retrieved 2007-10-30.
- ^ "Blackburn 3-0 Colchester". BBC. 29 January 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/4197659.stm. Retrieved 3 November 2009.
- ^ "Derby 0-2 Stoke". BBC. 21 February 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/6371221.stm. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
- ^ "Dominic Deal Done!". Stoke City F.C. Official Website. 2007-08-10. http://www.stokecityfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10310~1088764,00.html. Retrieved 2007-08-10.
- ^ "Blackburn win not enough - Matteo". BBC News. 15 April 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/s/stoke_city/7999964.stm. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
- ^ 'i' from The Independent, p 48-49, 7 November 2011
- ^ "England recall caps Merson's recovery". The Independent (London). 27 September 1996. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/england-recall-caps-mersons-recovery-1365286.html.
- ^ "Football: England lose Adams, Walker and Neville". The Independent (London). 27 March 1997. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football-england-lose-adams-walker-and-neville-1275352.html.
External links
Sporting positions Preceded by
Rio FerdinandLeeds United captain
2002–2004Succeeded by
Paul ButlerPreceded by
Danny HigginbothamStoke City F.C. captain
2007–2008Succeeded by
Andy GriffinCategories:- 1974 births
- Living people
- Blackburn Rovers F.C. players
- England B international footballers
- English people of Italian descent
- English people of Scottish descent
- England under-21 international footballers
- Leeds United A.F.C. players
- Liverpool F.C. players
- People from Dumfries
- Premier League players
- The Football League players
- Scotland international footballers
- Scottish people of English descent
- Scottish people of Italian descent
- Scottish footballers
- Stoke City F.C. players
- Sunderland A.F.C. players
- Sportspeople from Dumfries
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
