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. | |||
Dominic Matteo (born 28 April 1974) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a defender and centre-midfielder from 1992 to 2009. He also worked as a "football ambassador" at Leeds United.[1]
He played for Liverpool, Sunderland, Leeds United, Blackburn Rovers and Stoke City. His most notable individual moment was his goal in the Champions League against A.C. Milan. He was capped six times by Scotland after originally playing for England as a youngster. The latter part of his career was increasingly impacted by injury which led to his retirement in 2009 at the age of 35.
Club career
Liverpool
Born in Dumfries[2] where his father, who "wanted his boy to play like Cesare Maldini",[3] ran Matthew's Cafe in Friars Vennel,[2] Matteo started his career at Liverpool, for whom he played between 1992 and 2000 (with a small Sunderland A.F.C. loan in between).[4] He scored two goals for Liverpool, one against Southampton in the Premier League[5] and another against Huddersfield Town in the FA Cup.[6] After making arguably his biggest impact at Anfield in the 1999–2000 season, Matteo was expected to become a first team regular, but was instead sold to Leeds United[7] in August 2000.
Leeds United
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.[2] He was one of Leeds' best players through their 2000–01 Champions League campaign, in which they achieved a semi-final place.[2] He is fondly remembered by Leeds fans especially for the goal he scored at the San Siro against Milan,[2][8] 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 Beşiktaş.[2][9]
When Rio Ferdinand moved to Manchester United in the summer of 2002, Matteo was handed team captaincy.[2] Leeds were relegated at the end of 2003–04, despite Matteo's two goals against Fulham[10] and Wolverhampton Wanderers.[11]
Blackburn Rovers
In July 2004, Matteo signed a three-year contract with Blackburn Rovers.[12] 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.[13]
Stoke City
In January 2007, Matteo moved to Championship side Stoke City on a free transfer.[2] Signing a short-term contract until the summer, he played a total of nine games and scoring one goal against Derby County.[14] 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.[15] He was made captain by Tony Pulis in the season Stoke won promotion back to the top flight of the English football league system. Matteo played 13 league games up to the end of October after which he played only once more before the end of the season, a game in November 2007. This was the last game of his playing career due to injury.[2]
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.[16][17] He later was called up for the Scotland side, having been born and lived as a young boy in Dumfries.[2][18] He went on to collect six caps for Scotland, making his debut against Australia in November 2000. After injury problems, he retired from international duty to concentrate on his career at Leeds United.[2]
Coaching career
While at Stoke Matteo progressed studying for his UEFA coaching qualifications.[19]
On 1 May 2013, it was announced that Matteo would return to Leeds United in a new role as a Football Ambassador.[1] Matteo left this position in the summer of 2014, with Leeds now under the ownership of Massimo Cellino.[20]
Personal life
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."[21]
In his autobiography and interviews associated with its launch, Matteo admitted having run up over £1,000,000 in gambling debts.[22][23] He recalled betting £200,000 on a single horse race, although that bet won.[22] Matteo was declared bankrupt in 2015.[23][24]
Career statistics
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Liverpool | 1993–94 | Premier League | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| 1994–95 | Premier League | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | |
| 1995–96 | Premier League | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | |
| 1996–97 | Premier League | 26 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 38 | 0 | |
| 1997–98 | Premier League | 26 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 33 | 0 | |
| 1998–99 | Premier League | 20 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 1 | |
| 1999–2000 | Premier League | 32 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 33 | 1 | |
| Total | 129 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 153 | 2 | ||
| Sunderland (loan) | 1994–95 | First Division | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Leeds United | 2000–01 | Premier League | 30 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 2 | 48 | 2 |
| 2001–02 | Premier League | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 40 | 0 | |
| 2002–03 | Premier League | 20 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 24 | 0 | |
| 2003–04 | Premier League | 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 | Premier League | 28 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 1 |
| 2005–06 | Premier League | 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 | Championship | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 |
| 2007–08 | Championship | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | |
| 2008–09 | Premier League | 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
- 1 2 "SAN SIRO DOM JOINS THE TEAM". Leeds United Official Website. 1 May 2013.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Dominic Matteo autobiography review" 28 Feb 2012, www.qosfc.com
- ↑ 'i' from The Independent, 7 November 2011 , Gambling away millions. Leeds and Matteo were so alike, p.48-49
- ↑ http://www.lfchistory.net/player_profile.asp?player_id=366
- ↑ "Saints demolished by rampant Reds". BBC. 16 January 1999. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
- ↑ "Liverpool escape tricky terriers". BBC. 12 December 1999. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
- ↑ Webster, Rupert. "MATTEO`S NEW CHALLENGE". Sky Sports.
- ↑ "Leeds make their point". BBC. 8 November 2000. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
- ↑ Shaw, Phil (26 September 2000). "Leeds in overdrive to belittle Besiktas". London: The Independent. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
- ↑ "Leeds edge past Fulham". BBC. 14 December 2003. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
- ↑ "Leeds 4–1 Wolves". BBC. 10 February 2004. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
- ↑ "Blackburn sign Matteo". BBC Sport. 7 July 2004. Retrieved 2007-10-30.
- ↑ "Blackburn 3–0 Colchester". BBC. 29 January 2005. Retrieved 3 November 2009.
- ↑ "Derby 0–2 Stoke". BBC. 21 February 2007. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
- ↑ "Dominic Deal Done!". Stoke City F.C. Official Website. 10 August 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-10.
- ↑ "England recall caps Merson's recovery". The Independent (London). 27 September 1996.
- ↑ "Football: England lose Adams, Walker and Neville". The Independent (London). 27 March 1997.
- ↑ Barry Nicholson interview 13 Aug 2009
- ↑ "Blackburn win not enough – Matteo". BBC News. 15 April 2009. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
- ↑ "Exclusive - Former Leeds star admits interest in returning as manager". Talksport. 17 September 2014. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
- ↑ 'i' from The Independent, p 48-49, 7 November 2011
- 1 2 Rich, Tim (7 November 2011). "Dominic Matteo: Gambling away millions". The Independent. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
- 1 2 Hughes, Lorna (19 August 2015). "Former Liverpool defender Dominic Matteo declared bankrupt". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
- ↑ Spinks, Martin (17 August 2015). "Stoke City: Former midfielder Dominic Matteo declared bankrupt". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 17 August 2015.