Mathew Stevens
Personal information
Full name Mathew Antony Stevens
Date of birth (1998-02-12) 12 February 1998
Place of birth Frimley, England
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[1]
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 Forest Green Rovers
Number 9
Youth career
Aldershot Town
Farnborough
2005–2014 Reading
2014 Barnet
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2016 Barnet 11 (1)
2016–2019 Peterborough United 4 (0)
2016–2017 → Cambridge City (loan) 4 (1)
2017 → Sligo Rovers (loan) 10 (1)
2017–2018 → Kettering Town (loan) 44 (25)
2018 → Slough Town (loan) 9 (6)
2019– Forest Green Rovers 101 (37)
2021 → Stevenage (loan) 18 (1)
2023 → Walsall (loan) 17 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14:48, 7 January 2024 (UTC)

Mathew Antony "Matty" Stevens (born 12 February 1998) is an English footballer and former amateur boxer. He plays as a forward for EFL League Two club Forest Green Rovers.

Boxing career

Stevens was born into a boxing family – grandfather Les Stevens was a professional boxer[2] who fought John Conteh in 1974.[3] Stevens, who fought out of Pinewood Starr ABC in Crowthorne and once sparred with Tim Witherspoon,[4] won four national titles during his brief career at youth level. In 2011, he won the ABAE Schools national title[5] and the GB Schoolboy 3 Nations title,[6] repeating the feat again in 2012.[7][8] Stevens was undefeated during his boxing career.

Football career

Barnet

Stevens quit boxing aged 15, although while still fighting he was part of the youth teams at Aldershot Town,[9] Farnborough,[10] and Reading, where he scored 32 goals in the 2013–14 season at U-16 level.[11] Stevens joined Barnet in the summer of 2014 on a two-year scholarship. Impressive goal scoring form for the youth team early in the season saw him make his senior debut against Alfreton Town on 6 September 2014,[12] coming on as a substitute for Sam Togwell after 82 minutes,[13] becoming Barnet's youngest ever player aged 16 years and 204 days, a record previously held by Mauro Vilhete[12] (a record lost to Dwight Pascal in 2016). His first senior goal for the Bees came in the Herts Senior Cup against St. Margaretsbury on 26 November 2014.[14] The following month he scored again in the FA Trophy against Concord Rangers on 16 December 2014 – scoring a Panenka penalty – and also becoming Barnet's youngest ever goalscorer in a national competition.[15] Stevens scored 57 goals in all competitions (including youth games) in the 2014–15 season – attracting interest from larger clubs, including Swansea City, who had a £250,000 offer for Stevens rejected in May 2015.[16] A bid was also received from Crystal Palace with both Manchester United and Manchester City sending scouts to watch him play.[17]

Stevens scored six times for the Bees in 2015–16 pre-season, and made his Football League debut when he came on as an 87th-minute substitute for Michael Gash against Leyton Orient on 8 August 2015.[18] Barnet transfer listed Stevens in January 2016 after he turned down two contract offers from the club.[19] Stevens scored his first league goal for the Bees against AFC Wimbledon on 20 January 2016.[20]

Peterborough United

Stevens signed for Peterborough United on 1 July 2016, signing a three-year deal.[21]

Stevens joined Cambridge City on loan in December 2016,[22] before joining Sligo Rovers on loan on 14 January 2017.[23] He scored three goals in twelve appearances for Sligo. Stevens joined Kettering Town on loan in August 2017 until the rest of the season, and finished as top scorer with 25 league goals.[24] Stevens also finished as top scorer for Posh in 2018–19 pre-season before joinining Slough Town on loan on 31 August 2018 until the New Year,[25] but was recalled in early December.[26]

He was transfer-listed by Peterborough United at the end of the 2018–19 season.[27]

Forest Green Rovers

Stevens joined Forest Green Rovers on a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee in July 2019.[28] He scored his first goals for Forest Green when he scored twice in an EFL Trophy tie against Southampton U21 on 3 September 2019.[29] On 5 January 2021, Stevens joined Stevenage on loan until the end of the season.[30]

After an impressive start to the 2021–22 season that saw Stevens score five goals in the opening five matches of the season, he was awarded the league's Player of the Month award for August 2021 with manager Rob Edwards scooping the Manager of the Month award.[31] Stevens went on to score 27 goals in all competitions in the 2021–22 season.[32] His performances earned him a place in the PFA Team of the Year for his division as well as the EFL League Two Team of the Year.[33][34] He was also named as the club's Supporters' Player of the Season as Forest Green won promotion to League One as champions.[35][36]

On 31 January 2023, Stevens joined Walsall on loan until the end of the season.[37]

Career statistics

As of match played 6 January 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup League cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Barnet 2014–15 Conference Premier 1010–3[lower-alpha 1]252
2015–16 League Two 10100001[lower-alpha 2]0111
Total 111100042163
Peterborough United 2016–17[38] League One 1000001[lower-alpha 2]020
2017–18[39] League One 0000000000
2018–19[40] League One 3000000030
Total 4000001050
Cambridge City (loan) 2016–17 Southern League Premier Division 4100000041
Sligo Rovers (loan) 2017 League of Ireland Premier Division 101002200123
Kettering Town (loan) 2017–18 Southern League Premier Division 442540006[lower-alpha 3]55430
Slough Town (loan) 2018–19 National League South 9682002[lower-alpha 4]31911
Forest Green Rovers 2019–20[41] League Two 29431202[lower-alpha 2]2367
2020–21[42] League Two 10210104[lower-alpha 2]3165
2021–22[32] League Two 372311004[lower-alpha 2]34227
2022–23[43] League One 5010000060
2023–24[44] League Two 20821102[lower-alpha 2]12510
Total 10137834012912549
Stevenage (loan) 2020–21[42] League Two 181000000181
Walsall (loan) 2022–23[43] League Two 171000000171
Career total 2187321562251927099
  1. ↑ Two appearances and one goal in FA Trophy, one appearance and one goal in Herts Senior Cup
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Appearance(s) in EFL Trophy
  3. ↑ Three appearances and four goals in Northamptonshire Senior Cup, two appearances and one goal in Southern League Cup, one appearance in Southern League play-offs
  4. ↑ One appearance in FA Trophy, two appearances and three goals in Berks & Bucks Senior Cup

Honours

Forest Green Rovers

Individual

References

  1. ↑ Matty Stevens at Soccerbase
  2. ↑ getreading Administrator (3 July 2012). "Stevens and Frankham set for tri-nations glory". getreading.
  3. ↑ "BoxRec – Les Stevens". boxrec.com.
  4. ↑ "Mathew Stevens". Twitter.
  5. ↑ "Royal Navy Schools ABA Championships – Sunday 6 March – England Boxing". abae.co.uk.
  6. ↑ "2011 GB Schoolboy 3 Nation Championships – England Boxing". abae.co.uk.
  7. ↑ "2012 ABAE Schools Championship Finals – England Boxing". abae.co.uk.
  8. ↑ "England bring home 20 Gold Medals from the GB School Boys Championship – Kids Boxing". kidsboxing.co.uk.
  9. ↑ @mattystevens98 (15 April 2016). "Twitter post" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  10. ↑ "Mathew Stevens". Twitter.
  11. ↑ "Barnet FC Youth Team Profiles". barnetfc.com. Archived from the original on 30 August 2012.
  12. 1 2 "Martin: "They keep going until the end"". barnetfc.com.
  13. ↑ "BBC Sport – Barnet 2–1 Alfreton Town". BBC Sport.
  14. ↑ "St Margaretsbury 3–1 Barnet". Aylesbury United FC.
  15. ↑ "Young Bees knocked out of FA Trophy". Times Series. 16 December 2014.
  16. ↑ "UPDATED: Barnet reject offer from Swansea City for Stevens". Times Series. 4 June 2015.
  17. ↑ "Manchester United and Manchester City are interested in Barnet youngster Matt Stevens but neither club has made a bid". Times Series. 19 August 2015.
  18. ↑ "BBC Sport – Leyton Orient 2–0 Barnet". BBC Sport.
  19. ↑ "Allen suggests an agent could have turned Stevens' head". Times Series. 29 January 2016.
  20. ↑ "Barnet 1-2 AFC Wimbledon". Retrieved 9 June 2023 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  21. ↑ "Posh secure Stevens signing". Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  22. ↑ "Matt Stevens | Player Profile · Aylesbury United Archive". www.aylesburyunitedarchive.com. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  23. ↑ "Mathew Stevens signs". Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  24. ↑ "Loan Striker". Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  25. ↑ "Slough Town secure loan signing of Matty Stevens". Slough Town FC. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  26. ↑ "Posh Recall Stevens From Slough". Peterborough United. 3 December 2018. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  27. ↑ "Peterborough United: Aaron Chapman among five transfer-listed as four released". BBC Sport. 7 May 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  28. ↑ "SIGNING | FGR land heavy hitter Matty Stevens". Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  29. ↑ "MATCH REPORT Forest Green Rovers 3 Southampton U21s 2". fgr.co.uk. 3 September 2019. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  30. ↑ "Stevenage make triple swoop as Lines, Stevens and Norris join the club". Stevenage FC. 5 January 2021.
  31. 1 2 "Edwards and Stevens scoop league accolades". www.fgr.co.uk. 10 September 2021. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  32. 1 2 "Games played by Matty Stevens in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  33. 1 2 "Mohamed Salah and Sam Kerr win PFA player of year awards". BBC Sport. 9 June 2022. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  34. 1 2 "Football Manager EFL Team of the Season line-ups announced". EFL. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  35. 1 2 "Club award winners revealed". Forest Green Rovers. 2 May 2022. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  36. ↑ "Mansfield Town 2–2 Forest Green Rovers: Draw seals title for Rovers". BBC Sport. 7 May 2022. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
  37. ↑ "Matty Stevens joins the Saddlers". www.saddlers.co.uk. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  38. ↑ "Games played by Matty Stevens in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  39. ↑ "Games played by Matty Stevens in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  40. ↑ "Games played by Matty Stevens in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  41. ↑ "Games played by Matty Stevens in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  42. 1 2 "Games played by Matty Stevens in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  43. 1 2 "Games played by Matty Stevens in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  44. ↑ "Games played by Matty Stevens in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  45. ↑ "Matty Stevens". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
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