Matthew Thomas Jarvis (born 22 May 1986) is an English former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugb ...

who played as a winger. After an unsuccessful spell as a youth-team player for

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...

, Jarvis began his professional career with Gillingham, making his

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

debut for the Kent-based club at the age of 17. He made more than 100 appearances for Gillingham and became a target for a number of larger clubs, eventually signing for

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club' ...

in June 2007. He became a first-team regular for the club, helping them win promotion to the top flight in 2009. In August 2012, he joined

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

for an undisclosed club record fee. In September 2015, he joined Norwich City on loan until the end of the season, and made that move permanent in January 2016. Jarvis spent three more years at the Canaries, including a brief loan spell with

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is th ...

in 2019 before joining

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

and retiring in May 2021. He received his first call-up to the

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

squad in 2011 and earned his only

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

as a substitute against

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and Tog ...

in a friendly at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

Early life

Jarvis was born in

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the ...

, Cleveland. His parents,

Nicky Nicky is a diminutive form of the name Nicholas, Nicola and Nicole, occasionally used as a given name in its own right. It can also be used as a diminutive of Dominic. It may refer to: People Sports * Nicky Adams (born 1986), English-born Welsh ...

and

Linda Linda may refer to: As a name * Linda (given name), a female given name (including a list of people and fictional characters so named) * Linda (singer) (born 1977), stage name of Svetlana Geiman, a Russian singer * Anita Linda (born Alice Lake i ...

, both played

table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

professionally and each reached number one in the sport's British rankings. Later they set up the table tennis supplies company Jarvis Sports, which relocated from

Guisborough Guisborough ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the borough of Redcar and Cleveland, North Yorkshire, England. It lies north of the North York Moors National Park. Roseberry Topping, midway between the town and Great Ayton, is a landmar ...

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

in the same year that Jarvis was born. During his years at school in Surrey, Jarvis excelled at several sports, becoming a county champion in both swimming and athletics. He also gained ten

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...

qualifications.

Club career

Gillingham

Like his older brother Ben, Jarvis started his career on the books of

, but was released by the club. With the help of a member of the Millwall coaching staff, however, he was taken on by Kent-based club Gillingham as a trainee. On 4 November 2003, at the age of 17, he made his

debut in a match against

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

when a number of senior players were missing due to

influenza Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These symptom ...

. He came on as a 76th-minute substitute for

Richard Rose Richard Rose may refer to: * Richard Rose (mystic) (1917–2005), American mystic, esoteric philosopher, author, poet, and investigator of paranormal phenomena *Richard Rose (political scientist) (born 1933), American political scientist and profess ...

in a match which his team lost 3–1. He next played for the first team in an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football compet ...

defeat to

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Br ...

on 24 January 2004, and went on to feature regularly in the team in March and April. In total he made two starts and eight substitute appearances during the 2003–04 season, but also continued to play for the youth team, helping them reach the last sixteen of the

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. I ...

. Shortly before the end of the season he signed his first professional contract with the club when manager

Andy Hessenthaler Andrew Hessenthaler (born 17 August 1965) is an English football manager and former player who is head of recruitment at club Gillingham. He began his career in non-league football and did not turn professional until he joined Watford at th ...

gave him a three-year contract. In the 2004–05 season Jarvis became a regular in the Gillingham first team, playing in 30 Football League matches, although he was out of action for five weeks in January and February after undergoing an operation on a

hernia A hernia is the abnormal exit of tissue or an organ, such as the bowel, through the wall of the cavity in which it normally resides. Various types of hernias can occur, most commonly involving the abdomen, and specifically the groin. Groin her ...

. He also scored his first goal for the club in a win over

on 30 October 2004. Gillingham, however, were

relegated In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

from the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

at the end of the season. In the 2005–06 season he was again a regular, and scored seven goals, his best season tally to date. Midway through the 2006–07 season Gillingham offered Jarvis a new contract, which the club described as the most lucrative it had ever offered to a player of his age. Jarvis rejected the contract offer, but later claimed via his agent that he would be happy to remain at

Priestfield Stadium Priestfield Stadium (popularly known simply as Priestfield and officially known from 2007 to 2010 as KRBS Priestfield Stadium and from 2011 as MEMS Priestfield Stadium for sponsorship purposes) is a football stadium in Gillingham, Kent. It ha ...

if the club "demonstrated that it could match his ambitions". A number of

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

and Championship clubs showed interest in signing Jarvis, and

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park ...

made an unsuccessful bid for the player, manager

Ian Holloway Ian Scott Holloway (born 12 March 1963) is an English professional football manager, former player, media personality and television pundit who was most recently the manager of Grimsby Town. A midfielder, he notably played in the Premier League ...

commenting that "we did make a bid but it got knocked back". Towards the end of the season Nottingham Forest of

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

made an offer of £650,000, hoping to circumvent the

transfer window A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer wi ...

by taking the player on

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...

until the end of the season, but the bid was turned down by the player's agent. Jarvis ended the season having been named in the PFA's League One Team of the Year, Gillingham's Young Player of the Season, and with

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...

expressing their interest in him. However, Gillingham chairman Paul Scally stated that he believed the player's agent had already agreed a transfer with another club. Scally also claimed that Jarvis had the potential to play for

by the time he was 24.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Jarvis rejected a further improved contract offer by Gillingham, to join Wolverhampton Wanderers of the Championship in June 2007, signing a two-year contract with the option to extend his stay by a further year. The clubs agreed a transfer fee but the exact amount was not disclosed. Jarvis suffered hip and groin injuries during pre-season training and was unable to take any further part in training until September. He finally made his debut for his new club on 20 October 2007, when he came on as an 88th-minute substitute in a 2–0 home victory over Charlton Athletic. After regaining full fitness, he became a first-choice player at Molineux, making a further 27 appearances during the 2007–08 season. He scored his first goal for the club in a 1–1 draw with

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

in December 2007, in a season where the club missed out on a play-off place by virtue of goal difference. After a strong start to the following season for both club and player, Jarvis injured his

hamstring In human anatomy, a hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in between the hip and the knee (from medial to lateral: semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris). The hamstrings are susceptible to injury. In quadrupe ...

in the defeat to

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spell ...

on 30 September 2008 and was expected to be out of action for approximately six weeks. He made his return in the 1–0 defeat to

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

on 6 December, and remained a first choice player as the club won promotion to the Premier League as champions. He made his Premier League debut against

in August 2009 and played regularly during the 2009–10 season, scoring three times to help them achieve top flight survival. In September 2010, he signed a new contract which would have kept him at the club until the summer of 2015, and was once again a regular in the Wolves team during the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

season, scoring four Premier League goals, his highest tally for four seasons. On 19 May 2011, Jarvis was awarded both Supporters' Player of the Year award and Players' Player of the Year awards. Jarvis submitted a transfer request on 11 August 2012, after media reports linked West Ham United with the player. Wolves rejected several bids for the player, without naming the club involved. On 23 August, Wolves accepted an offer from West Ham of a reported, initial £7.5 million, rising to £10.75 million.

West Ham United

Paul Fenech West Ham Vs Birkrikara (19753538640)

On 24 August 2012, Jarvis signed a five-year contract, with the option for an additional year, for a transfer fee which was a club record but was officially undisclosed. Jarvis made his debut for West Ham on 25 August in a 3–0 away defeat to

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...

. He scored his first goal for the club on 1 October, opening the scoring in a 2–1 win away to Queens Park Rangers at

Loftus Road Loftus Road is a football stadium in White City, London, England, which is home to Queens Park Rangers. In 1981, it became the first stadium in British professional football to have an artificial pitch of Omniturf installed. This remained in ...

Norwich City

On 1 September 2015, Jarvis signed on a season-long loan for

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

. Eleven days later, he scored his first goal for the club against

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a r ...

in a 3–1 win. On 24 December 2015, Jarvis signed a permanent contract with Norwich, to take effect in the January transfer window, for a reported fee of £2.5 million. Jarvis started 12 games for the Canaries in the 2015–16 season, coming off the bench as a substitute another eight times. Nearing the end of the season Jarvis suffered a knee injury, which along with hamstring and hip injuries, would cause him to miss the entire 2016–17 season, with the exception of one appearance for the club's under-23 team in the

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL L ...

. On 1 January 2019, Jarvis joined League One club

on loan until the end of the 2018–19 season. He was released by Norwich at the end of the season.

Woking

Jarvis signed a deal with

on 28 February 2020. On 29 February he scored his first goal for the club on his debut, in a league game against

Maidenhead United Maidenhead United Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Maidenhead, Berkshire, England. They are currently members of and have played at York Road since 1871, making it the 'oldest senior football ground continuously use ...

. On 7 July 2020, the club announced that Jarvis had extended his deal until the end of the 2020–21 season. On 30 May 2021, Jarvis announced his retirement from

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

, ending his eighteen-year career.

International career

Jarvis was called up to the England national team in March 2011 for matches against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

(a Euro 2012 qualifier) and

(an

international friendly An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

). He had been in provisional squads earlier in the season, but was now in the squad due to injuries to

Theo Walcott Theo James Walcott (born 16 March 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for Southampton and previously for the English national team. Walcott is a product of the Southampton Academy and started his career with ...

and Adam Johnson. After not being selected for the matchday squad against Wales, he made his debut as a substitute against Ghana at

on 29 March, coming on for

Jack Wilshere Jack Andrew Garry Wilshere (born 1 January 1992) is an English football coach and former professional player who played as a midfielder. He is the current head coach of the Arsenal U18s. Wilshere came up through Arsenal's youth academy and i ...

in the 70th minute of a 1–1 draw. In doing so, he became the first Wolves player for England since

Steve Bull Stephen George Bull (born 28 March 1965 in Tipton, Dudley) is an English former professional footballer who is best remembered for his 13-year spell at Wolverhampton Wanderers. He played there from 1986 until his retirement from playing in 19 ...

in 1990.

Personal life

Jarvis has been married to his wife Sarah since June 2011. In January 2013, he was interviewed for, and appeared on the cover of, gay lifestyle magazine ''

Attitude Attitude may refer to: Philosophy and psychology * Attitude (psychology), an individual's predisposed state of mind regarding a value * Metaphysics of presence * Propositional attitude, a relational mental state connecting a person to a propo ...

'' to discuss homosexuality in football.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Wolverhampton Wanderers *

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...

: 2008–09 Individual *Gillingham Young Player of the Season: 2006–07 *

Player of the Year:

*Wolverhampton Wanderers Players' Player of the Year: 2010–11 *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premi ...

: 2006–07 League One

References

External links

*
Profile
at the Norwich City F.C. website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jarvis, Matt 1986 births Living people Footballers from Middlesbrough English footballers England international footballers Association football wingers Millwall F.C. players Gillingham F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players Norwich City F.C. players Walsall F.C. players English Football League players Premier League players Woking F.C. players National League (English football) players