Matthew Joseph Virtue-Thick (born 2 May 1997) is an English 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, rugby ...

who plays for Lincoln City, on loan from Blackpool, as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He has previously played for

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

and

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

Career

Virtue joined Liverpool at under-11 level, having played with

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

until the age of 9. He moved on loan to

in January 2018. He was named captain of Liverpool's Under-23 team in October 2018. In January 2019, he signed for Blackpool. He scored his first professional goal against

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England. The club competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They have spent their complete his ...

on 5 March 2019. On 16 October 2020, Virtue signed a new two-year contract with Blackpool. In December 2020 he tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

and had to self-isolate, missing matches. In October 2021 he extended his contract for a further year. He moved on loan to Lincoln City on 1 September 2022. He made his debut coming off the bench against

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on Ne ...

on 3 September 2022. He scored his first goal for Lincoln City against

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been ...

in a 6–3 win on 17 September 2022.

Career statistics

References

1997 births Living people English footballers Chelsea F.C. players Liverpool F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players English Football League players Association football midfielders Footballers from Surrey {{England-footy-midfielder-1990s-stub