Damian Matthew (born 23 September 1970) is an English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach, former professional footballer and television pundit, who was last a first-team coach at

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

. As a player, he was a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

from 1989 until 1999, notably in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

with Chelsea and

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

. He also played in the

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, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

for

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers FC is a men's professional football club in Bristol. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is affiliated to Bristol Rovers W.F.C., whose team play in the FA Women's National Leag ...

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

and

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the c ...

. After his playing days were over, Matthew was briefly a pundit for

Chelsea TV Chelsea TV was a British subscription based sports television channel, dedicated to the fans of the English Premier League football club, Chelsea. The channel first launched in August 2001 on Sky Digital. The station was registered with Ofco ...

. He has also worked on the coaching staff at Chelsea, Crystal Palace,

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth level of English football. The team are known as "The Shrimpers", a reference ...

Welling United Welling United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club, based in Welling in the London Borough of Bexley, England. The most prominent aspect of the club is its men's first team, who play in the , the seventh level of the E ...

and

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

Playing career

He began his professional playing career as a midfielder for Chelsea in the early 1990s, playing 21 league games and being issued with the number 8 when

FA Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football ...

squad numbers were introduced in 1993–94. He next played for

but once again his first team chances were limited. He then played for

and

before retiring from playing professionally in 1999 at the age of 29, due to injury.

Coaching career

Matthew is a

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

qualified coach and, after retiring as a player, became a scout for

, before returning to Chelsea as a Youth Development Officer. In 2003, he became assistant manager of

Bedford Town Bedford Town Football Club is a football club based in the Borough of Bedford, England. The club are currently members of the and play at the Eyrie in Cardington, a village on the outskirts of Bedford. They are full members of the Football As ...

. He joined

in 2006, as the U18s coach, and, in 2007, he shared this role with coaching at Maidstone United. He became Charlton's Reserve Development Coach in 2008, before later also becoming Academy Development Coach in 2010. In January 2011, he was promoted to first-team coach by new manager Chris Powell. Matthew maintained his place through the departures of Powell,

José Riga José Riga (born 30 July 1957) is a Belgian football manager and former player. He had a fifteen-year playing career as a midfielder, beginning in 1974 when he joined C.S. Visé. He remained with the club for eleven years, before joining fellow ...

and

Bob Peeters Bob Peeters (born 10 January 1974) is a Belgian football executive and former player and manager. He currently serves as sporting director of Challenger Pro League club Beveren. Club career Lierse Noted for his large stature, measuring 1.96 m ...

, but he was sacked on 24 October 2015 at the same time as his final manager,

Guy Luzon Guy Igal Luzon (; born 7 August 1975) is an Israeli football manager and former player who manages the Israel national under-21 football team, Israel national under-21 team. Club career Guy Luzon was a graduate of the Maccabi Petah Tikva F.C., M ...

, was relieved of his duties. Matthew joined

as first-team coach in April 2016, under manager Mark Goldberg. He left the club on 14 September 2016, after only 10 matches of the 2016-17 season. In January 2022 he joined Millwall FC's Youth Academy as Head of Coaching, taking over from Kenny Brown On 18 June 2022, Matthew was appointed assistant coach at

, under Michael Beale. However, five months later he left the club alongside Beale to join

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

side

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Matthew, Damian 1970 births Living people English men's footballers England men's under-21 international footballers Chelsea F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Bristol Rovers F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Premier League players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. non-playing staff Chelsea F.C. non-playing staff Charlton Athletic F.C. non-playing staff Southend United F.C. non-playing staff Rangers F.C. non-playing staff Footballers from the London Borough of Islington People from Islington (district) Men's association football midfielders