Matthew Thomas Crowell (born 3 July 1984) is a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...

retired

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 lea ...

who last played for

NSW Premier League The National Premier Leagues NSW is a semi-professional soccer competition in New South Wales, Australia. The competition is conducted by Football NSW, one of the two organising bodies in New South Wales (the other being the National Premier Lea ...

side

Central Coast Mariners Academy The Central Coast Mariners Academy (CCMA) is the youth system of Central Coast Mariners FC based in , Australia. The academy teams play in the National Premier Leagues NSW competition, the top flight of the NPL NSW system. Senior players occasio ...

Club career

Southampton

Born in

Bridgend Bridgend (; or just , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in the Bridgend County Borough of Wales, west of Cardiff and east of Swansea. The town is named after the Old Bridge, Bridgend, medieval bridge over the River Og ...

, Crowell grew up in Coychurch. As a teenager he was part of the youth system at

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club ( ; ) is a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. It competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Swansea have played their home matches at ...

before being persuaded to follow Swansea youth coach Malcolm Elias to

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

at the age of 16 in 2000. Swansea took the case to the Football League appeals committee seeking compensation of £1.5 million. The committee later ordered Southampton to make an immediate payment of £100,000 to Swansea, as well as a further £100,000 when Crowell had made 10, 20, 30 and 40 appearances in the future and 20% of any future transfer fee that the club received for Crowell. Swansea chairman Neil McClure later stated "''£500,000 is significantly more than Southampton ever offered at any stage and that must be regarded as satisfactory''" However, Crowell never made a first team appearance at Southampton and was released in 2003.

Wrexham

After spending time on trial with

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 ...

, Crowell later joined

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

, having impressed in a trial spell, and made his professional debut for the club on 9 August 2003 as a substitute in place of Steve Thomas during a 0–0 draw with Chesterfield. In his third season at the Racecourse Ground he made six appearances in the club's

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...

victory, beating

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 ...

2–0 in the final. However, he later found himself plagued with injuries in his later years at the

Racecourse Ground The Racecourse Ground (), is a football stadium in Wrexham, Wales. It is the home of Wrexham A.F.C., Wrexham AFC. It is the largest stadium in North Wales and the List of football stadiums in Wales, fifth-largest in Wales. It is the world's o ...

and, after playing on a six-month contract with the Welsh side in an attempt to show his fitness, he was released in January 2008 having made over 100 appearances for the club.

Non-league

In January 2008, Crowell signed for

Northwich Victoria Northwich is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire West and Chester borough of Cheshire, England. It lies on the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers River Weaver, Weaver and River Dane, Dane, east of Chester, south of Warr ...

on non-contract terms. In July 2009, Crowell left Northwich. He attended a trial with

side

Sydney Olympic Sydney Olympic Football Club is an Australian semi-professional soccer club, based in Belmore, Sydney, New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states o ...

, but later returned to Britain to sign for

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester, southwest of Sale, Greater Manchester, Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2021 United Kingdom ce ...

on a short-term contract, stating that "''It was hard at Northwich last season with the club's difficulties but I am pleased to join Altrincham''".

Central Coast Mariners

In September 2009, Crowell joined A-League team

Central Coast Mariners Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League Men, under licence from the Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The Mar ...

on a one-year deal until the end of the 2009–10 season. He made 13 appearances for the club before returning to England.

Return to Non-league

He then rejoined Altrincham before in December 2010 Farnborough announced that he had joined them, apparently on non-contract terms. He left the club after only two appearances.

Port Talbot Town

In May 2011, Crowell had a two-week trial with China's

Chengdu Blades Chengdu Tiancheng F.C. () was a Chinese professional football club based in Chengdu, China, who last played in the 26,000 seater Shuangliu Sports Center in the China League One division. The club was founded on 26 February 1996 and was formerly ...

before he joined

Welsh Premier League The Cymru Premier, known as the JD Cymru Premier for sponsorship reasons, is the national football league of Wales. It has both professional and semi-professional status clubs and is at the top of the Welsh football league system. It was found ...

club Port Talbot Town in July 2011 after a trial. He played all of the club's league games prior to his next move.

CD Ourense

He signed a full-time contract with Spanish club

CD Ourense Club Deportivo Ourense, S.A.D. was a Spanish football team based in Ourense, in the autonomous community of Galicia. Founded in 1952 after the dissolution of old UD Orensana, it played in Segunda División B – Group 1, holding home games a ...

in September 2011 where he made 20 appearances for the club.

Return to Port Talbot Town

In July 2012 Crowell returned to Wales and his former club Port Talbot Town ahead of the 2012/13 Welsh Premier League season. Crowell's first goal in his second spell at the club came in a 5–0 win away at Aberystwyth FC where he scored a penalty.

Central Coast Mariners Academy

In March 2013 Crowell signed for the

, feeder seed for

Central Coast Mariners FC Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast (New South Wales), Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League, A-League Men, under Professional sports lea ...

of the

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

where he had a previous stint in the 2009–10 season.

Retirement

Crowell retired from professional football in August 2019

International career

A former captain of the Wales under-15 side, Crowell later went on to represent Wales at under-17 and under-19 levels. He has also played numerous times for the Wales U21 side and has also scored a screamer with his left foot for the side, against Azerbaijan U21 in 2004.

Career statistics

Honours

Wrexham *

: 2004–05

References

External links

*
Central Coast Mariners profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crowell, Matt 1984 births Living people Footballers from Bridgend Welsh men's footballers Wales men's youth international footballers Wales men's under-21 international footballers Southampton F.C. players Wrexham A.F.C. players Northwich Victoria F.C. players Altrincham F.C. players Central Coast Mariners Academy players English Football League players National League (English football) players A-League Men players Central Coast Mariners FC players National Premier Leagues players Men's association football midfielders 21st-century Welsh sportsmen