Matthew Ryan Macey (born 9 September 1994) 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 lea ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for club

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its ea ...

Career

Early career

Macey started to play youth football for Avon Arsenal Comets. In 2007, he applied but was rejected from

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 ...

' Centre of Excellence. Macey was also invited to train with

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

but felt the travel commitment was too much. He then later went on to represent the youth teams of

Bath City Bath City Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Bath, Somerset, England. The club is affiliated to the Somerset FA and currently competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. Nicknamed the "R ...

and Yate Town before Bristol Rovers signed him in 2009 before signing him as a full-time scholar in 2011. He first appeared in the Bristol Rovers squad for their League Two fixture against

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. They have played their ho ...

in March 2012 but never made a first-team appearance for Bristol Rovers. He was however a part of their under-18

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

-winning team. Macey was offered a professional contract at the end of the second year of his scholarship in the summer of 2013.

Arsenal and loan spells

On 23 October 2013, Macey signed for

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

after a

trial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, w ...

with them. Arsenal beat off competition from Everton and a number of

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 sys ...

clubs to sign Macey from Bristol Rovers. Due to his age, Arsenal also reportedly paid Bristol Rovers £100,000 in compensation for Macey after he had rejected an offer of a new contract at Bristol Rovers. In his first season at Arsenal, he was suggested as an immediate replacement for

Łukasz Fabiański Łukasz Marek Fabiański (born 18 April 1985) is a Polish professional association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for club West Ham United F.C., West Ham United. He will become a free agent on ...

. In 2014, Macey was chosen to travel with Arsenal's first-team to a pre-season training camp in Austria and was later selected as a substitute for Arsenal's

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 ...

match against

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

. On 8 January 2015, Macey signed for League Two club

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England, that compete in the , the fourth level of the English football league system. They have spent their entire history playing a ...

on a one-month

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

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

debut in a 3–0 defeat away to

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ...

on 17 January. Macey made his final appearance for Accrington in a 5–1 home defeat to

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 ...

on 31 January, and finished the loan with four appearances. On 31 January 2017, Macey joined League Two club

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 ...

on loan until the end of 2016–17. He debuted on 7 February in an

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Motors, Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football, football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and ...

quarter-final tie against

Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to: * Yeovil, a town in Somerset, England, with a council named Yeovil Town * Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset * Yeovil Town W.F.C., an English women's football team affiliated with Yeovil T ...

, which Luton won 5–2. Macey went on to make his league debut four days later in a 2–1 win at home to

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1896 as Crawley Foo ...

. Macey was recalled by Arsenal on 5 April to provide cover for first-choice goalkeeper

Petr Čech Petr Čech (; born 20 May 1982) is a Czech former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper and current ice hockey player who plays as a goaltender for Oxford City Stars. He has ...

and second-choice goalkeeper

David Ospina David Ospina Ramírez (born 31 August 1988) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Categoría Primera A club Atlético Nacional, which he captains, and the Colombia national team. Ospina began his career at Atlé ...

who were sidelined with a groin strain and an abdominal injury respectively, having made 13 appearances for Luton. Macey made his debut for Arsenal on 24 October 2017 against

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

in the

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

fourth round, with the match finishing a 2–1 victory after

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

. He made his European debut in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

group stage nine days later, keeping a

clean sheet In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usually seen as a result of ...

in a 0–0 home draw against

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club), commonly referred to as Crvena zvezda () and colloquially referred to as Red Star Belgrade in anglophone media, is a ...

. Macey signed a new contract of undisclosed length with Arsenal on 6 December. Macey joined

League One League One or League 1 may refer to: Association football * EFL League One, the third tier of football in England. * China League One, the second tier of football in China * K League 1, the top-tier football in South Korea * Lao League 1 * Lea ...

club

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...

on 30 July 2018 on a season-long loan to replace the injured Harry Burgoyne. He made his debut in a 2–1 away defeat to

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

five days later on the opening day of 2018–19. Macey was an ever-present in the team until he suffered a dead leg in a 2–1 defeat away to

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional association football club based in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton, London. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in ...

on 26 December, and was deputised by

Kyle Letheren Kyle Charles Letheren (born 26 December 1987) is a Welsh former professional footballer and goalkeeper coach. He is currently a goalkeeper coach at Doncaster Rovers. He has played in the Scottish Premier League for Kilmarnock, in the Scottish P ...

in his absence. Macey won the FA Cup by merit of being part of the Arsenal squad for the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

against Chelsea on 1 August 2020.

Hibernian

On 8 January 2021, Macey left Arsenal to join Scottish club

Hibernian Hibernian may refer to: * Of Hibernia, Latin name for Ireland; hence ** Irish (disambiguation) Hibernian, Hibernians or The Hibernian may refer to: Sports clubs * Hibernian F.C., a Scottish football club, founded 1875 * Hibernian W.F.C., a Sc ...

until the end of the season. On 11 January, he made his debut in a 1–1 draw against

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

in the

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 ...

. Macey played mainly in

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,penalty Penalty, The Penalty, Penalization, Penalisation, Penalize or Penalise may refer to: Sports * Foul (sports) ** Penalty (golf) ** Penalty (gridiron football) ** Penalty (ice hockey) ** Penalty (rugby) ** Penalty (rugby union) ** Penalty kick (assoc ...

in the

2021 Scottish Cup Final The 2021 Scottish Cup final was the 136th final of the Scottish Cup and the final of the 2020–21 Scottish Cup, the most prestigious knockout football competition in Scotland. The match was played on 22 May 2021 at Hampden Park, Glasgow. St Jo ...

, which Hibs lost 1–0 to

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland. The team competes in the , the second division of Scottish football. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun (or Saint Johnstoun)—an old name o ...

Luton Town

On 22 June 2022, Macey returned to Championship club Luton Town on a permanent basis, for an undisclosed fee. On 2 September 2023, Macey's departure from Luton Town was announced following the mutual termination of his contract.

Loan to Portsmouth

On 20 January 2023,

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

announced the signing of Macey on loan for the remainder of the season.

Portsmouth

On 12 January 2024, Macey returned to League One leaders Portsmouth on a permanent basis, signing a contract until the end of the season. On 1 May 2024, Portsmouth said the player would be released in the summer when his contract expired.

Colchester United

On 31 May 2024, Macey agreed to join League Two side

on a two-year deal.

Career statistics

Honours

Arsenal *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

: 2019–20

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Macey, Matt 1994 births Living people Footballers from Bath, Somerset English men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Bristol Rovers F.C. players Arsenal F.C. players Accrington Stanley F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Hibernian F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players English Football League players Scottish Professional Football League players 21st-century English sportsmen