Matthew Jonathan Wicks (born 8 September 1978) 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, rugby lea ...

who played as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

. Wicks was viewed as "one of the most promising players of his generation" but never lived up to the label.

Club career

Born in

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

, Wicks began his career with youth contracts at both

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 ...

and

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

, but failed to make a league appearance for either team. After being released by Arsenal in 1998, Wicks signed for

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, England. Its first team competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' ...

, where he made six league appearances. Wicks later signed for

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Peterborough United formed in ...

, making a total of 31 league appearances. While at Peterborough, Wicks spent a loan spell with

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

, and later signed for Brighton on a permanent deal. In his two spells at Brighton, he made 26 league appearances. After leaving Brighton, Wicks signed for

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. They play their home ...

, where he made 14 league appearances. After leaving Hull in July 2002, Wicks moved to Australia to play with the Newcastle United Jets, under the management of former

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 ...

player

Ian Crook Ian Stuart Crook (born 18 January 1963) is an English football manager and former professional player. As a player, he was a midfielder who began his career with Tottenham Hotspur. before making 418 appearances for Norwich City where he notably ...

, but never appeared for the club. He was released from his contract in August 2003 on compassionate grounds because of the illness of a relative, and retired from football soon afterwards.

International career

Wicks was captain of the

England national under-17 football team The England national under-17 football team, also known as England under-17s or England U17(s), represents England in association football, football at an under-17 age level and is controlled by The Football Association, the governing body for fo ...

Honours

;Peterborough United *

Football League Third Division The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 Football League, 1920–21 and again from 1958–59 Football League, 1958 until 1991–92 Football League, 1992. When the FA Premier League ...

playoffs:

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

Personal life

Wicks is the son of fellow footballer Steve Wicks and grandson of former

Chelsea F.C. Chelsea Football Club is a professional football club based in Fulham, West London, England. The club was founded in 1905 and named after neighbouring area Chelsea. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football, pl ...

chairman

Brian Mears Joseph Brian Mears (25 April 1931 – 28 July 2009) was the chairman of Chelsea Football Club. He was the son of Joe Mears, also a chairman of Chelsea, and grandson of Joseph Mears, co-founder of the club. He was born in Richmond, Surrey, and e ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wicks, Matthew 1978 births Living people Footballers from Reading, Berkshire English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Arsenal F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Newcastle Jets FC players English Football League players English expatriate men's footballers English expatriate sportspeople in Australia Expatriate men's soccer players in Australia