Matthew John Tipton (born 29 June 1980) is a Welsh

football manager ''Football Manager'', also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008, is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game beg ...

and former professional

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who i ...

who most recently managed

NIFL Championship The Northern Ireland Football League Championship (known as the Playr-Fit Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the second level of the Northern Ireland Football League, the national football league in Northern Ireland. Clubs in the Championsh ...

side

Ards Ards (or ARDS, ARDs) may refer to: Medical * ARDS, Acute respiratory distress syndrome * ARDs, age-related diseases Places * Ards Peninsula, Northern Ireland ** Ards (territory), several historical territorial divisions on the Ards Peninsula ...

Club career

Tipton started his career at

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...

moving up through the Youth ranks and making his debut aged just 17. In 2002, he moved on to League Two side Macclesfield Town, where he enjoyed his most prolific spell. This was followed by a brief, unhappy spell with

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third level of the English football league system. The club was formed in 1897 as Mans ...

,Mansfield win the race for Tipton
BBC Sport, 27 June 2005 before moving back to the North-West of England with Bury. After his time at Bury came to an end he dropped out of the Football League and joined

Conference North The National League North, officially known as Vanarama National League North for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football league in England. National League North is the second division of the National Leagues and step 2 o ...

side Hyde United. A season later moved to local rivals

Droylsden Droylsden is a town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, east of Manchester and west of Ashton-under-Lyne, with a population at the 2011 Census of 22,689. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, in the mid-19th cen ...

. He scored the only goal of the game in Droylsden's 1–0 giant-killing victory over league side

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

. On 18 July 2009 he returned to Macclesfield Town as trialist and played in the 3–0 pre-season defeat to

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

. He signed a one-year deal with Macclesfield on 24 July 2009. He left the club, along with 10 other players at the end of the 2009–10 season. He signed for

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...

of The League of Ireland on 29 July 2010. It was the first time in his career that he had played outside of Britain. He signed for the 2010 campaign, and made his league debut in the defeat at

Sligo Rovers Sligo Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional association football, football club playing in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland. The club is based in Sligo in the west of Ireland. The club was founded in 1928 and have been in ...

. On 13 September 2010 Tipton scored a hat trick helping Dundalk win 5–1 against league toppers

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional Association football, football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is List of football clubs by competit ...

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In December 2010 he signed for Portadown F.C., Portadown on an 18-month deal with the option for another 12 months. He was the club's leading scorer for the 2011–12 season with 27 goals. He signed for Linfield in May 2012 on a two-year contract, and in 2014 joined Ballymena United. He scored 19 goals for the Sky Blues in his debut season. On 24 March 2016, Tipton, having had trouble recovering from a knee injury, left Ballymena. Upon leaving the club, he stated that he was keen to explore alternative options in football.

International career

Tipton is a former Wales under-21 international player.

Management career

Tipton went into management in 2016, taking the reins from long-serving Warrenpoint Town manager Barry Gray, who had managed the club from the

Mid-Ulster Football League The Daily Mirror Mid-Ulster Football League, or simply referred to as the Mid-Ulster League, is an association football league in Northern Ireland. It contains 9 divisions. These comprise two intermediate sections: the Intermediate A and Intermed ...

into the

NIFL Premiership The NIFL Premiership, known as the Sports Direct Premiership for sponsorship purposes, and Irish Premiership colloquially, is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Northern Ireland Football L ...

, but had been relegated to the

by the time he stood down. In his first season, Tipton's side claimed the Championship and the

Mid-Ulster Cup The Mid-Ulster Cup is a senior football competition in Northern Ireland run by the Mid-Ulster Football Association (founded 2 April 1887). The competition has historically featured teams based in County Armagh, east County Tyrone, and west Co ...

. Tipton resigned the Warrenpoint manager's post on 28 February 2018, and later that day was announced as the new manager of Portadown F.C., Portadown on a two-and-a-half-year contract.

Honours

As a player

Manchester Premier Cup The Manchester Premier Cup (also known as the Frank Hannah Manchester Premier Cup) is an annual English football knockout tournament involving teams from Greater Manchester, England. It is a County Cup competition of the Manchester Football A ...

: 2008-09 Linfield *

County Antrim Shield The County Antrim & District Football Association Senior Shield (more commonly known as the County Antrim Shield) is a football competition in Northern Ireland. The competition is open to senior teams who are members of the North East Ulster F ...

: 2013-14 Ballymena United *

: 2015-16

As a manager

Warrenpoint Town *

: 2016-17 *

: 2016-17 Portadown F.C. *

: 2019-20

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tipton, Matthew 1980 births Living people Footballers from Bangor, Gwynedd Men's association football forwards Welsh men's footballers Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Macclesfield Town F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players Bury F.C. players Hyde United F.C. players Droylsden F.C. players Dundalk F.C. players English Football League players League of Ireland players NIFL Premiership players Linfield F.C. players Portadown F.C. players Portadown F.C. managers Warrenpoint Town F.C. players Ballymena United F.C. players 21st-century Welsh sportsmen Men's association football player-managers Welsh football managers NIFL Premiership managers Ards F.C. managers