Matts Kunding was an Irish footballer in the early part of the 20th century. A left-midfielder, Kunding was one of the first Irish professional footballers to ply their trade on the continent.

Club career

Although an Irishman, Kunding played his entire, yet brief career in Italy, notably in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. Th ...

. He signed for

Torino Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...

in 1909, making his debut in the Turin Derby against

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football league system. Founded in ...

, winning the game 3-1 at the Velodrome Humbert I. He played in a strong Torino midfield alongside Englishman Arthur Rodgers. That season, Torino finished fourth in the Serie A. The next season, he moved to Torino's bitter rivals Juventus, donning the famous black and white stripped shirt for the 1910-1911 season. He joined an increasingly international Juventus side, playing as the only Irishman in a team then dominated by Swiss players. He made his debut for the ''Old Lady'' in a 1-1 draw against Piedmont Football Club on 27 November 1910. After impressing in a 2-0 win over Andrea Doria, Kunding was later dropped after a dismal showing in a 0-2 home defeat to

AC Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 and 1982–83 season ...

. His last game for Juventus came in a 3-0 defeat to

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of t ...

on 19 March 1911, with the team finishing in last place in the Serie A. Kunding was the first Irish-born player to play in the Italian League, setting an example for fellow Irishmen Paddy Sloan and

Liam Brady William Brady (born 13 February 1956) is an Irish former footballer. He found success both in England with Arsenal, where he won an FA Cup in 1979, and in Italy with Juventus, winning two Serie A titles. Brady was capped 72 times for the Irela ...

to follow.

References

External links

Statistiche su Myjuve.it
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kunding, Matts Republic of Ireland association footballers Republic of Ireland expatriate association footballers Serie A players Expatriate footballers in Italy Juventus F.C. players Torino F.C. players Place of birth missing Year of birth missing Year of death missing Association football midfielders