Matthew James Blair (born 21 June 1989) is a former English professional footballer who last played as a right back for club Cheltenham Town. Blair started his career with

Racing Club Warwick Racing Club Warwick Football Club is a football club based in Warwick, Warwickshire, and competes in the . History They were formed in 1919 under the name of Saltisford Rovers and played in various local leagues including the Warwick League ...

and after one season with the club signed for

Stratford Town Stratford Town Football Club is a association football, football club representing the town of Stratford upon Avon, Warwickshire, England, but currently based in nearby Tiddington, Warwickshire, Tiddington. They are currently members of the and ...

in 2008. He left for Bedworth United a year later, before going on to have spells with

Redditch United Redditch United Football Club is an English football club based in Redditch, Worcestershire. The club participates in the and play their home games at the V Trico Stadium. They are managed by former Captain and Assistant Manager Matt Clarke. ...

and A.F.C. Telford United in the Conference North. He joined Kidderminster Harriers of the Conference Premier in 2010 and after one season signed for York City. He scored in the

2012 FA Trophy Final The 2012 FA Trophy Final was the 43rd final of the Football Association's cup competition for levels 5–8 of the English football league system. The match was contested by Newport County and York City. York City were beaten finalists in 2009, b ...

and

2012 Conference Premier play-off Final The 2012 Conference Premier play-off Final, known as the 2012 Blue Square Bet Premier play-off Final for sponsorship purposes, was a football match between Luton Town and York City on 20 May 2012 at Wembley Stadium in London. It was the tenth Con ...

at Wembley Stadium, and his winning goal in the latter saw York

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into League Two. After one season with York in League Two, Blair signed for divisional rivals

Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Fleetwood, Lancashire. Established in 1997, the current Fleetwood Town F.C. is the fourth incarnation of the club; it was originally formed ...

in 2013 and was released in January 2015.

Club career

Early career

Born in Warwick, Warwickshire, Blair started his career in the Midland Football Alliance with his hometown club,

, in the 2007–08 season. He signed for

of the Midland Football Alliance on 7 July 2008. After signing, manager Micky Moore said of Blair: "He had an excellent season with Racing Club Warwick and I feel coming to Stratford and its environment will make him a better player". He finished 2008–09 with seven goals in 40 league appearances for Stratford. Blair signed for Southern League Division One Central club Bedworth United on 3 June 2009. He scored four times for Bedworth in 16 appearances before signing for Conference North club

on 25 November 2009. Having made 15 appearances and scored two goals for Redditch, Blair moved on again, signing for Conference North rivals A.F.C. Telford United on 19 March 2010. He finished 2009–10 with one goal in seven appearances for Telford.

Kidderminster Harriers

Blair signed for Conference Premier club Kidderminster Harriers on 9 August 2010 on non-contract terms following a trial. He made his debut on 14 August 2010 as a 75th-minute substitute in Kidderminster's 2010–11 opening day 2–1 victory away to York City. His first goal for the club came after scoring with a low shot in the 75th minute of a 2–1 win at home to

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...

on 5 October 2010. In the following match, Blair scored twice as Kidderminster beat Grimsby Town 3–2 on 10 October 2010. Blair signed a contract until the end of 2010–11 on 18 October 2010. His first hat-trick for Kidderminster came after scoring all three of their goals in a 3–3 draw away to Grimsby on 9 April 2011, including an 83rd-minute equaliser after latching onto a loose ball in the penalty area. He finished the season with 11 goals in 45 appearances for Kidderminster.

York City

After turning down a new contract with Kidderminster, Blair signed for Conference Premier rivals York City on 1 June 2011 on a two-year contract. A compensation package was agreed by the two clubs later that month. He made his debut in York's opening match of 2011–12, a 2–1 victory away to Ebbsfleet United on 13 August 2011. His first goal came in the following match with York's final goal in a 3–1 victory at home to

Barrow Barrow may refer to: Places England * Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria ** Borough of Barrow-in-Furness, local authority encompassing the wider area ** Barrow and Furness (UK Parliament constituency) * Barrow, Cheshire * Barrow, Gloucestershire * Barro ...

on 16 August 2011, with a sidefooted shot from six yards in the fifth minute of stoppage time. Blair scored the equaliser to give York a 1–1 away draw to Luton Town in the

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

semi-final second leg with a 90th-minute header from a

Jamal Fyfield Jamal Nehemiah Fyfield (born 17 March 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre back for club Boreham Wood. He has played in the Football League for York City. Fyfield started his career with Leyton Orient's youth syst ...

cross. York progressed to the final with a 2–1 aggregate victory. With a 111th-minute header from a Jason Walker cross, Blair scored the winning goal for York away to Mansfield Town during

extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport 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 onl ...

of their play-off semi-final second leg on 7 May 2012. He scored the opening goal for York in their 2–0 victory over Newport County in the

at Wembley Stadium on 12 May 2012, after lifting the ball 20 yards into an empty net after goalkeeper

Glyn Thompson Glyn William Thompson (born 24 February 1981) is an English former association football goalkeeper. Career Born in, Shropshire, Thompson began his career as a youth player with hometown club Shrewsbury Town. He made his senior début as a 1 ...

had charged out of his goal. Eight days later, Blair scored the winning goal in York's 2–1 victory over Luton in the

at Wembley Stadium. He scored in the 47th minute with a sidefooted shot from four yards after the ball was head down by Daniel Parslow, and the goal was allowed despite Blair being in an offside position. This result meant York were

into League Two after an eight-year absence from the Football League. He finished his first season at York as top scorer with 20 goals in 52 appearances, and was named in the 2011–12 Conference Premier Team of the Year alongside York teammate James Meredith. Matty Blair 21-07-2012 1

Blair came on as a 78th-minute substitute in York's

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

opener away to League One team Doncaster Rovers in the League Cup

first round First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

on 11 August 2012. Following a 1–1 draw after extra time the team lost 4–2 in a penalty shoot-out, with Blair missing the final penalty kick. He then entered York's first Football League fixture since their promotion, a 3–1 defeat at home to Wycombe Wanderers on 18 August 2012, as a 56th-minute substitute. His first goal of the season came with the 80th-minute winner in York's 1–0 victory away to Rotherham United in the Football League Trophy first round Northern section. He finished the season with seven goals in 49 appearances.

Fleetwood Town

Following discussions with York manager

Nigel Worthington Nigel Worthington (born 4 November 1961) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who was most recently the manager of York City. He played a defender and a midfielder, playing his club football for Ballymena United, Notts Count ...

, Blair expressed his desire to look for another club, and was in talks with newly relegated League Two club Portsmouth before asking for more time to consider the move. However, he signed for League Two rivals

on a two-year contract on 13 May 2013. Blair joined fellow League Two club Northampton Town on 10 January 2014 on a one-month loan. He made his debut the following day in a 2–0 home defeat to former club York, before scoring a 76th-minute equaliser for Northampton in their 1–1 away draw with Cheltenham Town on 1 February 2014. His loan was ended on 5 February 2014, three days ahead of when it was due to expire, having made three appearances and scored one goal for Northampton. Blair scored the only goal in the play-off semi-final against his former club York, and started for Fleetwood in their 1–0 win over Burton Albion in the 2014 League Two play-off Final at Wembley Stadium on 26 May. This result meant they were promoted into League One for the first time in their history. He finished 2013–14 with 33 appearances and five goals for Fleetwood. On 17 November 2014, Blair joined League Two club Cambridge United on loan until January 2015.

Mansfield Town

Blair signed for League Two club Mansfield Town on a contract until the end of 2014–15 on 14 January 2015 after leaving Fleetwood by mutual consent.

Doncaster Rovers

Blair rejected a new contract with Mansfield to sign for newly relegated League Two club Doncaster Rovers on 24 May 2016 on a two-year contract. He made 48 appearances and scored 3 goals in 2016–17 as Doncaster were promoted to League One after finishing third in League Two. He was named as PFA League One Community Player of the Year in both seasons 2017–18 and 2018–19. In April 2019, Blair was also named as Community Champion by the PFA for the 2018–19 season in recognition of all his community services.

Cheltenham Town

Blair rejected a new contract offered by Doncaster, and was signed by Cheltenham Town at the beginning of September 2020 on a one year contract. He made his debut for the club on 8 September 2020 in an

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...

group stage away win over Newport County. On 12 September 2022, Blair announced his retirement from football due to injury.

International career

Blair made his England national C team debut as a 56th-minute substitute for Connor Franklin in a 1–0 defeat at home to Portugal in the 2009–11 International Challenge Trophy on 19 May 2011. His second and final cap came after starting England's 1–1 draw at home to Italy in the 2011–13 International Challenge Trophy on 28 February 2012.

Personal life

Blair is the son of former professional footballer Andy Blair. His sister-in-law is actress

Holly Matthews Holly Matthews (''née'' Wilkinson; born 13 October 1984) is an English actress and vlogger. From 1995 to 2003, she portrayed the role of Emma Miller in the BBC series ''Byker Grove''. Career Matthews started her career in the BBC children's dr ...

, who was married to his brother Ross up until his death from a brain tumour.

Career statistics

Honours

York City * Conference Premier play-offs:

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

: 2011–12 Fleetwood Town * Football League Two play-offs:

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

Doncaster Rovers *

EFL League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

third-place promotion: 2016–17

Cheltenham Town

* League Two:

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

Individual *Conference Premier Team of the Year: 2011–12

References

External links

Profile
at the Doncaster Rovers F.C. website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blair, Matty 1989 births Living people People from Warwick Sportspeople from Warwickshire English footballers England semi-pro international footballers Association football wingers Association football fullbacks Racing Club Warwick F.C. players Stratford Town F.C. players Bedworth United F.C. players Redditch United F.C. players AFC Telford United players Kidderminster Harriers F.C. players York City F.C. players Fleetwood Town F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Cambridge United F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Cheltenham Town F.C. players Midland Football Alliance players Southern Football League players National League (English football) players English Football League players English people of Scottish descent