Matty Stevens

Mathew Antony "Matty" Stevens (born 12 February 1998) is an English footballer and former amateur boxer. He plays as a forward for League Two club Stevenage, on loan from Forest Green Rovers.

For the Canadian jazz guitarist and composer, see Matthew Stevens (musician).
For the Welsh snooker player, see Matthew Stevens.
Mathew Stevens
Personal information
Full name Mathew Antony Stevens
Date of birth (1998-02-12) 12 February 1998
Place of birth Guildford, England
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[1]
Position(s) Forward
Club information
Current team
 Stevenage
(on loan from Forest Green Rovers)
Number 35
Youth career
Aldershot Town
Farnborough
2005–2014 Reading
2014 Barnet
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2016 Barnet 11 (1)
2016–2019 Peterborough United 4 (0)
2016–2017 → Cambridge City (loan) 4 (1)
2017 → Sligo Rovers (loan) 10 (1)
2017–2018 → Kettering Town (loan) 44 (25)
2018 → Slough Town (loan) 9 (6)
2019– Forest Green Rovers 39 (6)
2021– → Stevenage (loan) 4 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:16, 30 January 2021 (UTC)

Boxing career

Stevens was born into a boxing family – grandfather Les Stevens was a professional boxer[2] who fought John Conteh in 1974.[3] Stevens, who fought out of Pinewood Starr ABC in Crowthorne and once sparred with Tim Witherspoon,[4] won four national titles during his brief career at youth level. In 2011, he won the ABAE Schools national title[5] and the GB Schoolboy 3 Nations title,[6] repeating the feat again in 2012.[7][8] Stevens was undefeated during his boxing career.

Football career

Barnet

Stevens quit boxing aged 15, although while still fighting he was part of the youth teams at Aldershot Town,[9] Farnborough,[10] and Reading, where he scored 32 goals in the 2013–14 season at U-16 level.[11] Stevens joined Barnet in the summer of 2014 on a two-year scholarship. Impressive goal scoring form for the youth team early in the season saw him make his senior debut against Alfreton Town on 6 September 2014,[12] coming on as a substitute for Sam Togwell after 82 minutes,[13] becoming Barnet's youngest ever player aged 16 years and 204 days, a record previously held by Mauro Vilhete [12] (a record lost to Dwight Pascal in 2016). His first senior goal for the Bees came in the FA Trophy against Concord Rangers on 16 December 2014 – scoring a Panenka penalty – and also becoming Barnet's youngest ever goalscorer.[14] Stevens scored 57 goals in all competitions (including youth games) in the 2014–15 season – attracting interest from larger clubs, including Swansea City, who had a £250k offer for Stevens rejected in May 2015.[15] A bid was also received from Crystal Palace with both Manchester United and Manchester City sending scouts to watch him play.[16]

Stevens scored six times for the Bees in 2015–16 pre-season, and made his Football League debut when he came on as an 87th-minute substitute for Michael Gash against Leyton Orient on 8 August 2015.[17] Barnet transfer listed Stevens in January 2016 after he turned down two contract offers from the club.[18] Stevens scored his first league goal for the Bees against AFC Wimbledon on 20 January 2016.[19]

Peterborough United

Stevens signed for Peterborough United on 1 July 2016, signing a three-year deal.[20]

Stevens joined Cambridge City on loan in December 2016,[21] before joining Sligo Rovers on loan on 14 January 2017.[22] He scored three goals in twelve appearances for Sligo. Stevens joined Kettering Town on loan in August 2017 until the rest of the season, and finished as top scorer with 25 league goals.[23] Stevens also finished as top scorer for Posh in 2018-19 pre-season before joinining Slough Town on loan on 31 August 2018 until the New Year,[24] but was recalled in early December.[25]

He was transfer-listed by Peterborough United at the end of the 2018–19 season.[26]

Forest Green Rovers

Stevens joined Forest Green Rovers on a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee in July 2019.[27] He scored his first goals for Forest Green when he scored twice in an EFL Trophy tie against Southampton U21 on 3 September 2019.[28] On 5 January 2021, Stevens joined Stevenage on loan until the end of the season.[29]

Career statistics
As of match played 8 February 2020
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals
Barnet 2014–15 Conference Premier 1010---2[lower-alpha 1]141
2015–16 League Two 10100001[lower-alpha 2]0111
Barnet total 111100031152
Peterborough United 2016–17[30] League One 1000001[lower-alpha 3]020
2017–18 0000000000
2018–19 3000000030
Peterborough total 4000001050
Cambridge City (loan) 2016–17 Southern Premier 4100000041
Sligo Rovers (loan) 2017 LOI Premier Division 101002200123
Kettering Town (loan) 2017–18 Southern Premier 44254000205025
Slough Town (loan) 2018–19 National League South 968200231911
Forest Green Rovers 2019–20[31] League Two 27331202[lower-alpha 3]2346
Career total 109371634210613948
  1. Appearances in the FA Trophy
  2. Appearance in the Football League Trophy
  3. Appearance in the EFL Trophy

References
  1. Matty Stevens at Soccerbase
  2. getreading Administrator (3 July 2012). "Stevens and Frankham set for tri-nations glory". getreading.
  3. "BoxRec – Les Stevens". boxrec.com.
  4. "Mathew Stevens". Twitter.
  5. "Royal Navy Schools ABA Championships – Sunday 6 March – England Boxing". abae.co.uk.
  6. "2011 GB Schoolboy 3 Nation Championships – England Boxing". abae.co.uk.
  7. "2012 ABAE Schools Championship Finals – England Boxing". abae.co.uk.
  8. "England bring home 20 Gold Medals from the GB School Boys Championship – Kids Boxing". kidsboxing.co.uk.
  10. "Mathew Stevens". Twitter.
  11. "Barnet FC Youth Team Profiles". barnetfc.com. Archived from the original on 30 August 2012.
  12. "Martin: "They keep going until the end"". barnetfc.com.
  13. "BBC Sport – Barnet 2–1 Alfreton Town". BBC Sport.
  14. "Young Bees knocked out of FA Trophy". Times Series.
  15. "UPDATED: Barnet reject offer from Swansea City for Stevens". Times Series.
  16. "Manchester United and Manchester City are interested in Barnet youngster Matt Stevens but neither club has made a bid". Times Series.
  17. "BBC Sport – Leyton Orient 2–0 Barnet". BBC Sport.
  18. "Allen suggests an agent could have turned Stevens' head". Times Series.
  19. Barnet 1 – 2 AFC Wimbledon
  20. Posh secure Stevens signing
  21. Matt Stevens - Aylesbury United
  22. Mathew Stevens signs
  23. Loan Striker
  24. Slough Town secure loan signing of Matty Stevens
  25. "Posh Recall Stevens From Slough". Peterborough United. 3 December 2018. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  26. "Peterborough United: Aaron Chapman among five transfer-listed as four released". BBC Sport. 7 May 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  27. SIGNING | FGR land heavy hitter Matty Stevens
  28. "MATCH REPORT Forest Green Rovers 3 Southampton U21s 2". fgr.co.uk. 3 September 2019. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  29. "Stevenage make triple swoop as Lines, Stevens and Norris join the club". Stevenage FC. 5 January 2021.
  30. "Games played by Matty Stevens in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  31. "Games played by Matty Stevens in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
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