Joseph William Mattock (born 15 May 1990) is an English 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 ...
who plays as a
left-back
In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring.
Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...
for
EFL League Two club
Harrogate Town
Harrogate Town A.F.C. is a professional association football club in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, which competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system.
The club is nicknamed the Sulphurites, due to the ...
. Mattock is a graduate of the
Leicester City
Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...
youth academy and has also represented England youth teams at nearly every level.
Club career
Leicester City
Mattock was a regular for the Leicester under-18 side (playing alongside the likes of
Ashley Chambers,
Max Gradel,
Andy King Andrew or Andy King may refer to:
* Andrew King (astrophysicist) (born 1947), British astrophysicist
* Andrew King (architect), Canadian architect and cross-disciplinary artist
* Andrew King (mayor) (born 1960 or 1961), former mayor of Hamilton, Ne ...
and
Eric Odhiambo) as well as England U17s. He was part of the U18 squad that won the
FA Premier Academy League
The Premier Academy League (sometimes abbreviated as FAPAL) was the top level of youth football in England before it was to be replaced by a new league proposed by the Elite Player Performance Plan in 2012, which was accepted by the 72 member ...
by beating
Sunderland U18s 4–3 on penalties in the
2006–07 season, and was voted Leicester's academy player of the season.
He made his senior debut for Leicester in a 2–1 home defeat to
Norwich City
Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...
on 14 April 2007, replacing
Gareth McAuley
Gareth Gerald McAuley ( ; born 5 December 1979) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who played as a centre back. He represented Northern Ireland at senior international level, being capped on 80 occasions and scoring nine times ...
in the 78th minute at left back.
He was given the number 30 shirt worn the year before by another promising youngster,
James Wesolowski. Mattock went on to start three games against
Birmingham City
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...
,
Preston North End and
Barnsley during the close of the
2006–07 season.
On 9 November 2007, during the
2007–08 season, Mattock signed a new three-year contract with Leicester.
The club rejected a bid from an unnamed
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
club for Mattock on 14 January 2008
(later revealed to be
West Ham United
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...
).
Following Leicester's relegation in the 2007–08 season,
Aston Villa became interested in Mattock and then-teammate
Richard Stearman
Richard James Michael Stearman (born 19 August 1987) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for Derby County. He is a versatile defender, being able to play in any defensive slot although primarily a centre half or right ...
.
While Stearman left for Wolves in the July transfer window, Mattock remained at the club for another year.
He did, however, hand in a transfer request during pre-season, but was unable to secure a deal with any club.
Mattock suffered ligament damage to his left ankle in a 1–0 League Cup win over
Stockport County
Stockport County Football Club are a professional football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they were renamed Stockport Co ...
on 12 August 2008. Fortunately, there was no fracture, meaning he would be out for several weeks instead of months.
On 28 August, three days before the close of the
transfer window
A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer wi ...
, Leicester rejected seven-figure offers from two unnamed clubs for Mattock.
He scored his first and only goal for Leicester in a 2–0 win over
Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to:
* Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset
* Yeovil Town L.F.C.
Bridgwater United Women's Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Bridgwater, Somerset who wer ...
on 19 January 2009.
Leicester went on to regain promotion to the Championship by finishing the season as league champions.
West Bromwich Albion
On 6 August, while away on international duty, Mattock was ecstatic when informed by his agent that
West Bromwich Albion
West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...
were interested in him. Eager to leave Leicester, he submitted his transfer request to chairman
Milan Mandarić
Milan Mandarić ( sr-Cyrl, Милан Мандарић; born 5 September 1938) is a Serbian-American businessman who has owned a string of businesses and association football clubs, including Portsmouth, Leicester City and Sheffield Wednesday. ...
. The manner in which Mattock made the request infuriated manager
Nigel Pearson
Nigel Graham Pearson (born 21 August 1963) is an English football manager and former professional player, currently the manager of Championship club Bristol City. During his playing career, he was a defender and played for Shrewsbury Town, Shef ...
.
He signed a three-year contract with West Brom four days later for a fee of £1 million, citing
Richard Stearman
Richard James Michael Stearman (born 19 August 1987) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for Derby County. He is a versatile defender, being able to play in any defensive slot although primarily a centre half or right ...
as his motivation for leaving Leicester.
The comment angered many Leicester fans and he was booed upon his return to the
Walkers Stadium
King Power Stadium (also known as the Leicester City Stadium due to UEFA sponsorship regulations and formerly known as the Walkers Stadium) is a football stadium in Leicester, England. It has been the home of Premier League club Leicester City ...
in November.
Mattock made his debut for Albion in the 2–0
League Cup
In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...
win over
Bury.
In January 2011, he joined
Sheffield United
Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...
on loan until end of the
2010–11 Football League Championship
The 2010–11 Football League Championship (known as the npower Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the seventh season of the league under its current name and nineteenth season under its current league division format. It started on 6 Aug ...
season
making his first start for ''the Blades'' away at
Coventry City
Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed t ...
a couple of days later. He went on to make 13 appearances for the Yorkshire club but was unable to help prevent them from being relegated at the end of the season. In November of the same year, Mattock joined
Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this system ...
team
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
on a loan deal lasting until 2 January 2012, alongside
George Thorne. He made his debut two days later, starting in the 1–1 draw against
Leicester City
Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...
.
On 31 January 2012, Mattock signed for
Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this system ...
side
Brighton & Hove Albion
Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...
on a loan deal lasting until the end of the season. On 17 March, he scored in a 3–1 away defeat to
Blackpool. In total, Mattock made 15 league appearances for ''the Seagulls'' during his loan spell. On 16 May 2012, Mattock was released by
West Bromwich Albion
West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...
after his contract was not renewed.
Sheffield Wednesday
In June 2012, Mattock was expected to complete a permanent transfer to Brighton following his successful loan spell, but instead agreed a three-year contract at newly promoted
Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this system ...
side
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...
.
At the end of the 2014–15 season, Mattock was one of eleven players released from their contracts by the club.
Rotherham United
On 12 June 2015, Mattock signed for
Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this system ...
club
Rotherham United
Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...
. He made his debut in a 2–1 defeat against
Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...
on 15 August 2015 and scored his first goal for the club in a 2–1 defeat to
Brentford on 17 October 2015. On 24 May 2017, Mattock signed a two-year extension to his contract, keeping him at the club until June 2019. Mattock was released by the club at the end of the
2021–22 season following a third promotion from League One with the club.
International career
After making his first team debut, Mattock was named in the England squad for the U17 Championships in Belgium.
On 3 October 2007, Mattock was called up to the
England U19 squad for the
2008 European U19 Championship.
On 12 November, Mattock was called up to the
England U21
The England national under-21 football team, also known as England under-21s or England U21(s), is considered to be the feeder team for the England national football team.
This team is for England players aged under 21 at the start of the calen ...
squad alongside former clubmate
Richard Stearman
Richard James Michael Stearman (born 19 August 1987) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for Derby County. He is a versatile defender, being able to play in any defensive slot although primarily a centre half or right ...
for the
2009 European U21 Championship qualifiers, making his debut in a 2–0 win over
Bulgaria U21 on 16 November. In doing so he became the second youngest player to represent the England U21, behind
Theo Walcott
Theo James Walcott (born 16 March 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for Southampton and previously for the English national team.
Walcott is a product of the Southampton Academy and started his career with ...
.
However, he did not make the final squad for the tournament and instead played at the
U19 European Championships. He scored his first ever international goal in the group stage and helped England to the final where they lost out to the hosts, Ukraine.
Personal life
Mattock grew up in the
Eyres Monsell area of
Leicester. On 2 September 2009, he was charged with assaulting four people in the Churchgate area of Leicester.
In July 2011, Mattock pleaded guilty to a charge of affray and on 23 October 2011 he was sentenced to ten months in prison, suspended for two years, and ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work and pay £1,500 costs.
Career statistics
Honours
Leicester City
*
Football League One:
2008–09
Rotherham United
*
EFL League One play-offs
The EFL League One play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL League One table and are part of the English Football League play-offs. , the play-offs comprise t ...
:
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...
*
EFL Trophy:
2021–22
England U19
*
UEFA European Under-19 Championship
The UEFA European Under-19 Championship, or simply UEFA Under-19 Championship or the UEFA Euro U-19, is an annual football competition contested by the European men's under-19 national teams of the member associations of UEFA.
Spain and England ...
runner-up:
2009
Individual
*
Leicester City
Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...
Academy Player of the Year:
2006–07
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mattock, Joe
1990 births
Living people
Footballers from Leicester
English footballers
Association football defenders
Leicester City F.C. players
West Bromwich Albion F.C. players
Sheffield United F.C. players
Portsmouth F.C. players
Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players
Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players
Rotherham United F.C. players
Harrogate Town A.F.C. players
English Football League players
England youth international footballers
England under-21 international footballers