John Melvin Matthews (born 1 November 1955) is an English former 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 le ...

who played in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, Sheffield United,

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they ...

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

and

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

Career

Matthews was born in the

London Borough of Camden The London Borough of Camden () is a London borough in Inner London. Camden Town Hall, on Euston Road, lies north of Charing Cross. The borough was established on 1 April 1965 from the area of the former boroughs of Hampstead, Holborn, and St ...

, and played football for

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...

Schools before joining

as an apprentice.John Matthews
Arsenal FC. Retrieved 10 February 2010. He turned professional in August 1973 and made his league debut early the following season against Leicester City on 17 August 1974. He started his career in defence, mainly playing as a full back, but later moved into midfield; he made 57 appearances in four seasons with Arsenal but struggled to hold down a first team place, after breaking a leg and missing almost a whole season, and especially with Liam Brady and David Price monopolising the Arsenal midfield places. He left to join Sheffield United for a fee of £90,000 in August 1978, scoring 14 times in 103 games for the Blades before a free transfer move to

in August 1982. In August 1984, after six goals in 72 games for the Stags, he moved to

, again on a free transfer. The following season, he played a major role in Chesterfield's

Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

championship side, earning a free transfer move to

in August 1985 where he again gained promotion finishing runners up and promoted to the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

. He remained at Home Park until June 1989, joining

on a free transfer, having scored four times in 135 games for the Pilgrims. He played only 25 times for the Gulls before being released by his former Argyle manager, Dave Smith, at the end of the season, joining non-league

Dorchester Town Dorchester Town Football Club are a semi-professional football club, based in Dorchester, Dorset, England. They currently play in the . The club is affiliated to the Dorset County Football Association and is a FA chartered Standard club. They ...

Honours

Chesterfield *

champions: 1984–85 Plymouth Argyle *

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

runners up: 1985–86

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matthews, John 1955 births Living people Footballers from Camden Town English footballers Association football midfielders Arsenal F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Dorchester Town F.C. players English Football League players