Matthew John Regan (born 18 June 1944) 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 scored 55 goals from 185 appearances 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 ...

playing for

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional 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. Since 2011, the first te ...

, Shrewsbury Town,

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

, Crewe Alexandra and Doncaster Rovers. He played as a

centre forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

. Regan was born in

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Englan ...

. He played football from age 11 until 16 at the Sacred Heart College in Droitwich and went on to WRGS for A-levels. Royal Grammar School being a

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

-playing establishment,

's scouts spotted him with his junior club. He signed for Birmingham in 1959, initially as an

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

, and turned professional two years later. Regan scored the opening goal on his debut in the First Division on 13 October 1962, deputising for Jimmy Harris in a home game against

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

which finished as a 2–2 draw. He played once more that season and three times in 1963–64, scoring one more goal,Matthews, p. 198. and was allowed to leave in October 1964, aged still only 20, to join Shrewsbury Town of the

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 ...

. He went on to play for

, Crewe Alexandra and Doncaster Rovers, scoring regularly but not prolifically, and then moved into

non-league football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

with

Bromsgrove Rovers Bromsgrove Rovers F.C. was a non-League football club from the town of Bromsgrove in Worcestershire. The peak of the club's success was in 1993 when Rovers finished runner-up in the Football Conference. They went into administration during the ...

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* 1944 births Living people Footballers from Worcester, England English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Birmingham City F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Bromsgrove Rovers F.C. players English Football League players People educated at the Royal Grammar School Worcester {{England-footy-forward-1940s-stub