Matthew Villis (born 13 April 1984) is an English

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 for Taunton Town as a centre back, having previously played for Bridgwater Town,

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, ...

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 ...

, Weston-Super-Mare,

Tiverton Town Tiverton Town Football Club are an English football club based in Tiverton, Devon. The club are currently members of the and play at Ladysmead. History The club was established in 1913 as Tiverton Athletic, and initially played at the Athle ...

, Bideford and Yate Town

Career

Villis began his career as a junior with Bridgwater Town before signing as a trainee with

, turning professional in July 2003. He then joined

on a season-long loan deal in July 2004, making his league debut as an early substitute for

Lee Canoville Leroy Paul Canoville (born 14 March 1981) is an English football coach and former professional footballer. As a player he was a defender who began his career with Premier League side Arsenal, he went on to play in the Football League for Nort ...

in a 4–2 defeat at home to

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 of ...

. He went on to play 22 times that season as Torquay unsuccessfully battled against relegation from

Division Two NCL Division Two The NCL or National Conference League Division Two (known as the Kingstone Press NCL Division Two) League winners {, class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" , - , colspan=4 style="text-align:center;" , NCL DIVISION TWO , ...

. He was released by Plymouth at the end of the season and joined Torquay on a free transfer in June 2005. Despite beginning the season as a regular squad member, he lost his place after Torquay's

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

draw against non-league

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 ...

and was linked with a move to ambitious non-league side

Truro City Truro City Football Club ( kw, Klub Peldroes Truru) is an English football club based in Truro, Cornwall. They currently play in the Southern League, at the seventh tier of the English football league system. They are the highest ranked clu ...

. He returned to the Torquay side in February 2006 as the Gulls battled against a second successive relegation and was a regular until the end of the season under first

John Cornforth Sir John Warcup Cornforth Jr., (7 September 1917 – 8 December 2013) was an AustralianBritish chemist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1975 for his work on the stereochemistry of enzyme-catalysed reactions, becoming the only Nobel la ...

and then Ian Atkins. He was confined to the substitute's bench for the early part of the 2006-07 season, although was restored to the first team under new manager Lubos Kubik before missing the remainder of the season due to injury. He was released in May 2007 after Torquay's relegation to the

Conference National The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...

. He joined Bridgwater Town on trial in early July 2007 and was again linked with Truro City before joining Southern League side

later the same month. In the summer of 2010, Villis signed for

Conference South The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...

side Weston-super-Mare. As of April 2012, Villis had scored three goals in 103 appearances for the Seagulls. In the summer of 2013, Villis rejoined

. In July 2018, Villis was appointed as first team coach at Taunton Town.

Statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Villis, Matt 1984 births Living people Sportspeople from Bridgwater English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Bridgwater United F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Tiverton Town F.C. players Weston-super-Mare A.F.C. players Bideford A.F.C. players Yate Town F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players National League (English football) players Footballers from Somerset