Matthew Rees (born 2 September 1982) is a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

former

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 last played for

Welsh Premier League The Cymru Premier, known as the JD Cymru Premier for sponsorship reasons, is the national football league of Wales. It has both professional and semi-professional status clubs and is at the top of the Welsh football league system. Prior to 20 ...

side

Afan Lido Sandfields (Welsh: ''Traethmelyn'') is a mainly residential district of Port Talbot, Wales. The area is located in South Wales on a narrow coastal plain between Mynydd Dinas and the sea. The M4 motorway, A48 road, A48 trunk road and South Wales M ...

. A former Wales under-21 international, he began his career with

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...

without making a first team appearance. After loan spells with

Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in the spring ...

and Dagenham & Redbridge, he made his debut in the Football League with Swansea City in 2004, making three appearances. He has also had spells with

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The club was founded as Crawley Football Club in 1896, changed its name to Crawley Town Football Club in 1958. The team com ...

, Newport County, and Carmarthen Town.

Club career

Rees began his career as a youth player at

, turning professional in April 2000, and later captained the club's reserve side. Having not made a first team appearance for the club, he was allowed to join

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 ...

side

on loan in October 2003. He made his debut for the club in a 3–1 over

Halifax Town FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in and play at the Shay. They replaced Halifax Town A.F.C., which went into administration in the 2007–08 season. ...

on 11 October 2003, going on to make ten appearances in all competitions before being recalled from his loan spell by Millwall to cover for an injury crisis after two months. In January 2004, he returned to the Conference on loan with Dagenham & Redbridge, playing in just one match for the club, a 2–0 defeat to

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

. After returning to Millwall, Rees was sent out on loan for the third time during the 2003–04 season, joining his home town club Swansea City. He made a goalscoring debut during a 2–1 defeat to Lincoln City on 10 April 2004 and made two more appearances before the end of the season. Released by Millwall on his return, Rees joined

on non-contract terms. He remained with the club until November and, after a brief spell with Newport County, joined

side Port Talbot Town in December 2004. To date, Rees has made over 150 appearances for the club, becoming the club's all-time record Welsh Premier appearance holder in December 2009, and was named Welsh Premier League player of the month for September 2006. He joined Carmarthen Town in June 2012 after the liquidation of Neath and went on to make 73 appearances for the club, scoring 1 goal. In August 2013 he joined

International career

Rees made his debut for the Wales under-21 side on 6 September 2002 as a substitute in place of

Rhys Day Rhys Day (born 31 August 1982) is a Welsh former professional footballer who last played as a central defender for Conference North side Hyde. He was capped several times for the Wales under-21 team and played for Blackpool, Mansfield Town, A ...

during a 2–1 defeat to

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. He made two further appearances during the 2002–03 season, during 0–0 draw with

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, in a game designated as an under-20 international, and a 1–0 win over

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

. In May 2003, despite having not made a professional appearance at club level, he was called up to the senior

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

squad for a friendly match against the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, remaining on the bench during a 2–0 defeat.

References

External links

*
Welsh Premier profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rees, Matthew 1982 births Living people Footballers from Swansea Welsh men's footballers Wales men's under-21 international footballers Millwall F.C. players Aldershot Town F.C. players Dagenham & Redbridge F.C. players Swansea City A.F.C. players Crawley Town F.C. players Newport County A.F.C. players English Football League players Cymru Premier players Port Talbot Town F.C. players Carmarthen Town A.F.C. players Men's association football defenders