Matthew George Robert Ridenton (born 11 March 1996) is a New Zealand

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 plays 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 Lions FC.

Club career

Ridenton played youth football for Three Kings United and Saint Kentigern College, and made his career debut the age of 18 for

ISPS Handa Premiership The New Zealand Football Championship ( mi, Te Whakataetae Whutupaoro a Aotearoa) was a men's association football league at the top of the New Zealand league system. Founded in 2004, the New Zealand Football Championship was the successor to a m ...

club

Auckland City Auckland City was a territorial authority with city status covering the central isthmus of the urban area of Auckland, New Zealand. It was governed by the Auckland City Council from 1989 to 2010, and as a territory within the wider Auckland R ...

. Ridenton signed a professional contract at

Hyundai A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

side

Wellington Phoenix Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the ...

in 2013. After four seasons of sporadic appearances, he broke out in the 2017–18 A-League season, making 26 appearances as the Phoenix finished ninth. On 9 May 2018, it was announced that Ridenton would move to

2017–18 A-League The 2017–18 A-League was the 41st season of top-flight soccer in Australia, and the 13th since the establishment of the A-League in 2004. The season began on 6 October 2017 and ended with the Grand Final on 5 May 2018. Sydney FC won the A-Le ...

runners-up

Newcastle Jets Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from The Australia ...

on a two-year contract, reuniting with former Wellington Phoenix manager

Ernie Merrick Ernest Merrick OAM (born 15 January 1953) is a Scottish-Australian coach, who last managed A-League soccer club Newcastle Jets. He was released on 6 January 2020. He was the former head coach of the Hong Kong national football team and A-League ...

. In January 2020, Ridenton joined

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...

club

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

for a week-long trial. On 6 November 2020 it was announced that Ridenton had returned to the

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

, signing a one-year contract with the club. Following the end of the 2020–21 season, Ridenton departed the club.

International career

In May 2014, Ridenton was called into the

All Whites The New Zealand men's national football team ( mi, Tīma hoka a-motu o Aotearoa) represents New Zealand in men's international football competitions. The team is governed by the governing body for football in New Zealand, New Zealand Footbal ...

squad by interim coach Neil Emblen for a friendly match against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

Honours

Country

;New Zealand *

OFC Nations Cup The OFC Nations Cup is an international association football tournament held among the OFC member nations. It was held every two years from 1996 to 2004; before 1996 there were two other tournaments held at irregular intervals, under the name ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ridenton, Matthew 1996 births Living people New Zealand men's association footballers Auckland City FC players Wellington Phoenix FC players Newcastle Jets FC players A-League Men players New Zealand Football Championship players 2016 OFC Nations Cup players New Zealand men's international footballers New Zealand men's youth international footballers Association footballers from Auckland Men's association football midfielders