Mattie William Pollock (born 28 September 2001) is an English 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 ...

who plays as a defender for EFL Championship club

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

. Pollock was the product of the youth academies of

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

and

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

before joining

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in t ...

's academy in 2018. He later signed full professional terms with Grimsby and went on to make 46 league appearances for the club before signing for

in 2021. He has since spent time on loan with

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league sy ...

Early life

Born in Redhill, Pollock was brought up in

, where he attended the Nunthorpe Academy.

Career

Pollock was a trainee with

up until under-15 level, where he was considered 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 ...

Grimsby Town

Pollock joined

on a scholarship in 2018 after being scouted playing as a defender for his father's team, Polton Allstars. He was called up to the first-team bench by manager Michael Jolley for the first time in October 2018. Pollock made his professional debut on 29 December, coming on as a 52nd-minute substitute for

Martyn Woolford Martyn Paul Woolford (born 13 October 1985) is an English former professional footballer who last played as a midfielder for Frickley Athletic. He has played in the Football League for Scunthorpe United, Bristol City, Millwall, Sheffield Unit ...

in a 2–1 win at

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 ...

following a red card for centre-back Alex Whitmore. He turned professional in February 2019 and upon signing a -year deal said that "my ultimate ambition is to be the best central defender in the world and play at the highest level I can". Pollock was given his first start for the "Mariners" on 13 August 2019, in a 1–0 victory over

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

at Blundell Park. He scored his first goal for Grimsby in a 1–1 draw with Carlisle United on 24 October 2020.

Watford

On 27 May 2021, Pollock joined

on a five-year deal for an initial fee of £250,000. On 30 August 2021, Pollock joined

on loan for the 2021–22 season. Pollock scored his first goal for Cheltenham in the

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 ...

first round against Gillingham on 6 November 2021. He also scored in the replay win on 16 November, earning Cheltenham a spot in the second round and praise from manager Michael Duff. Pollock made his Watford debut on 23 August 2022 in a 2–0 home defeat to MK Dons in the second round of the EFL Cup, and his full Championship debut on 19 October 2022 in a 3–0 away defeat to

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 ...

. He was loaned to

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottis ...

club

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

in January 2023.

Personal life

He is the son of former

and Manchester City midfielder

Jamie Pollock Jamie Pollock (born 16 February 1974) is an English former association football, football club chairman, manager (association football), manager and professional player. As a player he was a midfielder from 1990 to 2002. He played Premier Leagu ...

, and younger brother to professional footballer Ben Pollock.

Career statistics

Honours

Cheltenham Town *Supporters Young Player of the Season: 2021–22

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pollock, Mattie 2001 births Living people English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Grimsby Town F.C. players Watford F.C. players Cheltenham Town F.C. players English Football League players Aberdeen F.C. players People from Reigate and Banstead (district) Footballers from Surrey