Mathew Antony "Matty" Stevens (born 12 February 1998) 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 ...

and former

amateur boxer Amateur boxing is a variant of boxing practiced at the collegiate level, at the Olympic Games, Pan American Games and Commonwealth Games, as well as many associations. Amateur boxing bouts are short in duration, comprising three rounds of three ...

. He plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for club

Forest Green Rovers Forest Green Rovers Football Club are a professional football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team compete in , the third tier of the English football league system, and have played their home games at The New Lawn since ...

Boxing career

Stevens was born into a boxing family – grandfather Les Stevens was a professional boxer who fought

John Conteh John Anthony Conteh, (born 27 May 1951) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1971 to 1980. He held the WBC light-heavyweight title from 1974 to 1978, and regionally the European, British and Commonwealth titles between 1 ...

in 1974. Stevens, who fought out of Pinewood Starr ABC in

Crowthorne Crowthorne is a large village and civil parish in the Bracknell Forest district of south-eastern Berkshire, England. It had a population of 6,711 at the 2001 census, which rose to 6,902 at the 2011 census. A 2020 estimate put it at 7,808. Cr ...

and once sparred with

Tim Witherspoon Tim Witherspoon (born December 27, 1957) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1979 to 2003. He was a two-time world heavyweight champion, having held the WBC title in 1984, and the WBA title in 1986. Witherspoon also wor ...

, won four national titles during his brief career at youth level. In 2011, he won the ABAE Schools national title and the GB Schoolboy 3 Nations title, repeating the feat again in 2012. Stevens was undefeated during his boxing career.

Football career

Barnet

Stevens quit boxing aged 15, although while still fighting he was part of the youth teams at

Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area i ...

Farnborough Farnborough may refer to: Australia * Farnborough, Queensland, a locality in the Shire of Livingstone United Kingdom * Farnborough, Hampshire, a town in the Rushmoor district of Hampshire, England ** Farnborough (Main) railway station, a railw ...

, and

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 ...

, where he scored 32 goals in the 2013–14 season at U-16 level. Stevens joined

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) * Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...

in the summer of 2014 on a two-year scholarship. Impressive goal scoring form for the youth team early in the season saw him make his senior debut against

Alfreton Town Alfreton Town Football Club is a football club based in Alfreton, Derbyshire, England. The club are currently members of and play at North Street. History The club was formed in 1959 following the merger of Alfreton Miners Welfare and Alfr ...

on 6 September 2014, coming on as a substitute for Sam Togwell after 82 minutes, becoming Barnet's youngest ever player aged 16 years and 204 days, a record previously held by

Mauro Vilhete Mauro Alexandre da Silva Vilhete (born 10 May 1993) is a footballer who plays as a utility player across the midfield. He is currently dual registered with Hayes & Yeading United and Southend United. Born in Portugal, he plays for the São ...

(a record lost to

Dwight Pascal Dwight Cal Pascal (born 7 March 2001) is an English footballer who plays as a defender for Potters Bar Town. Career Pascal made his debut for Barnet when he started an EFL Trophy game against Peterborough United on 8 November 2016. Aged 15, ...

in 2016). His first senior goal for the Bees came in the

Herts Senior Cup The Herts Senior Cup, officially titled the Hertfordshire County Football Association Senior Challenge Cup, is the oldest County-based football Cup competition based exclusively in Hertfordshire, England. It was first contested in the 1886-87 se ...

against St. Margaretsbury on 26 November 2014. The following month he scored again in the

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

against Concord Rangers on 16 December 2014 – scoring a Panenka penalty – and also becoming Barnet's youngest ever goalscorer in a national competition. Stevens scored 57 goals in all competitions (including youth games) in the 2014–15 season – attracting interest from larger clubs, including

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...

, who had a £250,000 offer for Stevens rejected in May 2015. A bid was also received from

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building * ...

with both

Manchester United 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 City of Salford, Salford to ...

and

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 ...

sending scouts to watch him play. Stevens scored six times for the Bees in 2015–16 pre-season, and made his

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 ...

debut when he came on as an 87th-minute substitute for

Michael Gash Michael Edward Gash (born 3 September 1986) is an English footballer who plays for Southern League Pemier Central side Peterborough Sports, where he plays as a striker. Gash's nomadic career has seen him play primarily in the Football Confer ...

against

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a professio ...

on 8 August 2015. Barnet transfer listed Stevens in January 2016 after he turned down two contract offers from the club. Stevens scored his first league goal for the Bees against

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional Association football, football club, based in London Borough of Merton, Merton, London, that plays in the EFL League Two, after being relegated from the EFL League One following the 2021–22 EFL Leagu ...

on 20 January 2016.

Peterborough United

Stevens signed for

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...

on 1 July 2016, signing a three-year deal. Stevens joined Cambridge City on loan in December 2016, before joining

Sligo Rovers Sligo Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí Shligigh) is an Irish professional football club playing in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland. The club is based in Sligo in the west of Ireland. The club was founded in 1928 ...

on loan on 14 January 2017. He scored three goals in twelve appearances for Sligo. Stevens joined

Kettering Town Kettering Town Football Club is a football club based in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of and play at Latimer Park in Burton Latimer. Kettering were the first club to wear sponsorship on their shirts in ...

on loan in August 2017 until the rest of the season, and finished as top scorer with 25 league goals. Stevens also finished as top scorer for Posh in 2018–19 pre-season before joinining

Slough Town Slough Town Football Club is a semi-professional English football club based in Slough, Berkshire. Nicknamed "The Rebels", the team competes in the National League South, at the sixth tier of English football, following promotion from the Sou ...

on loan on 31 August 2018 until the New Year, but was recalled in early December. He was transfer-listed by Peterborough United at the end of the 2018–19 season.

Forest Green Rovers

Stevens joined

on a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee in July 2019. He scored his first goals for Forest Green when he scored twice in an

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...

tie against Southampton U21 on 3 September 2019. On 5 January 2021, Stevens joined

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a large town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevena ...

on loan until the end of the season. After an impressive start to the 2021–22 season that saw Stevens score five goals in the opening five matches of the season, he was awarded the league's Player of the Month award for August 2021 with manager Rob Edwards scooping the Manager of the Month award. Stevens went on to score 27 goals in all competitions in the 2021–22 season. His performances earned him a place in the

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premie ...

for his division as well as the EFL League Two Team of the Year. He was also named as the club's Supporters' Player of the Season as Forest Green won promotion to

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

as champions. On 31 January 2023, Stevens joined

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

on loan until the end of the season.

Career statistics

Honours

Forest Green Rovers *

EFL League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

: 2021–22 Individual *

EFL League Two Player of the Month The EFL League Two Player of the Month is an association football award that recognises the player adjudged the best for each month of the season in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of English football. Originally named the Football League Two Pl ...

: August 2021 *

: 2021–22 League Two * EFL League Two Team of the Year: 2021–22 *

Supporters' Player of the Season: 2021–22

References

External links

*
Matt Stevens profile
at 11v11 {{DEFAULTSORT:Stevens, Mathew 1998 births Living people English male boxers English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Aldershot Town F.C. players Farnborough F.C. players Reading F.C. players Barnet F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players Cambridge City F.C. players Sligo Rovers F.C. players Kettering Town F.C. players Slough Town F.C. players Forest Green Rovers F.C. players Stevenage F.C. players Walsall F.C. players English Football League players League of Ireland players National League (English football) players Southern Football League players English expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's association footballers in the Republic of Ireland Sportspeople from Surrey Footballers from Surrey