Reginald Derrick Matthews (20 December 1933 – 7 October 2001) was 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 as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. He was the most expensive goalkeeper at the time he signed for Chelsea in 1956 for £22,000.

Club career

In a playing career spanning almost 20 years, Matthews turned out for

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

and

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

, making over 100 league appearances for each. He was selected to play for the Third Division South team against the North in 1955–56 and 1956–57.

International career

Matthews won four

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for the England under-23's, and five caps for the senior

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exam ...

. He is one of only five post-war players to be capped while playing for a Third Division club.

Honours

Hall of Fame

References

1933 births 2001 deaths English footballers Association football goalkeepers England international footballers England under-23 international footballers English Football League representative players English Football League players Coventry City F.C. players Chelsea F.C. players Derby County F.C. players Rugby Town F.C. (1945) players Footballers from Coventry {{England-footy-goalkeeper-stub