Matt Rhead

Matt Rhead
Rhead playing for Mansfield Town in 2013
Personal information
Full name Matthew James Rhead[1]
Date of birth (1984-05-31) 31 May 1984 (age 40)
Place of birth Stoke-on-Trent, England
Height 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)[2]
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 Kidsgrove Athletic
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
20??–2004 Norton United
2004–2007 Kidsgrove Athletic
2007–2009 Eastwood Town 37 (13)
2008 → Kidsgrove Athletic (loan)
2009–2010 Nantwich Town 17 (7)
2009–2010 Congleton Town
2010–2011 Eastwood Town 37 (13)
2011–2012 Corby Town 22 (8)
2012–2015 Mansfield Town 120 (15)
2015–2019 Lincoln City 161 (43)
2019 Billericay Town 11 (2)
2020–2021 Boreham Wood 32 (1)
2021–2024 Alfreton Town 80 (25)
2024- Kidsgrove Athletic 11 (3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17:16, 30 November (UTC)

Matthew James Rhead (born 31 May 1984) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for Northern Premier League West Division club Kidsgrove Athletic.

He notably spent two successful professional spells with both Mansfield Town and Lincoln City where he won promotion to the Football League with both and saw further success with The Imps that yielded an EFL Trophy triumph and later the EFL League Two title. Prior to his time at Mansfield he had come up through Non-League football and had played for Norton United, Kidsgrove Athletic, Eastwood Town, Nantwich Town, Congleton Town and Corby Town. Following his release from Lincoln he has returned to playing at a semi-professional level and has turned out for both Billericay Town and Boreham Wood.

Career

Early career

Rhead was born in Stoke-on-Trent and played for nearby non-league sides Norton United and Stallington[3] before joining Kidsgrove Athletic ahead of the 2004–2005 season.[4] He moved on to join Eastwood Town, making a goal scoring debut in the club's 2–3 home defeat to Matlock Town on 16 October 2007.[5] The fee was a record for the two clubs and Rhead would end the season as Eastwood's top goalscorer of the season having netted 17 goals from 26 starts.[6] At the end of September 2008, he rejoined Kidsgrove Athletic on a month's loan[7] but with the loan restricting him only to league games, he started only a single game before returning to Eastwood at the end of the loan period.[8] He departed Eastwood to join Nantwich Town for the start of the 2009–2010 season[9] before joining Congleton Town on an initial month's loan, making a goalscoring debut in the club's draw with Squires Gate on 12 December 2009;[10] after a month's loan he agreed terms to join the club on a permanent basis until the end of the 2009–10 season.[11] Having been invited for pre-season training with Eastwood Town[12] he rejoined the club he had first joined for £4000 from Kidsgrove back in October 2007.[13] He joined Corby Town from Eastwood Town in June 2011.[14][15]

Mansfield Town

He signed for Mansfield Town in January 2012, and scored two goals in 17 games in the 2011–12 season. In July 2012, he quit his job as a team leader at JCB to become a full-time professional footballer.[16] He then scored five goals in 37 games in the 2012–13 campaign as the "Stags" won promotion into the Football League as champions of the Conference Premier.

Lincoln City

Rhead signed a two-year contract with Lincoln City on 14 May 2015.[17] The following year he handed in a transfer request and was set to join Barrow, but the arrival of Danny Cowley as Lincoln manager persuaded him to stay at the club,[18] and he finished the 2016-17 season as Lincoln's top scorer as they won the National League.[19] The same year he, played an important part in Lincoln's record-breaking run to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup,[20] gaining fame when Joey Barton took a dive in an attempt to get him sent off during Lincoln's win at Burnley.[21]

Billericay Town

Following two promotions from the National League to League One with Lincoln City, Rhead began to find his opportunities at Lincoln decreasing, and on 25 July 2019, Rhead signed for Billericay Town on a two-year deal for an undisclosed fee.[22] On 16 October 2019, after only two months with the club, Rhead departed after the club's chairman and director resigned.[23]

Alfreton Town

On 2 July 2021, Rhead joined Alfreton Town following his departure from Boreham Wood.[24] Matt Rhead, dubbed 'Rheady' quickly became a fan favourite at the Impact Arena due to the desire and passion he displayed. The striker was awarded with the Supporters' Player of the Year Award following the conclusion of the 2021/22 campaign. The following season, 2022/23, Matt Rhead captained his side to a fifth placed finish, this put Alfreton into the playoffs in which they lost 1-0 to Kidderminster Harriers.

Following Rhead’s release from Alfreton in 2024, he returned to Kidsgrove Athletic where he played 20 years prior. He scored his first goal back at ‘The Grove’ a month later in a 2-1 defeat to Belper Town in the FA Trophy.

Career statistics

As of match played 4 September 2021[25]
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Eastwood Town 2008–09 Conference North 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
2010–11 Conference North 37 13 0 0 0 0 3[a] 1 40 14
Total 37 13 2 0 0 0 3 1 42 14
Corby Town 2011–12[26] Conference North 22 8 6 4 — 2[a] 1 30 13
Mansfield Town 2011–12[27] Conference Premier 15 2 — — 2[b] 0 17 2
2012–13[27] Conference Premier 33 4 5 1 — 2[a] 0 40 5
2013–14[27] League Two 40 6 1 0 1 0 0 0 42 6
2014–15[27] League Two 32 3 3 0 0 0 1[c] 0 36 3
Total 120 15 9 1 1 0 5 0 135 16
Lincoln City 2015–16[27] National League 43 20 3 3 — 1[a] 0 47 23
2016–17[27] National League 43 14[d] 9 0 — 4[a] 0 56 14
2017–18[27] League Two 43 8 1 0 1 0 5[c] 1 50 9
2018–19[27] League Two 34 1 3 1 2 0 4[c] 1 43 3
Total 163 43 16 4 3 0 14 2 196 49
Billericay Town 2019-20 National League South 11 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 2
Boreham Wood 2019–20 National League 5 0 0 0 — 2[e] 1 7 1
2020–21 National League 27 1 4 1 — 1[a] 0 32 2
Total 32 1 4 1 0 0 3 1 39 3
Alfreton Town 2021–22 National League North 47 14 0 0 — 0 0 5 2
Career total 432 97 37 10 4 0 27 5 455 99
  1. ^ a b c d e f Appearances in FA Trophy
  2. ^ Appearances in Conference Premier play-offs
  3. ^ a b c Appearances in EFL Trophy
  4. ^ Many sources claim that Rhead scored 15 goals in this season, but one of them was later awarded to Theo Robinson instead. "Robinson Credited With Chester Opener". weareimps.com. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
  5. ^ Two appearances in National League play-offs

Honours

Mansfield Town

Lincoln City

References

  1. ^ Matt Rhead at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
  2. ^ "Matthew Read". Lincoln City F.C. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  3. ^ CHATWIN, MICHAEL (2020). ULTIMATE BOOK OF NANTWICH TOWN FOOTBALL CLUB. [S.l.]: EMPIRE. p. 276. ISBN 978-0-9563068-2-1. OCLC 1199329275.
  4. ^ "Transfer activity speeds up!". Gresley F.C. Official Website. 27 July 2004. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
  5. ^ "Red hot debut for Burns". Buxton Advertiser. 20 October 2007. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
  6. ^ "Badgers players honoured". Eastwood Advertiser. 29 May 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
  7. ^ "Non-league: Rhead returns to boost Kidsgrove options". Stoke Sentinel. 26 September 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
  8. ^ "Non-league football: Rhead returns to Eastwood". Stoke Sentinel. 25 October 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
  9. ^ "Football: Nantwich No 2 wants to be top man". Stoke Sentinel. 26 June 2009. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
  10. ^ "Non-league football: Rhead looks to make Congleton impact". Stoke Sentinel. 18 December 2009. Archived from the original on 19 May 2015. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
  11. ^ "Thompson fit to join Castle's title chase". Stoke Sentinel. 15 January 2010. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
  12. ^ . Stoke Sentinel. 1 July 2010 http://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/Football-Old-boy-Haddrell-returns-Congleton/story-12546276-detail/story.html. Retrieved 14 May 2015. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  13. ^ "Simpson can play key role for Eastwood". Nottingham Post. 16 July 2010. Retrieved 14 May 2015.[permanent dead link‍]
  14. ^ "Matt Rhead". corbytownfc.co.uk. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
  15. ^ "Striker Matt Rhead makes Corby Town switch". BBC Sport. 7 July 2011. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
  16. ^ "Full-time Matt Rhead will only get better at Mansfield Town". Nottingham Post. 14 July 2012. Archived from the original on 17 July 2012. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
  17. ^ "Matt Rhead: Lincoln sign Mansfield Town striker". BBC Sport. 14 May 2015. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  18. ^ Coney, Steven (3 August 2016). "Imps' delight as top scorer Matt Rhead signs Lincoln City extension". The Non League Football Paper - Daily football news. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  19. ^ admin (18 May 2017). "Tony Williams' Stats Life! Top goalscorers make all the difference". The Non League Football Paper - Daily football news. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  20. ^ Bird, Simon (15 February 2017). "Giant-killers Lincoln's Rhead really digs the FA Cup — he used to build JCBs". mirror. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  21. ^ Davis, Callum (18 February 2017). "Joey Barton slammed for 'embarrassing' performance as old diving tweet comes back to haunt him". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  22. ^ "Matt Rhead signs for the Blues". 25 July 2019.
  23. ^ "Legend Rhead leaves Billericay". 16 October 2019.
  24. ^ "RHEAD BECOMES FIFTH SUMMER SIGNING". www.alfretontownfootballclub.com. 2 July 2021.
  25. ^ Matthew Rhead at Soccerway
  26. ^ Williams, Mike; Williams, Tony, eds. (2012). Non-League Club Directory 2013. Tony Williams Publications. ISBN 978-1-869833-77-0.
  27. ^ a b c d e f g h "M. Rhead". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  28. ^ Anderson, John, ed. (2013). Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2013–2014. London: Headline Publishing Group. pp. 652–653. ISBN 978-0-7553-6413-8.
  29. ^ "League Two: 2018/19: Current table". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
    "Lincoln: Squad details: 2018/19". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  30. ^ Anderson, John, ed. (2017). Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2017–2018. London: Headline Publishing Group. pp. 640–641. ISBN 978-1-4722-3397-4.
  31. ^ Scott, Ged (8 April 2018). "Lincoln City 1–0 Shrewsbury Town". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
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