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Just 13 league appearances, just 13, 17 if you include non league/FA Cup games like the Autoglass Trophy which we won that year. How could this attacking midfielder in just over a dozen games become the player name that I give when asked who my favourite Swans player is?
Being in my early twenties at the time that Matthew was playing and with it being my first year as a full season ticket holder on the North Bank I admit to missing a lot of the great names that are mentioned regularly on the terraces, in the pubs and on the web, but legend or not, this guy could play!
Matthew came on loan from West Ham in January 1994. Frank Burrows, our manager at the time, had good connections with the Hammers and brought the 22 year old down to Vetch to add a creative spark in midfield and perhaps grab a few goals.
He was a busy player, who gave 100%, was good in the tackle and had excellent passing skills but above all, what stood out to me was the amount of time he had on the ball. Always a sign of a quality player it has to be said and perhaps Matthew was the first player of this kind that I had seen.
The fans loved him and he loved the fans, the talk at the end of many a match as we headed home was whether or not West Ham would part with the player and whether or not we could afford him.
Again a look at the records show that our form didn’t improve a great deal with Matthew on our books and he never scored a goal for us either. But in those very few games he turned quite a few heads and I bet many of you reading this remember him well. He was a superb player who, had he stayed with us, might have become one of the greats. He seemed to love the city, its people and its football club, it just sort of clicked for him here.
Unfortunately for Matthew despite numerous substitute appearances for a variety of clubs, he only ever started 77 league games (including the 13 for the Swans) before a serious injury ended his playing career.
For him to achieve such glowing praise from within our beloved club in such a short space of time is testament to what a great player he was for us during the first few months of a cold 1994.
Once a Jack, always a Jack!
Submitted By Lee Davies
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