Jay Matete

Jay Matete

Matete warming up for Sunderland in 2022
Personal information
Full name	Jay Matete [1]
Date of birth	(2001-02-11) 11 February 2001 (age 23) [2]
Place of birth	Lambeth, London, England
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Oxford United
Number	36
Youth career
0000–2018	Reading
2018–2019	Fleetwood Town
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2019–2022	Fleetwood Town	27	(1)
2021	→ Grimsby Town (loan)	20	(3)
2022–	Sunderland	22	(0)
2023	→ Plymouth Argyle (loan)	19	(1)
2024–	→ Oxford United (loan)	6	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18:00, 28 March 2024 (UTC)

Jay Matete (born 11 February 2001) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Sunderland.

He was part of the youth academy at Reading before joining Fleetwood Town in 2018 and signing professional terms with them a year later. He went on to have a loan spell with Grimsby Town before joining Sunderland in 2022. He was part of the Plymouth Argyle side that won EFL League One title in 2023 following a successful loan spell.

Career

Fleetwood Town

In May 2018, Matete signed for Fleetwood Town's academy, following a spell at Reading. ^[3] During the 2019–20 EFL Trophy, he made two appearances for Fleetwood Town, once against Liverpool U21 and once against Oldham Athletic. ^[4]

Grimsby Town (loan)

On 21 January 2021, Matete signed for Grimsby Town on loan until the end of the 2020–21 season. ^[5] During his loan spell, Matete made 20 appearances for The Mariners, scoring his first goal for the club just 32 seconds into a EFL League Two match against Bolton Wanderers which Grimsby Town won 2-1. ^{[6] [7]}

He scored the winner in a 2–1 win at Oldham Athletic, with a brilliant solo strike having run from the halfway line before hitting a shot into the top corner. ^[8] A few days later, he scored again away at Exeter City to give The Mariners a 2–1 lead, but was later sent off as Grimsby eventually lost 3–2 confirming relegation from the Football League. ^{[9] [10]} The club appealed his red card but this was turned down effectively ending his season. ^[11]

Sunderland

On 31 January 2022, Matete signed for fellow EFL League One side Sunderland on a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee. Matete said upon signing "I’m delighted to sign for a club of this stature and I can’t wait to get started. Everything happened so quickly, but it’s brilliant to get the deal done and I’m excited for what the future holds.

On 6 January 2023, Matete signed for Plymouth Argyle on loan until the end of the 2022–23 season. ^{[12] [13]}

Career statistics

As of match played 7 May 2023

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		EFL Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Fleetwood Town	2019–20 [14]	League One	0	0	0	0	0	0	3 [lower-alpha 1]	0	3	0
	2020–21 [15]	League One	7	0	0	0	2	0	4 [lower-alpha 1]	0	13	0
	2021–22 [15]	League One	20	1	1	0	1	0	3 [lower-alpha 1]	1	25	2
	Total		27	1	1	0	3	0	10	1	41	2
Grimsby Town (loan)	2020–21 [15]	League Two	20	3	—		—		—		20	3
Sunderland	2021–22 [16]	League One	14	0	—		—		2 [lower-alpha 2]	0	16	0
	2022–23 [17]	Championship	8	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	9	0
	Total		22	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	25	0
Plymouth Argyle (loan)	2022–23 [17]	League One	19	1	0	0	0	0	3 [lower-alpha 1]	0	22	1
Career total			88	5	1	0	4	0	15	1	108	6

1. Appearances in Football League Trophy
2. Appearances in EFL League One play-offs

Honours

Sunderland

• EFL League One play-offs: 2022 ^[18]

Plymouth Argyle

• EFL League One: 2022–23 ^[19]
• EFL Trophy runner-up: 2022–23 ^[20]

References

1. "Notification of shirt numbers: Fleetwood Town" (PDF). English Football League. p. 27. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
2. Jay Matete at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
3. "11 youngsters awarded scholarships within club's academy". Fleetwood Town F.C. 11 May 2018. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
4. Jay Matete at Soccerway
5. "Matete Arrives at Blundell Park On Loan". Grimsby Town F.C. 21 January 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
6. "Grimsby Town 2-1 Bolton Wanderers". BBC Sport.
7. "Report: Grimsby Town 2-1 Bolton Wanderers".
8. "Oldham 1-2 Grimsby: Mariners boost survival hopes through Jay Matete winner". Sky Sports.
9. "Grimsby relegated to National League". BBC Sport.
10. "Exeter 3-2 Grimsby: Paul Hurst's Mariners relegated from Sky Bet League Two".
11. "Jay Matete's Grimsby Town loan comes to an end after unsuccessful appeal". Grimsbylive. 30 April 2021.
12. "Sunderland unveil Jay Matete on long term deal in early hours of Tuesday". February 2022.
13. "Sunderland confirm late deadline day signing of Jay Matete from Fleetwood Town". February 2022.
14. "Games played by Jay Matete in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
15. "Games played by Jay Matete in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
16. "Games played by Jay Matete in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
17. "Jay Matete | Football Stats | Season 2022/2023". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
18. Paddy, Chris (21 May 2022). "Sunderland 2–0 Wycombe". BBC Sport. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
19. "Plymouth beat Port Vale to win League One title". BBC Sport. 7 May 2023. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
20. Pilnick, Brent (2 April 2023). "Bolton crush Plymouth to win Papa Johns Trophy". BBC Sport. Retrieved 4 August 2023.