Luke Matheson (footballer)

Luke Matheson

Matheson playing for Rochdale U18s in October 2017
Personal information
Full name	Luke Alexander Matheson [1]
Date of birth	(2002-10-03) 3 October 2002 (age 22)
Place of birth	Manchester, England
Height	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) [2]
Position(s)	Defender
Team information
Current team	Bohemians (on loan from Bolton Wanderers)
Youth career
0000–2018	Rochdale
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2018–2020	Rochdale	18	(1)
2020–2023	Wolverhampton Wanderers	0	(0)
2020	→ Rochdale (loan)	5	(0)
2021	→ Ipswich Town (loan)	2	(0)
2021	→ Hamilton Academical (loan)	9	(0)
2022	→ Scunthorpe United (loan)	13	(0)
2023–	Bolton Wanderers	0	(0)
2024–	→ Bohemians (loan)	10	(0)
International career‡
2019	England U17	1	(0)
2019–2020	England U18	5	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 02:20, 17 October 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22:16, 18 November 2019 (UTC)

Luke Alexander Matheson (born 3 October 2002) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for League of Ireland Premier Division Bohemians on loan from EFL League One club Bolton Wanderers.

A product of the youth team at Rochdale, he made his first team debut at the age of 15 and became the club's youngest ever player. At the age of 16 he scored an equaliser against Manchester United in an EFL Cup game at Old Trafford to take the game to a penalty shootout. He earned a move to Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers, and has since spent time on loan back with Rochdale and then further spells at Ipswich Town, Hamilton Academical and Scunthorpe United. In 2023, he left Wolves without making a senior appearance and moved to Bolton Wanderers. He is a former England U17 and England U18 international with a combined total of six caps.

Club career

Rochdale

Matheson was born in Fallowfield, Manchester. ^[3] He attended Trinity Church of England High School in Hulme, Manchester. ^[4] Progressing through Rochdale's academy, Matheson made his first-team debut on 4 September 2018, during their EFL Trophy group-stage tie against Bury at the age of 15 years and 336 days, making him the club's youngest ever debutant. As well as this, Matheson was awarded with the man-of-the-match award for his performance in the 2–1 victory. ^{[5] [6]}

On 19 January 2019, Matheson made his English Football League debut in a 1–1 League One draw at home to Fleetwood Town, as a half-time substitute for Matt Done. ^[7]

On 25 September 2019, at the age of just 16, he scored the equaliser in a 1–1 draw against Manchester United in the EFL Cup third round at Old Trafford, which Dale eventually lost 5–3 on penalties. ^{[8] [9]} On 31 October, he signed a three-year professional contract with the club, having turned 17 earlier in the month. ^[10]

Matheson scored his first league goal on 11 January 2020, opening a 2–0 home win over Bolton Wanderers. ^[11]

Wolverhampton Wanderers

On 31 January 2020, Matheson signed for Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers, before re-joining Rochdale on loan for the remainder of the season. ^[12] The transfer fee was £1 million. ^[13] During his time at Wolves he struggled with injury missing almost two entire season with various injuries. ^[14]

Ipswich Town (loan)

On 1 February 2021, Matheson joined EFL League One side Ipswich Town on loan until the end of the season. He made his first appearance starting in a 2–0 win against Blackpool. ^[15] He made two appearances for Ipswich before returning to Wolves at the end of his loan spell. ^[16]

Hamilton Academical (loan)

On 27 August 2021, Matheson signed for Scottish club Hamilton Academical on a season-long loan. ^[17] He played a total of nine Scottish Championship games and two games in the Scottish League Challenge Cup. He was recalled by Wolves to facilitate a move to Scunthorpe United. ^[18]

Scunthorpe United (loan)

On 15 January 2022, Matheson signed for League Two club Scunthorpe United, for the remainder of the season. This would see him reunite with ex-Rochdale boss, Keith Hill. ^[19] He made his debut on the same day, playing the full 90 minutes in a 2–0 loss against Exeter City. ^[20]

Matheson was released by Wolves at the end of the 2022–23 season. ^[21]

Bolton Wanderers

On 1 August 2023, he completed a move to EFL League One side Bolton Wanderers on a one-year contract following a successful trial spell. He will initially link up with the club's B team. ^[22] On 19 December, he and fellow B-Team prospect Conor Carty signed new deals up to 2025 that would also promote them to the first-team squad. ^[23]

Bohemians (loan)

On 22 February 2024, he joined League of Ireland Premier Division Bohemians side on a four month loan deal. ^[24]

International career

In February 2019, Matheson made his international debut for the England under-17 team against France. ^[25]

On 11 October 2019, Matheson made his England U18 debut during a 5–2 win away to Poland. ^[26]

Career statistics

As of match played 8 October 2024

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Rochdale	2018–19 [27]	League One	3	0	0	0	0	0	4 [a]	0	7	0
	2019–20 [28]	League One	15	1	4	0	3	1	2 [a]	0	24	2
	Total		18	1	4	0	3	1	6	0	31	2
Wolverhampton Wanderers	2019–20 [28]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2020–21 [16]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2021–22 [29]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2022–23 [30]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Total		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Rochdale (loan)	2019–20 [28]	League One	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
Wolverhampton Wanderers U21s	2020–21 EFL Trophy [16]		—		—		—		1 [a]	0	1	0
	2022–23 EFL Trophy [30]		—		—		—		2 [a]	0	2	0
	Total		0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	3	0
Ipswich Town (loan)	2020–21 [16]	League One	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Hamilton Academical (loan)	2021–22 [29]	Scottish Championship	9	0	0	0	0	0	2 [b]	0	11	0
Scunthorpe United (loan)	2021–22 [29]	League Two	13	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	13	0
Bolton Wanderers	2023–24 [31]	League One	0	0	1	0	0	0	4 [a]	1	5	1
	2024–25 [32]	League One	0	0	0	0	0	0	2 [a]	0	2	0
	Total		0	0	1	0	0	0	6	1	7	1
Bohemians (loan)	2024 [31]	LOI Premier Division	4	0	0	0	—		0	0	4	0
Career total			51	1	5	0	3	1	17	1	76	3

1. Appearance(s) in EFL Trophy
2. Appearances in Scottish Challenge Cup

References

1. "Premier League clubs publish 2019/20 retained lists". Premier League. 26 June 2020. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
2. "Luke Matheson: Biography". wolves.co.uk. Wolverhampton Wanderers FC. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
3. Luckhurst, Samuel (26 September 2019). "Luke Matheson breaks silence on goal vs Manchester United for Rochdale". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
4. O'Toole, Dan (22 September 2018). "Who is Luke Matheson? The Rochdale 15-year-old reportedly interesting Manchester United and Liverpool". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
5. "Luke Matheson Becomes Rochdale's Youngest Ever Debutant". Rochdale. 4 September 2018. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
6. "Luke Matheson: 15-year-old Rochdale defender named man of the match on debut". BBC Sport. 5 September 2018. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
7. "Dale 1–1 Fleetwood Town". Rochdale A.F.C. 19 January 2019. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
8. "Luke Matheson: Scoring against Man Utd but school in the morning". BBC Sport. 25 September 2019.
9. "Manchester United escape on penalties against Rochdale despite 16-year-old Luke Matheson's heroics". The Daily Telegraph. 25 September 2019. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
10. "Luke Matheson signs three-year Rochdale deal after Carabao Cup heroics". BBC Sport. 31 October 2019. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
11. "Rochdale 2–0 Bolton Wanderers". BBC Sport. 11 January 2020. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
12. "Wolves seal Matheson signing". www.wolves.co.uk. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
13. "Luke Matheson joins Wolves from Rochdale in deal worth £1m". BBC Sport. 31 January 2020. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
14. Bolton Wanderers ex-Wolves star Luke Matheson on fresh start
15. "Matheson moves out on loan". Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. 1 February 2021. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
16. "Games played by Luke Matheson in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
17. "Mathieson Signs On Season-Long Loan Deal". Hamilton Academical FC. 27 August 2021. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
18. "Luke Matheson joins the Iron on loan". Scunthorpe United FC. 15 January 2022. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
19. "Matheson joins former boss with Scunthorpe loan switch". Wolves. 15 January 2022. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
20. "Exeter City 2-0 Scunthorpe United". BBC. 15 January 2022. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
21. "Six under-21s to depart this month". www.wolves.co.uk. 3 June 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
22. https://www.bwfc.co.uk/news/luke-secures-b-team-deal, Luke secures B Team deal, www.bwfc.co.uk, 1 August 2023
23. "New Deals For Young Whites' Duo". www.bwfc.co.uk. 20 December 2023. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
24. BOHEMIAN FC CONFIRM LOAN SIGNING OF BOLTON WANDERERS DEFENDER LUKE MATHESON
25. "Luke Matheson makes international debut". Rochdale AFC. 7 February 2019. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
26. "An impressive win on the road for Ian Foster's Young Lions, who beat Poland in Opole". TheFA.com. 11 October 2019. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
27. "Games played by Luke Matheson in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
28. "Games played by Luke Matheson in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
29. "Games played by Luke Matheson in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
30. "Games played by Luke Matheson in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
31. "Games played by Luke Matheson in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
32. "Games played by Luke Matheson in 2024/2025". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 October 2024.