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	10	(2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17:46, 16 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. Appearances in FA Trophy
2. Appearances in Conference Premier play-offs
3. 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

• Conference Premier: 2012–13 ^[28]

Lincoln City

• EFL League Two: 2018–19 ^[29]
• National League: 2016–17 ^[30]
• EFL Trophy: 2017–18 ^[31]

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. 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. "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.

External links

• Matt Rhead at Soccerbase