Matt Targett

For the Australian sprint swimmer, see Matt Targett (swimmer).

Matt Targett

Targett playing for Southampton in 2017
Personal information
Full name	Matthew Robert Targett [1]
Date of birth	(1995-09-18) 18 September 1995 (age 29) [2]
Place of birth	Eastleigh, Hampshire, England
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) [3]
Position(s)	Left-back
Team information
Current team	Newcastle United
Number	13
Youth career
2003–2013	Southampton
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2013–2019	Southampton	43	(1)
2018	→ Fulham (loan)	18	(1)
2019–2022	Aston Villa	83	(2)
2022	→ Newcastle United (loan)	16	(0)
2022–	Newcastle United	20	(0)
International career
2013	Scotland U19	2	(0)
2013–2014	England U19	5	(0)
2014	England U20	5	(1)
2015–2016	England U21	12	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:41, 1 November 2023 (UTC)

Matthew Robert Targett (born 18 September 1995) is a professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Premier League club Newcastle United. He has represented both Scotland and England at youth international level.

Targett came through the Southampton academy and was named their young player of the season in 2015, having broken into their Premier League squad during that campaign. He joined Fulham on loan in 2018, helping them achieve promotion by winning the Championship play-offs.

Club career

Southampton

Born in Eastleigh, Hampshire, Targett joined Southampton's academy at the age of eight, after being scouted by his local team. ^[4] He was named in a senior matchday squad for the first time on 24 September 2013, and was unused as they defeated Bristol City 2–0 in the third round of the League Cup. ^[5] On 26 April 2014, he was named in a Premier League game for the first time, remaining on the bench as Southampton won 2–0 at home against Everton. ^[6]

On 26 August 2014, Targett made his first-team debut for Southampton in a League Cup second-round game at Millwall. He played the entire match, which Southampton won 2–0. ^[7] His next appearance came on 23 September in a 2–1 victory at Arsenal in the following round of the tournament. ^[8]

He made his first Premier League appearance on 27 September 2014, replacing Dušan Tadić in added time at the end of a 2–1 home victory over Queens Park Rangers. ^[9] Targett's first start came on 28 December, a 1–1 draw against Chelsea in which regular left-back Ryan Bertrand was ineligible through being on loan from the visiting team. ^[10]

He was named as Southampton's Young Player of the Season for 2014–15. ^[11]

On 4 August 2017, Targett signed a new five-year contract with Southampton, extending his stay at the club to the summer of 2022. ^[12]

Fulham (loan)

On 22 January 2018, Targett joined Championship club Fulham on loan for the remainder of the season. ^[13] He scored his first goal in a 1–1 draw with Bolton Wanderers on 10 February. ^[14] On 26 May, he won promotion to the Premier League when Fulham beat Aston Villa 1–0 in the Championship Play-off Final, playing the full 90 minutes. ^[15]

Return to Southampton

In his penultimate match for the Saints on 27 April 2019, Targett came on at half time for Oriol Romeu and scored his only goal for the club, in a 3–3 home draw with Bournemouth. ^[16]

Aston Villa

On 1 July 2019, Targett signed for newly-promoted Aston Villa for an undisclosed fee. ^[17] He made his debut on 27 August in a 6–1 EFL Cup second round victory over Crewe Alexandra, although he was only able to play the first 42 minutes of the game before suffering a hamstring injury. ^[18]

He recovered and returned to the squad on 25 September, in a 3–1 victory in the next round at Brighton & Hove Albion, ^[19] and then made his first Premier League start for Villa three days later in a 2–2 home draw against Burnley. ^[20] Targett scored his first goal for Aston Villa on 19 October, defeating Brighton 2–1 at Villa Park in the fourth minute of added time. ^[21]

At the end of the 2020–21 season, Targett was the only outfield player to start all 38 Premier League matches, and was voted Players' Player of the Season by his teammates. ^[22]

Newcastle United

On 31 January 2022, Targett joined Newcastle United on loan until the end of the 2021–22 season. ^[23] On 8 June 2022, Targett signed a 4-year deal with the Magpies, for a reported fee of £15 million. ^{[24] [25]}

International career

Targett represented Scotland at under-19 level before electing to play for England under-19s in September 2013. ^[26] On 17 November 2014, Targett scored his first goal at international level in a 1–1 draw against Portugal for the England U-20s, followed by a goal in the penalty shoot-out. ^[27] Targett made his debut for the under-21 side on 27 March 2015, starting in a 1–0 win against the Czech Republic in Prague. ^[28]

He was part of the team that won the 2016 Toulon Tournament, their first such win for 22 years. ^[29]

The Evening Chronicle reported in April 2022 that England and Scotland were both considering Targett for selection by their full national teams. ^[30]

Career statistics

As of match played 1 November 2023

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
Southampton	2013–14 [31]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	2014–15 [32]	Premier League	6	0	2	0	4	0	—		12	0
	2015–16 [33]	Premier League	14	0	1	0	2	0	3 [a]	0	20	0
	2016–17 [34]	Premier League	5	0	0	0	1	0	2 [a]	0	8	0
	2017–18 [35]	Premier League	2	0	0	0	0	0	—		2	0
	2018–19 [36]	Premier League	16	1	2	0	3	0	—		21	1
	Total		43	1	5	0	10	0	5	0	63	1
Fulham (loan)	2017–18 [35]	Championship	18	1	—		—		3 [b]	0	21	1
Aston Villa	2019–20 [37]	Premier League	28	1	0	0	4	1	—		32	2
	2020–21 [38]	Premier League	38	0	0	0	0	0	—		38	0
	2021–22 [39]	Premier League	17	1	1	0	1	0	—		19	1
	Total		83	2	1	0	5	1	0	0	89	3
Newcastle United (loan)	2021–22 [39]	Premier League	16	0	—		—		—		16	0
Newcastle United	2022–23 [40]	Premier League	17	0	0	0	2	0	—		19	0
	2023–24 [41]	Premier League	3	0	0	0	2	0	2 [c]	0	7	0
	Total		36	0	0	0	4	0	2	0	42	0
Career total			180	4	6	0	19	1	10	0	215	5

1. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
2. Appearances in Championship play-offs
3. Appearances in UEFA Champions League

Honours

Southampton

• U21 Premier League Cup: 2014–15 ^[42]

Fulham

• EFL Championship play-offs: 2018 ^[43]

Aston Villa

• EFL Cup runner-up: 2019–20 ^[44]

Newcastle United

• EFL Cup runner-up: 2022–23 ^[45]

England U21

• Toulon Tournament: 2016 ^[29]

Individual

• Aston Villa Players' Player of the Season: 2020–21 ^[22]

See also

• List of sportspeople who competed for more than one nation

References

1. "2020/21 Premier League squads confirmed". Premier League. 20 October 2020. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
2. "Matt Targett: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
3. "Southampton Player Profile Matt Targett". southamptonfc.com. Southampton F.C. 1 April 2017. Archived from the original on 11 March 2017. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
4. "Matt Targett First Team Profile". Southampton FC. Archived from the original on 24 May 2016. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
5. "Southampton 2–0 Bristol City". BBC Sport. 24 September 2013. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
6. Phillips, Owen (26 April 2014). "Southampton 2–0 Everton". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
7. "Millwall 0–2 Southampton". BBC Sport. 26 August 2014. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
8. "Arsenal 1–2 Southampton". BBC Sport. 23 September 2014. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
9. Lewis, Aimee (27 September 2014). "Southampton 2–1 QPR". BBC Sport. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
10. Steinberg, Jacob (28 December 2014). "Southampton 1–1 Chelsea: five talking points from St Mary's". The Guardian . Retrieved 28 December 2014.
11. "SOUTHAMPTON FC | Matt Targett: Young Player of the Season award caps a memorable season". Southampton F.C. 21 May 2015. Archived from the original on 6 February 2016. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
12. "Matt Targett signs new five-year deal at Southampton". Sky Sports. 4 August 2017.
13. "Fulham sign Saint's Targett on loan". BBC Sport. 22 January 2018. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
14. "Bolton 1–1 Fulham". BBC Sport. 10 February 2018. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
15. "Fulham Promoted to Premier League". BBC Sport. 26 May 2018. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
16. Emons, Michael (27 April 2019). "Southampton 3–3 AFC Bournemouth". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
17. "Transfer news: Matt Targett signs for Aston Villa". Ason Villa F.C. 1 July 2019. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
18. Preece, Ashley (27 August 2019). "New Aston Villa signing limps off with injury against Crewe". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
19. "Brighton 1–3 Aston Villa". BBC Sport. 25 September 2019.
20. Lanigan, Adam (28 September 2019). "Aston Villa let lead slip twice against Burnley to stay in relegation zone". The Telegraph.
21. Doyle, Paul (19 October 2019). "Matt Targett scores late winner for Aston Villa against 10-man Brighton". The Guardian.
22. "Martinez voted Supporters' Player of the Season". Aston Villa Football Club. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
23. "Newcastle United sign Matt Targett on loan". Newcastle United F.C. 31 January 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
24. Club, Aston Villa Football. "Matt Targett joins Newcastle United". Aston Villa F.C. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
25. "Magpies sign Targett on permanent deal". Newcastle United F.C. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
26. "Chambers and Targett on England duty". Southampton FC. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
27. "Portugal 1–1 England". The FA. 17 November 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
28. "Tom Carroll scores winner for England Under-21s against Czech Republic". The Guardian. 27 March 2015. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
29. Veevers, Nicholas (29 May 2016). "England under-21s lift Toulon title after win over France". The Football Association. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
30. Ryder, Lee (21 April 2022). "Newcastle United loan star Matt Targett being eyed by Scotland for World Cup call". Evening Chronicle. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
31. "Games played by Matt Targett in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
32. "Games played by Matt Targett in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
33. "Games played by Matt Targett in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
34. "Games played by Matt Targett in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
35. "Games played by Matt Targett in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
36. "Games played by Matt Targett in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
37. "Games played by Matt Targett in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
38. "Games played by Matt Targett in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
39. "Games played by Matt Targett in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
40. "Games played by Matt Targett in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
41. "Games played by Matt Targett in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
42. "Report: Southampton 2–1 Blackburn Rovers (Under-21 Premier League Cup final second leg)". Southampton F.C. 20 April 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
43. Cartwright, Phil (26 May 2018). "Aston Villa 0–1 Fulham". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
44. McNulty, Phil (1 March 2020). "Aston Villa 1–2 Manchester City". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
45. McNulty, Phil (26 February 2023). "Manchester United 2–0 Newcastle United". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 February 2023.

External links

• Profile at the Newcastle United F.C. website
• Matt Targett – UEFA competition record ( archive )