matthew etherington - fact file

1999 - 2003        winger

Born on 14th August 1981 in Truro, Cornwall, England.

Height : - .m  (5' 10")

Weight : -  - kgs    (10st 7lbs)

 
A flighty winger, who joined Spurs in a big money deal with Simon Davies from Peterborough United, but failed to make the expected progress in his position before falling out of contention and falling into conflict with the Spurs crowd.

Signed from Peterborough United for £500,000 which could have risen according to appearances and international recognition.  For a long time this left footed winger had been attracting attention among the Premier League and Newcastle United were considering a £4 million bid for him at the start of 1998-1999, while Manchester United had him training with them earlier in 1999-2000.  However, the persistence of David Pleat paid off and the young Cornishman joined Spurs as one for the future.  A rare commodity in football these days - a natural left footer, he was seen as the long term answer to the midfield slot on that side for England.

Made his debut at 15 years and 261 days for Peterborough in the last game of the 1996-97 season (making him the seventh youngest League debutant) at Brentford and he had to ask his headmaster for permission to play as he was revising for his six GCSE's at the time.  He subsequently played 58 games scoring six league goals and had represented England at Under 16 (7 caps), 18 and 20 levels and looked to have the potential to go all the way for his country.  He was the youngest player to included in the PFA Division Three Team of the Season in 1998-99.

Made his Spurs debut up at Anfield as a substitute and his direct wing-play, going at defenders, livened up the Spurs fans.  He had tremendous pace and skill, which was a potent weapon, but he did not get to play in the side regularly. 

Picked up an injury in a pre-season game, so spent the first month of 2000-2001 on the sidelines, but got back on the bench and in Anderton's absence might have got his chance, but he did not feature regularly under Graham, being given him a couple of run-outs by Glenn Hoddle.  The winger showed excellent skill and pace in the reserves, but needed to improve on his goal-scoring (especially when one-on-one with the keeper) and the accuracy of his crosses.  

Season 2001-02 didn't pan out as Matthew expected.  His spell on loan at Bradford City toughened him up and when he returned, he looked a better player for it.  Scored his first goal for the first team against Bolton and put in some good performances, but wasn't a regular; something that nagged away at him and made him put in a transfer request.  It was refused by the club and he started 2002-03 in the side, but still hinted his future might be away from the Lane.

That became a reality when he managed some games during 2002-03, but failed to impress, being muscled out of the action too easily and in the final league game at home to Blackburn Rovers, getting embroiled with the crowd in an argument, as he did not take the criticism of his crossing ability very well.  It proved to be his last appearance in a Spurs shirt, as his part as a £1 million makeweight in the deal that brought Frederic Kanoute was somehow deliciously ironic in the circumstances.

Etherington made all the right noises for his new fans when he signed for the Irons, about joining a club that was bigger than Tottenham, but at Upton Park, his career followed a similar pattern to his time at White Hart Lane.  Initially impressive, Etherington dropped out of contention through inconsistent performances and injuries, later suffering problems off the field with a betting addiction in 2007, that could have cost him up to £1.5 million. 

Lacking the consistency once hoped for and with the Irons in financial problems, he was allowed to leave to join Stoke City in January 2009 for a fee of around £2 million, reaching a FA Cup final in 2011, but losing to Manchester City.

Matthew was released by Stoke City at the end of June 2014.

 

NICKNAME :  Ethers

MIDDLE NAME :

Career Record
 
Club Signed Fee Debut Apps Goals
Peterborough United 1st August 1996 - ??  48 + 10 (as a sub) 6
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 31st December 1999 £500,000 8th April 2000 v Liverpool (Premier League) (away)  Lost 0-2 24 (+ 27 as a sub) 2
Bradford City 23rd October - 28th December 2001 Loan ??  12 + 1 as a sub 1
West Ham United 4th August 2003 £1,000,000 (part of Kanoute deal) ??  ?? ??
Stoke City 8th January 2009 £2,000,000 10th January 2009  v  Liverpool (Premier League) (home)  drew 0-0 177 ??
- ?? ?? ??  ?? ??

Career Record
Peterborough United
43 + 8 as a sub League appearances; 6 goals
2 + 1 FA Cup appearances; 0 goals
1 + 1 League Cup appearances; 0 goals
2 Other appearances; 0 goals
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
20 + 25 as a sub League appearances; 1 goal
1 + 1 as a sub FA Cup appearances; 1 goal
3 + 1 as a sub League Cup appearances; 0goals
?? Other appearances; goals
Bradford City

12 + 1 as a sub League appearances; 1 goal
West Ham United

- League appearances; goals
- FA Cup appearances; goals
- League Cup appearances; goals
European appearances; goals
Stoke City

- League appearances; goals
- FA Cup appearances; goals
- League Cup appearances; goals
European appearances; goals
- -
- League appearances; goals
- FA Cup appearances; goals
- League Cup appearances; goals
European appearances; goals

Honours
England international
- full caps;  - goals
Under-21 caps; goals
Under-21 caps; goals
Under-18 caps; goals
Under-17 caps; goals
FA Cup runners-up medal 2010-11  (Stoke City)
- Cup winners medal 19---
Player of the Year 2009-10  (Stoke City)

Milestones
- appearance

           

Supported Liverpool as a boy

 

What they said about Matthew Etherington
Barry Fry (Peterborough United manager) ...  19.08.2000 (THFC programme)

"There is no doubt in my mind Tottenham got the bargain of the year.  I spoke to George Graham at the back end of last season and he told me he was very happy with the boys (Etherington and Simon Davies).  They can only get better with the expertise available at Tottenham and the experience George can pass on to them."

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What Matthew Etherington said about ...
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             Appearances

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