Dominic Matteo

Matteo was spotted playing for Birkdale United by Liverpool player Kenny Dalglish, who had originally gone to Birkdale United just to watch his son, Paul Dalglish.[7][8] He progressed to a YTS contract at the age of 16.[9] His versatility counted against him, as he was asked to play several positions in the reserve team and subsequently failed to establish himself in one position.[10] However, he impressed enough to win a one-year professional contract at the age of 18.[11] He then signed a new two-year contract in 1993.[12]

He made his Premier League debut for the "Reds" on 23 October 1993, when he replaced an injured John Barnes at left-wing in a 1–1 draw with Manchester City at Maine Road.[13] He made a total of 13 appearances during the 1993–94 season. He joined Mick Buxton's Sunderland on loan in March 1995, but made just one First Division appearance for the "Black Cats", in a 2–0 defeat to Barnsley at Oakwell on 24 March.[14] After the game it transpired that his loan had not been registered in time, leaving him unable to play for Sunderland; though he had technically been an ineligible player against Barnsley, Sunderland escaped with only a £2,500 fine.[15]

He scored two goals for Liverpool, one against Southampton in the Premier League and another against Huddersfield Town in the FA Cup.[16][17] After making arguably his biggest impact at Anfield in the 1999–2000 season, Matteo was expected to become a first team regular, but was instead sold to Leeds United[18] in August 2000. He made 155 appearances and scored two goals for Liverpool.[19]

In August 2000 he joined Leeds United despite failing his medical with the club.[20] He made his team debut against A.C. Milan the following month, in a UEFA Champions League contest.[1] He was one of Leeds' best players through their 2000–01 Champions League campaign, in which they achieved a semi-final place.[1] He is fondly remembered by Leeds fans especially for the goal he scored at the San Siro against Milan,[1][21] in the first group stage which ensured they would progress through to the next round. He ended that Champions League campaign with two goals, having also scored earlier against Beşiktaş.[1][22]

When Rio Ferdinand moved to Manchester United in the summer of 2002, Matteo was handed team captaincy.[1] Leeds were relegated at the end of 2003–04, despite Matteo's two goals against Fulham[23] and Wolverhampton Wanderers.[24]

His book, In My Defence, was published in 2011. In an interview, given at the time of the book's release, he said that he had liked working with David O'Leary and Peter Ridsdale at Leeds; " I loved working with David. He had been a great central defender at Arsenal. But, as things started to get on top of us, he spent more time in his office. He was nowhere near a failure and, if you finished fifth now, you would not expect the sack."[25]

In July 2004, Matteo signed a three-year contract with Blackburn Rovers.[26] He made his Blackburn debut against West Bromwich Albion in a 1–1 draw.[27] He scored his first and only goal for Blackburn in a 3–0 win over Colchester United in the FA Cup.[27]

In January 2007, Matteo moved to Championship side Stoke City on a free transfer.[1] Signing a short-term contract until the summer, he played a total of 10 games and scoring one goal against Derby County.[28] Matteo still continued to play for Stoke during the club's 2007–08 pre-season campaign, despite being out of contract. However, he was offered a new 12-month contract by the club on 10 August 2007. He was made captain by Tony Pulis in the season Stoke won promotion back to the top flight of the English football league system. Matteo played 13 league games up to the end of October after which he played only once more before the end of the season, a game in November 2007.[29] This was the last game of his playing career due to injury.[1]