England Football Online
Goalkeepers Index Page Last Updated
16 August 2022
 
 
Reg Matthews Coventry City FC, Chelsea FC

5 appearances, 5 goals against  1 clean sheet

P 5 W 2 D 3 L 0 F 9: A 5
70% successful

1955-58

captain: none
minutes played:
450

Timeline

  Reginald Derrick Matthews
Birth 20 December 1932 in Coventry, Warwickshire [registered in Coventry, March 1933].
Attended Barkers Butts school.
Marriage to Barbara Gibbs [registered in Coventry, March 1954], two children, Kim and Kim M.
Death 7 October 2001 in Kenilworth, Coventry, aged 68 years 291 days [registered in Mid-Warwickshire, October 2001], after a short illness. Funeral held at St.John's Church in Kenilworth, 15 October 2001.
Source Douglas Lammings' An English Football Internationalist Who's Who [1990] &
Club Career
Club(s) Played for Coventry schools and was signed by his local club, Coventry City FC when he was just fourteen years old, becoming part of the club's groundstaff at Highfield Road. He was turning out for the club's nursery side, Modern Machine Tools FC, eventually signing professional forms in May 1950.  His performances in the Third Division of the Football League had him noticed not only by the England selectors, but also Chelsea FC, who, after 111 league appearances, bought him for £22,500 in November 1956 and played in 135 league appearances. Derby County FC signed him in October 1961 for £10,000 and another 225 league appearances followed. He joined Rugby Town FC as a player-manager in August 1968.
Club honours None
Individual honours Football League Division Three South vs. Division Three North (two appearances)
Distinctions None
Height/Weight 5' 11", 11st. 7lbs [1957].
Source Douglas Lammings' An English Football Internationalist Who's Who [1990].
England Career
Player number 754th player to appear for England.
Position(s) Goalkeeper
First match No. 302, 14 April 1956, Scotland 1 England 1, a British Championship match at Hampden Park, Mount Florida, Glasgow, aged 23 years 116 days.
Last match No. 307, 6 October 1956, Northern Ireland 1 England 1, a British Championship match at Windsor Park, Donegall Avenue, Belfast, aged 23 years 291 days.
Major tournaments World Cup Finals 1958 (provisional);
British Championship
1955-56, 1956-57;
Team honours British Championship winners 1956-57, shared 1955-56;
Individual honours England B (three appearances, 1955-56), England U23 (four appearances, one unofficial, 1955)
Distinctions most appearanced Englishman at Coventry City FC.
Beyond England
After leaving football, from 1968, he worked in a tractor factory, Massey Ferguson. - An English Football Internationalists' Who's Who. Douglas Lamming (1990). Hatton Press, p.169.
 

The Numbers
parties Apps comp
apps
unused/
reserve
minutes GA GA Av.
min
Comp GA Clean
Sheets
Cln
Sht Av
cln sht best captain
7 5 2 eight 450 5 90 2 1 20% 209 min none
minutes are an approximation, due to the fact that many matches rarely stick to exactly ninety minutes long, allowing time for injuries and errors.
P W D L F A GD FTS CS FAv AAv Pts% W/L
5 2 3 0 9 5 +4 1 1 1.8 1 70 +2

Venue Record

Venue P W D L F A GD FTS CS FAv AAv Pts% W/L
Home 1 1 0 0 4 2 +2 0 0 4.00 2.00 100.0 +1
Away 4 1 3 0 5 3 +2 1 1 1.25 0.75 62.5 +1

Competition Record

Type P W D L F A GD FTS CS FAv AAv Pts% W/L
British Championship 2 0 2 0 2 2 =0 0 0 1.00 1.00 50.0 -0
Friendly 3 2 1 0 7 3 +4 1 1 1.333 1.00 83.3 +2

Tournament Record

British Championship Competition
Type P W D L F A GD FTS CS FAv AAv Pts% W/L
BC 1955-56 1 0 1 0 1 1 =0 0 0 1.00 1.00 50.0 -0
BC 1956-57 1 0 1 0 1 1 =0 0 0 1.00 1.00 50.0 -0
BC All 2 0 2 0 2 2 =0 0 0 1.00 1.00 50.0 -0

All Competition
Type P W D L F A GD FTS CS FAv AAv Pts% W/L
BC 2 0 2 0 2 2 =0 0 0 1.00 1.00 50.0 -0
2 0 2 0 2 2 =0 0 0 1.00 1.00 50.0 -0

Match History

Age 22 under 23
two appearances - Italy January 1955, Scotland February 1955;
B  
postponed - Scotland March 1955; one appearance - West Germany March 1955
under 23  
unofficial- England over30's 6 May 1955;

 Club: Coventry City F.C. - five full appearances (450 min) 5ᵍᵃ manager: Walter Winterbottom - five full appearances (450 min) 5ᵍᵃx
 
apps match pic match details comp res. rundown shirt
 
295 15 May 1955 - France 1 England 0, Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir, Paris
tour
AL
unused sub
296 18 May 1955 - Spain 1 England 1, Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid AD
297 22 May 1955 - Portugal 3 England 1, Estádio do FC Porto, Oporto AL
   

under 23  
one appearance - Denmark September 1955
B  
withdrew substitute - Yugoslavia October 1955

301 30 November 1955 - England 4 Spain 1, Empire Stadium, Wembley Fr HW unused sub

Age 23 under 23  
one appearance - Scotland February 1956
B  
two appearances - Scotland February 1956, Switzerland March 1956

1 302 14 April 1956 - Scotland 1 England 1
Hampden Park, Glasgow
BC AD cs: 69min 1
ᵍᵃ10yd lob

The 754th player to appear for England.
the first Coventry City player to represent England
the 76th goalkeeper to represent England

2 303 9 May 1956 - England 4 Brazil 2
Empire Stadium, Wembley
Fr HW cs: 74min 1
ᵍᵃog & 20yd
3 304 16 May 1956 - Sweden 0 England 0
Råsunda Fotbollstadion, Solna

tour
AD   1
305 20 May 1956 - Finland 1 England 5, Olympiastadion, Helsinki AW injured party
member
4 306 26 May 1956 - West Germany 1 England 3
Olympiastadion, Berlin
AW cs: 209min 1
ᵍᵃshot
5 307 6 October 1956 - Northern Ireland 1 England 1
Windsor Park, Belfast
BC AD   1
ᵍᵃ16yd volley
  


 Club: Chelsea F.C. - no full appearances  

Age 24
312 8 May 1957 - England 5 Republic of Ireland 2, Empire Stadium, Wembley
WCP
HW
reserve
313 15 May 1957 - Denmark 1 England 4, Idrætsparken, København AW
314 19 May 1957 - Republic of Ireland 1 England 1, Dalymount Park, Dublin AD
   

317 27 November 1957 - England 4 France 0, Empire Stadium, Wembley Fr HW reserve
  

Age 25
319 7 May 1958 - England 2 Portugal 1, Empire Stadium, Wembley Fr HW party member
England's selectors announced their forty-man squad from whom the final 22 would be selected, on April 22 1958. Of the 18 players who were cut from the squad on 28 May, they included Reg Matthews.



  

 
cg