Dominic Matteo

Dominic Matteo (born 28 April 1974) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a defender and midfielder in a 17-year professional career from 1992 to 2009.

He made a total of 366 league and cup appearances, of which 276 were in the Premier League.

Matteo played for Liverpool, Sunderland, Leeds United, Blackburn Rovers and Stoke City.

His most notable individual moment was his goal in the Champions League against A.C. Milan.

Dominic Matteo was born in Dumfries on 28 April 1974.

His birth mother, Margaret, was a 17-year-old pupil when she fell pregnant, naming him Stephen.

Very young and without an income, she made "the most difficult decision of my life" in putting him up for adoption, being persuaded that it was the best decision by the adoption agency when told about his adoptive parents.

Matteo's adoptive father, who "wanted his boy to play like Cesare Maldini", ran Matthew's Cafe in Friars Vennel.

His adoptive father had Italian heritage and was a keen follower of European football.

The family moved to Southport in late 1978.

His adoptive parents, Albert and Marie, only told him when he was seven years old that he was adopted, along with his older brother.

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.

He progressed to a YTS contract at the age of 16.

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.

However, he impressed enough to win a one-year professional contract at the age of 18.

He then signed a new two-year contract in 1993.

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.

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.

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.

He scored two goals for Liverpool, one against Southampton in the Premier League and another against Huddersfield Town in the FA Cup.

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 in August 2000.

He made 155 appearances and scored two goals for Liverpool.

In August 2000 he joined Leeds United despite failing his medical with the club.

He made his team debut against A.C. Milan the following month, in a UEFA Champions League contest.

He was one of Leeds' best players through their 2000–01 Champions League campaign, in which they achieved a semi-final place.

He is fondly remembered by Leeds fans especially for the goal he scored at the San Siro against Milan, 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.

When Rio Ferdinand moved to Manchester United in the summer of 2002, Matteo was handed team captaincy.

Leeds were relegated at the end of 2003–04, despite Matteo's two goals against Fulham and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

In July 2004, Matteo signed a three-year contract with Blackburn Rovers.

He made his Blackburn debut against West Bromwich Albion in a 1–1 draw.

He scored his first and only goal for Blackburn in a 3–0 win over Colchester United in the FA Cup.

In January 2007, Matteo moved to Championship side Stoke City on a free transfer.

Signing a short-term contract until the summer, he played a total of 10 games and scoring one goal against Derby County.

The latter part of his career was increasingly affected by injuries, which led to his retirement in 2009 at the age of 35.

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."

He struggled with gambling addictions and was declared bankrupt in 2015.

He was capped six times by Scotland after originally representing England at under-21 and 'B' team level.