Matthew Etherington

Matthew Etherington (born 14 August 1981) is an English professional football manager and former player who is currently Under-21 lead coach at Colchester United.

As a player, Etherington played as a winger, most notably in the Premier League for Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United and Stoke City.

Born in Truro, Cornwall, Etherington began his footballing career at Peterborough United and was a stand-out performer for the Posh, which attracted the attention of Premier League clubs.

He made his debut in the Football League aged 15 years and 262 days in a 2–1 win at Brentford on 3 May 1997.

He made a further two appearances in the following season but made his breakthrough into the first team in 1998–99 when he made 33 appearances in all competitions, scoring three goals.

He went on trial at Manchester United in July 1999, but at the end of December 1999, he joined Tottenham Hotspur in a deal that valued him at £500,000.

He made a total of 58 appearances for Peterborough in all competitions, scoring six goals.

Etherington joined Tottenham in a move that saw Simon Davies join the North London club as part of the same deal.

Having only started five Premier League matches since arriving from Peterborough in 1999, he handed in a transfer request in June 2002, saying he decided his career would be best served away from Spurs.

He joined Tottenham Hotspur in 2000, along with Simon Davies.

Etherington struggled to establish himself during his three-year stint at Spurs and, in 2001, spent two months on loan to Bradford City, where he made 13 appearances and scored one goal, against Watford.

However, no transfer was forthcoming, and he broke into the first team during the 2002–03 season, when he made 25 appearances.

despite a lay-off with an ankle injury.

He scored his first Premier League goal in a 2–2 draw with Everton on 17 August 2002.

He struggled at Tottenham and left for West Ham United in 2003.

At the East London club, Etherington showed his true form and became a vital player for the Hammers.

In August 2003, Etherington joined West Ham United in an exchange deal plus cash for Frédéric Kanouté amid a formal complaint made to the FA by Peterborough at the valuation placed on Etherington, who would have benefited from a sell-off clause had it been greater than £500,000, the price at which Peterborough sold Etherington to Tottenham in 1999.

Etherington made 51 appearances for Tottenham, 28 of these as a substitute, scoring two goals against Bolton Wanderers in the FA Cup and Everton in the Premier League.

Etherington joined West Ham at the beginning of their two-year spell in the second-tier of English football, playing the final season of the First Division and the first of the Championship.

Signed by manager Glenn Roeder, he was part of a transfer deal which saw West Ham player Frédéric Kanouté move to Tottenham and Etherington and £3.5 million coming to West Ham.

Etherington's West Ham debut came on 9 August 2003 as he created the chance for David Connolly to score West Ham's winning goal in a 2–1 away win at Preston North End.

His opening goal came just over a month later, on 16 September 2003.

Now under the managership of Trevor Brooking, following the sacking of Glenn Roeder, West Ham beat Crewe Alexandra 3–0 at Gresty Road in the first ever Football League meeting between the clubs, with Etherington scoring the third goal.

He was a regular member of the team for seasons 2003–04, 2004–05 and 2005–06, his appearances being more sporadic in the following three seasons.

Etherington eventually lost his place in the starting XI due to Gianfranco Zola's preference to play younger players.

His only red card during his West Ham career was in a 1–1 away draw with Norwich City on 21 February 2004 when he was sent off for two bookable offences.

Etherington was a hit at Upton Park, scoring several goals including a hat-trick in a 5–0 win over Wimbledon on 9 March 2004.

He won the "Hammer of the Year" award in his first season at the club and played a significant part in helping the club get to the 2004 Championship play-off final by scoring in the 2–0 win over Ipswich Town in the second leg of the play-off semi-final.

Etherington played in the final as West Ham lost 1–0 to Crystal Palace.

The following year, West Ham reached the play-off final again, with Etherington setting up the goal in the final against Preston North End with a perfectly timed cross which was scored by Bobby Zamora, which sent West Ham back into the Premier League.

In 2005–06, West Ham made the FA Cup Final before losing on penalties to Liverpool.

Etherington scored in the 4–2, fourth round win against Blackburn Rovers and played in the final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff in May 2005.

However, he had personal problems related to an addiction to gambling and in 2009 was sold by manager Gianfranco Zola to fellow Premier League side Stoke City.

At Stoke, Etherington became a vital member of the side under manager Tony Pulis, winning the player of the year award for the 2009–10 season and also played in the 2011 FA Cup Final.

He completed 195 games for West Ham, in all competitions, scoring 18 goals, before being sold to Stoke City on 8 January 2009.

On 8 January 2009, Etherington completed a transfer, thought to be for £2 million, from West Ham United to Stoke City, signing a three-and-a-half-year contract.

He made his debut for Stoke two days after his transfer, against Liverpool in the Premier League, in a match which finished goalless.

He was sent off in his fifth game with Stoke for kicking out at Danny Collins as his side lost 2–0 to Sunderland.

Etherington remained a regular under Pulis in 2011–12 and 2012–13 before he was released by Mark Hughes at the end of the 2013–14 season.

Born in Truro, Cornwall, Etherington came through the youth ranks at Peterborough United after being spotted by Barry Fry playing for Falmouth Town under-14s.