Dominic Matteo (born 28 April 1974) is a Scottish footballer. He has played most recently as a defender for Stoke City F.C., but is mostly remembered from his time at Liverpool and Leeds United. He still has cult hero status at Leeds, and Leeds fans still to this day regularly sing about his goal against AC Milan at the San Siro.

[edit] Club career

Born in Dumfries^[1] where his father ran Matthew's Cafe in Friars Vennel, Matteo started his career at Liverpool F.C., for whom he played between 1992 and 2000 (with a small Sunderland A.F.C. loan in between). He scored two goals for Liverpool, one against Southampton in the league^[2] and another against Huddersfield in the FA Cup.^[3] In August 2000 he joined Leeds United, and 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 AC Milan,^[4] 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 Besiktas.^[5]

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^[6] and Wolverhampton Wanderers.^[7] Subsequently, in July 2004 Matteo signed a three-year contract with Blackburn Rovers.^[8] 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.^[9]

In January 2007, Matteo moved to Championship side Stoke City on a free transfer, signing a short-term contract until the summer, playing a total of nine games and scoring one goal against Derby County.^[10] 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.^[11] He was made captain here, but only played sporadically for the club, his last appearance coming in November 2007. Matteo is currently studying for his Uefa coaching qualifications.^[12]

[edit] International career

Matteo won Under-21 and 'B' caps for England, but later was called up for the Scotland side, having been born and lived as a young boy in Dumfries.^[1] He went on to collect 6 caps for Scotland, making his debut against Australia in November 2000.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Liverpool historic profile
• Dominic Matteo career stats at Soccerbase