 Rhead playing forMansfield Town in 2013 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Matthew James Rhead[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1984-05-31)31 May 1984 (age 41) | ||
| Place of birth | Stoke-on-Trent, England | ||
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)[2] | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Kidsgrove Athletic (joint player-manager) | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 20??–2004 | Norton United | ||
| 2004–2007 | Kidsgrove Athletic | ||
| 2007–2009 | Eastwood Town | 37 | (13) |
| 2008 | →Kidsgrove Athletic (loan) | ||
| 2009–2010 | Nantwich Town | 17 | (7) |
| 2009–2010 | Congleton Town | ||
| 2010–2011 | Eastwood Town | 37 | (13) |
| 2011–2012 | Corby Town | 22 | (8) |
| 2012–2015 | Mansfield Town | 120 | (15) |
| 2015–2019 | Lincoln City | 161 | (43) |
| 2019 | Billericay Town | 11 | (2) |
| 2020–2021 | Boreham Wood | 32 | (1) |
| 2021–2024 | Alfreton Town | 80 | (25) |
| 2024– | Kidsgrove Athletic | 20 | (6) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2025– | Kidsgrove Athletic (joint player-manager) | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 18:36, 11 February 2025 (UTC) | |||
Matthew James Rhead (born 31 May 1984) is an English professionalfootballer who plays as aforward forNorthern Premier League Division One West clubKidsgrove Athletic where he holds the role of joint player-manager.
He notably spent two successful professional spells with bothMansfield Town andLincoln City where he won promotion to theFootball League with both and saw further success with The Imps that yielded anEFL Trophy triumph and later theEFL League Two title. Prior to his time at Mansfield he had come up through Non-League football and had played forNorton United,Kidsgrove Athletic,Eastwood Town,Nantwich Town,Congleton Town andCorby Town. Following his release from Lincoln he has returned to playing at a semi-professional level and has turned out for bothBillericay Town andBoreham Wood.
Rhead, age 41, was born inStoke-on-Trent and played for nearby non-league sidesNorton United and Stallington[3] before joiningKidsgrove Athletic ahead of the 2004–2005 season.[4] He moved on to joinEastwood Town, making a goal scoring debut in the club's 2–3 home defeat toMatlock Town on 16 October 2007.[5] The fee was a record for the two clubs and Rhead would end the season as Eastwood's top goalscorer of the season having netted 17 goals from 26 starts.[6] At the end of September 2008, he rejoinedKidsgrove Athletic on a month's loan[7] but with the loan restricting him only to league games, he started only a single game before returning to Eastwood at the end of the loan period.[8] He departed Eastwood to joinNantwich Town for the start of the 2009–2010 season[9] before joiningCongleton Town on an initial month's loan, making a goalscoring debut in the club's draw withSquires Gate on 12 December 2009;[10] after a month's loan he agreed terms to join the club on a permanent basis until the end of the 2009–10 season.[11] Having been invited for pre-season training withEastwood Town[12] he rejoined the club he had first joined for £4000 from Kidsgrove back in October 2007.[13] He joinedCorby Town fromEastwood Town in June 2011.[14][15]
He signed forMansfield Town in January 2012, and scored two goals in 17 games in the 2011–12 season. In July 2012, he quit his job as a team leader atJCB to become a full-time professional footballer.[16] He then scored five goals in 37 games in the2012–13 campaign as the "Stags" won promotion intothe Football League as champions of theConference Premier.
Rhead signed a two-year contract withLincoln City on 14 May 2015.[17] The following year he handed in a transfer request and was set to joinBarrow, but the arrival ofDanny Cowley as Lincoln manager persuaded him to stay at the club,[18] and he finished the 2016-17 season as Lincoln's top scorer as they won the National League.[19] The same year he, played an important part in Lincoln's record-breaking run to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup,[20] gaining fame whenJoey Barton took a dive in an attempt to get him sent off during Lincoln's win atBurnley.[21]
Following two promotions from theNational League toLeague One with Lincoln City, Rhead began to find his opportunities at Lincoln decreasing, and on 25 July 2019, Rhead signed forBillericay Town on a two-year deal for an undisclosed fee.[22] On 16 October 2019, after only two months with the club, Rhead departed after the club's chairman and director resigned.[23]
On 2 July 2021, Rhead joinedAlfreton Town following his departure from Boreham Wood.[24] Matt Rhead, dubbed 'Rheady' quickly became a fan favourite at the Impact Arena due to the desire and passion he displayed. The striker was awarded with the Supporters' Player of the Year Award following the conclusion of the 2021/22 campaign. The following season, 2022/23, Matt Rhead captained his side to a fifth placed finish, this put Alfreton into the playoffs in which they lost 1-0 to Kidderminster Harriers.
Following Rhead's release from Alfreton in 2024, he returned toKidsgrove Athletic where he played 20 years prior. He scored his first goal back at 'The Grove' a month later in a 2-1 defeat toBelper Town in the FA Trophy.
In February 2025, Rhead was appointed joint player-manager of Kidsgrove Athletic alongsideTom Pope until the end of the season.[25]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Eastwood Town | 2008–09 | Conference North | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 2010–11 | Conference North | 37 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3[a] | 1 | 40 | 14 | |
| Total | 37 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 42 | 14 | ||
| Corby Town | 2011–12[27] | Conference North | 22 | 8 | 6 | 4 | — | 2[a] | 1 | 30 | 13 | |
| Mansfield Town | 2011–12[28] | Conference Premier | 15 | 2 | — | — | 2[b] | 0 | 17 | 2 | ||
| 2012–13[28] | Conference Premier | 33 | 4 | 5 | 1 | — | 2[a] | 0 | 40 | 5 | ||
| 2013–14[28] | League Two | 40 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42 | 6 | |
| 2014–15[28] | League Two | 32 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[c] | 0 | 36 | 3 | |
| Total | 120 | 15 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 135 | 16 | ||
| Lincoln City | 2015–16[28] | National League | 43 | 20 | 3 | 3 | — | 1[a] | 0 | 47 | 23 | |
| 2016–17[28] | National League | 43 | 14[d] | 9 | 0 | — | 4[a] | 0 | 56 | 14 | ||
| 2017–18[28] | League Two | 43 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5[c] | 1 | 50 | 9 | |
| 2018–19[28] | League Two | 34 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4[c] | 1 | 43 | 3 | |
| Total | 163 | 43 | 16 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 196 | 49 | ||
| Billericay Town | 2019-20 | National League South | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 2 |
| Boreham Wood | 2019–20 | National League | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2[e] | 1 | 7 | 1 | |
| 2020–21 | National League | 27 | 1 | 4 | 1 | — | 1[a] | 0 | 32 | 2 | ||
| Total | 32 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 39 | 3 | ||
| Alfreton Town | 2021–22 | National League North | 47 | 14 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | |
| Career total | 432 | 97 | 37 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 27 | 5 | 455 | 99 | ||
Mansfield Town
Lincoln City
