Matthew Etherington

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Personal information
Matthew Etherington
Date of birth	August 14, 1981 (age 25)
Place of birth	Truro, England
Height	178cm
Nickname	Matty, Ethers
Playing position	Left midfielder / winger
Club information
Current club	West Ham United
Number	11
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1996 - 2000 2000 - 2003 2001 2003 - present	Peterborough United Tottenham Hotspur → Bradford City (loan) West Ham United	051 0(6) 045 0(1) 013 0(1) 130 (11)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:23, 4 March 2007 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Matthew Etherington (born August 14, 1981 in Truro, Cornwall) is an English football player. Etherington, a left-sided midfielder and winger, currently plays for Premier League club West Ham United, wearing squad number 11.

He began his career at Peterborough United in 1996, making a single appearance in that season. Similarly, in the 1997-98 season, he made just two appearances for the team, his breakthrough coming in the 1998-99 season, when he appeared 29 times and scored 3 goals.

Etherington appeared for the England Under-20 team at the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship, playing alongside players such as Stuart Taylor, Ashley Cole, Peter Crouch and Andy Johnson. However, the team failed to score a single goal in their three group matches, and finished bottom of their group.

He joined Tottenham Hotspur from Peterborough in January 2000, in a £700k move that saw Simon Davies join the North London club as part of the same deal. He 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.

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. He was signed from Tottenham on 8 August 2003, part of a deal that sent Fredi Kanouté the other way. Etherington has been a big hit at Upton Park, winning the "Hammer of the Year" award in his first season at the club and he played a huge part in helping the club get to the 2004 Championship play-off final by scoring one of the goals in the play-off semi final second leg of the 2-0 win over Ipswich Town which sent West Ham to the Championship play off final, however, Etherington was seen in tears at the final whistle following a 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace but his luck soon changed when he set up the goal in the 2005 play-off final against Preston North End with a perfectly timed cross which was scored by Bobby Zamora and sent West Ham back into the Premiership. He has been a regular feature for West Ham throughout their battles for promotion and, now, back in the top flight.

He has been touted as the solution to England's left-sided midfield problem, particularly by manager Alan Pardew, who stated that he "cannot think of too many English players who are ahead of Matty in that wide midfield position".^[1] However, he was not selected for England's 2006 World Cup squad; Stewart Downing was Sven-Göran Eriksson's left-footed midfielder of choice.

Off the pitch, he has had some success in the world of poker. On 1 December 2004, Etherington won first prize at the celebpoker.com Poker Classic Tournament, winning £17,000. However, his penchant for gambling has, by his own admission, developed into an addiction, and Etherington revealed he was undergoing rehabilitation at th Sporting Chance clinic in Hampshire on the 24^th of February 2007. ^[2].

His father, Peter Etherington, was commercial manager at Bradford City and in April 2006 announced an intention to buy a 50% stake in the West Yorkshire club. However, this deal fell through due to a lack of funds. He also has one daughter.