Matt Sargent

Matthew Rhys Sargent (born 24 July 2001) is a Welsh footballer who plays as a midfielder for National League North club Radcliffe.

Matt Sargent

Personal information
Full name	Matthew Rhys Sargent
Date of birth	(2001-07-24) 24 July 2001 (age 23)
Place of birth	Bodelwyddan, Wales
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Radcliffe
Youth career
2012–2018	Wrexham
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2018–2020	Wrexham	1	(0)
2019–2020	→ Airbus (loan)	17	(1)
2020–2023	Salford City	0	(0)
2020	→ Widnes (loan)	3	(1)
2021	→ Matlock Town (loan)	5	(0)
2022	→ Ashton United (loan)	7	(0)
2022	→ Chester (loan)	11	(1)
2022	→ Buxton (loan)	10	(0)
2023	→ Warrington Rylands	10	(3)
2023–	Radcliffe	30	(4)
International career
2017	Wales U16	1	(0)
2017	Wales U17	5	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18:30, 11 September 2024 (UTC)

A product of the Wrexham academy, he made his first team debut in 2018, and the following season spent time on loan at Cymru Premier team Airbus. Following his release by Wrexham in 2020, he joined Salford City. During his time at Salford, he has been loaned out to non-league clubs Widnes, Matlock Town, Ashton United and Chester. Internationally, Sargent has represented Wales at youth level, making a total of three appearances in 2017 for the U16 and U17 sides.

Career

Club career

Born in Bodelwyddan, Wales, Sargent is a product of the Wrexham academy, having joined aged 11 from Accrington Stanley.^[1] His first appearance at youth level came in October 2016 in the Football League Youth Alliance, and he scored his first goal in January 2018.^[2] Sargent made his Wrexham senior debut on 15 December of the same year, coming on as a late substitute in the 3–0 first round win in the FA Trophy against Boston United.^[3] His league debut came on the final day of the 2018–19 National League regular season, starting in a 2–1 win against Harrogate Town at the age of 17.^[4] Wrexham manager Bryan Hughes praised Sargent for his performance, describing it as "magnificent" and that he "didn't look out of place".^[5][6]

On 9 May, he signed his first professional contract, a one-year deal following the completion of his scholarship,^[7] and said Hughes' faith gave him confidence to progress.^[8] During pre-season of the 2019–20 season, Sargent was told by Hughes he had every chance of making it as a Wrexham first-team player,^[9] but in August was loaned out to Cymru Premier team Airbus until January.^[10] On 18 September, he received a red card for a bad tackle during a defeat to Barry Town United,^[11] and subsequently missed three games.^[12] Sargent returned to Wrexham when his loan deal ended in January 2020,^[13] and was released at the end of his contract in June.^[14]

He signed for EFL League Two team Salford City in October of their 2020–21 season, and moved on loan to Widnes of the Northern Premier League Division One West in the same month, making his debut on 24 October as a substitute in a 1–1 with Trafford.^[15] His first goal for the club came a week later, scoring the only goal of the game against Mossley at the DCBL Stadium,^[16] described by The Non-League Paper as a "thunderbolt".^[17] Upon returning to Salford, he made his debut on 8 December in the EFL Trophy second round fixture against the Leicester City Under-21 team, in which Salford were eliminated from the competition on penalties following a 3–3 draw.^[18] On 8 October 2021, having made two further appearances in the EFL Trophy during the 2021–22 season, he was loaned out to Matlock Town of the Northern Premier League.^[19] Sargent made his debut for The Gladiators the following day, starting the game against Atherton Collieries in midfield until being substituted in the 54th minute of an eventual 2–1 defeat.^[20]

In January 2022, he joined Ashton United on loan.^[21] He followed this up with another loan spell, joining Chester in mid-March.^[22] He scored on his debut for the club, just 87 seconds into his first game as the club beat Kettering Town 4–0 on 19 March.^[23]

In October 2022, he joined Buxton on loan.

Sargent was released by Salford at the end of the 2022–23 season.^[24] Following his departure, he joined Northern Premier League Premier Division club Radcliffe.^[25]

International career

Internationally, Sargent has represented Wales at youth level for the U16 and U17 teams, both during 2017. He made his first and only appearance for the U16's on 30 April, starting in a 1–1 draw with San Marino.^[26] In September, Sargent was called up for the Wales U17 double-header in Llanelli against Scotland,^[27] and started the first of the two games, a 2–0 defeat.^[28] The following month, he was called up for the 2018 UEFA European Under-17 Championship qualification matches against Hungary, Kosovo, and Netherlands, starting the match against Kosovo.^[29]

Career statistics

As of 11 September 2024

Club	Season	League			Natioanl Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Wrexham	2018–19[30]	National League	1	0	0	0	—		1[a]	0	2	0
	2019–20[31]	National League	0	0	0	0	—		0	0	0	0
	Total		1	0	0	0	—		1	0	2	0
Airbus (loan)	2019–20[32]	Cymru Premier	17	1	0	0	—		0	0	17	1
Salford City	2020–21[33]	League Two	0	0	0	0	0	0	1[b]	0	1	0
	2021–22[34]	League Two	0	0	0	0	0	0	2[b]	0	2	0
	2022–23[35]	League Two	0	0	0	0	0	0	1[b]	0	1	0
	Total		0	0	0	0	—		4	0	4	0
Widnes (loan)	2020–21[36]	NPL Division One North	3	1	0	0	—		0	0	3	1
Matlock Town (loan)	2021–22[37]	NPL Premier Division	5	0	0	0	—		3[a]	1	8	1
Ashton United (loan)	2021–22[38]	NPL Premier Division	7	0	0	0	—		0	0	7	0
Chester (loan)	2021–22[39]	National League North	11	1	0	0	—		0	0	11	1
Buxton (loan)	2022–23[40]	National League North	10	0	3	0	—		1[a]	0	14	0
Warrington Rylands (loan)	2022–23[41]	NPL Premier Division	10	3	—		—		0	0	10	3
Radcliffe	2023–24[42]	NPL Premier Division	22	4	0	0	—		3[c]	1	25	5
	2024–25	National League North	29	2	5	0	—		0	0	34	2
	Total		51	6	0	0	—		3	1	59	7
Career totals			115	12	8	0	0	0	12	2	135	14

1. Appearance(s) in FA Trophy
2. Appearance(s) in EFL Trophy
3. Two appearances in FA Trophy, one appearance and one goal in Lancashire FA Challenge Trophy

References

1. Meijer, Lars (30 March 2020). "Interview - Matthew Sargent". MTAG. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
2. "Matty Sargent Player Profile". Wrexham A.F.C. Archive. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
3. Phillips, Terry (16 December 2018). "Wrexham Earn Place In FA Trophy Second Round Draw". Dai Sport. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
4. Williams, Richard (27 April 2019). "Wrexham AFC 2 Harrogate Town 1". The Leader. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
5. Williams, Richard (1 May 2019). "Wrexham AFC boss Bryan Hughes welcomes having plenty of options for the play-offs". The Leader. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
6. Griffiths, Rob (28 April 2019). "Wrexham AFC boss delighted to give 'outstanding' youth prospects a chance". Daily Post. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
7. Williams, Richard (9 May 2019). "Matty Sargent and Jack Thorn sign their first professional contracts at Wrexham AFC". The Leader. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
8. Williams, Richard (12 June 2019). "Wrexham AFC first year pro Matty Sargent hungry for more senior action after making the breakthrough". The Leader. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
9. Williams, Richard (13 July 2019). "Wrexham AFC manager Bryan Hughes would not be afraid to turn to young duo". The Leader. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
10. Norris, Tom (11 August 2019). "Wrexham send Matty Sargent and Jack Thorn on-loan to Cymru Premier duo Airbus and Newtown". The Leader. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
11. "Barry back on top after victory at Airbus". The Barry GEM. 18 September 2019. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
12. "Loan watch: Sargent To Miss Three Games". Wrexham A.F.C. 23 September 2019. Archived from the original on 25 November 2020. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
13. Jones, Jordan (7 February 2020). "January transfer window – latest news and transfers". Y Clwb Pêl-droed. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
14. Jones, Dafydd (1 July 2020). "Former Cymru Premier quartet released by Wrexham". Y Clwb Pêl-droed. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
15. Chadwick, Callum (24 October 2020). "Report: Trafford 1-1 Widnes". Widnes F.C. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
16. Chadwick, Callum (31 October 2020). "Report: Widnes 1-0 Mossley". Widnes F.C. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
17. Chadwick, Callum (31 October 2020). "Matt Sargent'S 51st-minute thunderbolt sent Widnes to victory over Mossley". The Non-League Paper. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
18. Moorcroft, Will (8 December 2020). "Reaction: Salford City 3-3 Leicester City U21s (5-6 on penalties)". Salford City F.C. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
19. Richardson, Ian (8 October 2021). "Sargent Signs On Loan From Salford". Matlock Town F.C. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
20. "Atherton Collieries 2-1 Matlock Town FC - match report". Matlock Town F.C. 9 October 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
21. "Double Signing". Twitter. Ashton United FC. 19 January 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
22. Baggaley, Michael (18 March 2022). "Chester FC boss Steve Watson makes double signing ahead of Kettering game". Cheshire Live. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
23. "Chester 4-0 Kettering Town". Chester FC.
24. "Retained and Released list". salfordcityfc.co.uk. 25 May 2023. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
25. "Matt Sargent arrives at the Neuven Stadium". www.radcliffefc.com. 25 May 2023. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
26. "Under 16: San Marino v Wales". Dragon Soccer. 16 April 2017. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
27. "Wales U17 set for two friendlies in Llanelli". FAW Cymru. 12 September 2017. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
28. "Wales U17s suffer defeat against Scotland". FAW Cymru. 20 September 2017. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
29. "Under 17: UEFA Qualifying matches". Dragon Soccer. 4 October 2017. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
30. "Wrexham – Appearances – Matthew Sargent". Football Web Pages. 1 October 2021. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
31. "Wrexham – Appearances – Matthew Sargent". Football Web Pages. 1 October 2021. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
32. "Matthew Sargent - stats and career". FotMob. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
33. "Salford City – Appearances – Matthew Sargent". Football Web Pages. 1 October 2021. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
34. "Salford City – Appearances – Matthew Sargent". Football Web Pages. 1 October 2021. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
35. "Salford City – Appearances – Matthew Sargent". Football Web Pages. 1 January 2023. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
36. "Widnes – Appearances – Matthew Sargent". Football Web Pages. 1 October 2021. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
37. "Matlock Town – Appearances – Matthew Rhys Sargent". Football Web Pages. 1 October 2021. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
38. "Ashton United – Appearances – Matthew Rhys Sargent". Football Web Pages. 3 August 2023. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
39. "Goal – Appearances – Matthew Rhys Sargent". Goal Web Pages. 1 January 2023. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
40. "Buxton FC – Appearances – Matthew Rhys Sargent". Goal Web Pages. 1 January 2023. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
41. "Warrington Rylands – Appearances – Matthew Sargent". Football Web Pages. 3 August 2023. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
42. https://www.footballwebpages.co.uk/radcliffe/appearances/2023-2024/matt-sargent/954199

External links

• Matt Sargent at Soccerbase
• Matt Sargent at Soccerway