 Mills with Nottingham Forest in 2016 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Matthew Claude Mills[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 14 July 1986[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Swindon, England | ||
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)[1] | ||
| Position(s) | Centre-back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –1999 | Swindon Town | ||
| 1999–2003 | Southampton | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2003–2006 | Southampton | 4 | (0) |
| 2004 | → Coventry City (loan) | 4 | (0) |
| 2005 | → AFC Bournemouth (loan) | 12 | (3) |
| 2006–2008 | Manchester City | 2 | (0) |
| 2007 | → Colchester United (loan) | 9 | (0) |
| 2007 | → Doncaster Rovers (loan) | 14 | (2) |
| 2008 | → Doncaster Rovers (loan) | 20 | (1) |
| 2008–2009 | Doncaster Rovers | 41 | (0) |
| 2009–2011 | Reading | 61 | (4) |
| 2011–2012 | Leicester City | 25 | (1) |
| 2012–2015 | Bolton Wanderers | 87 | (6) |
| 2015–2018 | Nottingham Forest | 82 | (6) |
| 2018 | Barnsley | 4 | (0) |
| 2018–2019 | Pune City | 15 | (1) |
| 2019–2020 | Forest Green Rovers | 19 | (0) |
| Total | 399 | (24) | |
| International career | |||
| 2004–2005 | England U19 | 8 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Matthew Claude Mills (born 14 July 1986) is an English retired professional footballer who played as a defender. He spent most of his career in the English EFL Championship, in which he played for Leicester City, Reading, Bolton, Nottingham Forest, Doncaster Rovers and Barnsley. He retired from professional football in 2020.
Born in Swindon, Mills started his youth career with the academy of Swindon Town before switching to the Southampton Academy in 1999. He turned professional in 2002 and had loan stints with Coventry City and AFC Bournemouth during his time with Southampton. In 2006, Mills signed with Manchester City. However, his playing time was limited due to injuries.
After loan deals with Colchester United and Doncaster Rovers, he signed permanently with the latter in 2008. After one season, Mills joined Reading for a fee believed to be around £2 million. In May 2011, he captained the club in the Championship play-off final defeat against Swansea City, where he also found the net. After rejecting an offer from Wolverhampton Wanderers, Mills signed with Leicester City in the same year and was appointed as the club captain. In 2012, he switched to Bolton Wanderers. Mills finished third in voting for the club's player of the 2014–15 season. He switched to rival Nottingham Forest in 2015. After having spent three seasons with Forest, he joined Barnsley, Pune City and Forest Green Rovers before announcing his retirement from professional football.
Mills has been capped at the national youth level and featured eight times for the England under-19. His younger brother Joseph Mills plays for Forest Green Rovers. In February 2009, football pundit and former Leicester City player Steve Claridge described Mills' style of play as that of "an old-fashioned centre-half who relishes the physical side of the game".[2]
- ^ a b c Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2010). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2010–11. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing. p. 288. ISBN 978-1-84596-601-0.
- ^ "Scouting report: Matt Mills". The Guardian. 10 February 2009. Archived from the original on 13 March 2016. Retrieved 20 July 2013.