Matthew Briggs

Fulham

Born in Wandsworth, London, Briggs was spotted by Fulham scouts at the age of ten. Able to play at left-back or the left of midfield, Briggs became a regular in the under-18 side despite still being registered with the under-16s, having put in some impressive performances in his age group. He featured at reserve level before being called up to Lawrie Sanchez's first-team for a trip to Middlesbrough in May 2007. He made his debut in the 3–1 defeat at the Riverside Stadium on 13 May, replacing Moritz Volz after 77 minutes to become the Premier League's youngest ever player at the age of 16 years and 65 days old. After the match, the club's Head of Youth Development, John Murtough, said of Briggs:

Briggs later said of the experience:

Leyton Orient loan

On 16 January 2010, Briggs signed for League One club Leyton Orient in a one-month loan deal that would run until 13 February. He made his first professional appearance in two-and-a-half years on 19 January when he played the full 90 minutes in Orient's 2–0 home win over Yeovil Town. This was to be his only appearance of the season.

Return to Fulham

On his return to Fulham, Briggs was handed his full debut by manager Mark Hughes in Fulham's 6–0 win against Port Vale in the League Cup at Craven Cottage on 25 August 2010. He played for 58 minutes before being replaced by Stephen Kelly. In the same season, he made his first start in the Premier League during a 1–0 defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on 10 November. He played in Fulham's 2–1 defeat to Arsenal on 4 December, but was replaced by Chris Baird after just 28 minutes through injury, after which he had an operation on his calf muscles which Mark Hughes hoped Briggs would have fully recovered from in early 2011.

A troublesome ankle injury kept Briggs out of action for longer than expected, but in March 2011, he signed a contract extension to keep him with the club until the summer of 2014.

Under new manager Martin Jol, Briggs believed that the 2011–12 season would be the year that he became a regular starter for the Fulham first-team. With Jol placing an emphasis on a youthful side and Fulham competing in the UEFA Europa League through the Fair Play ranking, Briggs started in the 3–0 Europa League first qualifying round win over Faroese club NSÍ Runavík on 30 June 2011. He scored his first goal on 14 July with the opening goal in Fulham's 3–1 win over Crusaders at Seaview in Belfast.

Peterborough United loan

After Martin Jol had made Briggs available for loan in late January 2012, he joined Championship side Peterborough United on a month's loan on 7 February 2012. Immediately after making the switch, Briggs admitted that he hoped he would be able to remain with Peterborough until the end of the 2011–12 season. He made his debut on 14 February in Peterborough's 3–1 defeat away to Cardiff City. He played five games during his one-month spell at London Road.

Bristol City loan

On his return to Fulham, Briggs was told by Jol that he would have to wait his chance in the first-team owing to the form of regular left-back John Arne Riise. Both Peterborough and Watford enquired about Briggs' availability for loan, but Briggs ruled out an exit, saying that he wanted "to fight for the shirt". He started in Fulham's 3–2 defeat to Manchester United in the Premier League on 25 August, before he was loaned to Bristol City for one month on 26 October 2012. He made his debut the next day in a 2–1 home defeat to Hull City. After making four starts for the Championship club, Fulham were prepared to extend Briggs' loan provided the club didn't suffer a further injury crisis, but he instead returned to his parent club after his loan expired.

Watford loan

Watford signed Briggs on loan until the end of the season on 1 March 2013. He made his debut on 9 March in Watford's 2–1 home defeat by Blackpool. He scored his first professional league goal while with Watford, scoring the final goal in their 4–0 win over Blackburn Rovers on 20 April at Vicarage Road.

Briggs helped Watford reach the play-offs, where he played in both legs of the 3–2 aggregate win over Leicester City, taking the club to Wembley for the final. However, Briggs was an unused substitute as Watford were beaten 1–0 by Crystal Palace, denying them promotion to the Premier League. He made nine appearances for Watford during his loan stay.

After his Watford loan came to an end, Martin Jol planned to loan out Briggs across the course of the 2013–14 season. He made what was to be his last appearance for Fulham on 31 August when he came on as a second-half substitute for Sascha Riether at St James' Park. In a season which Briggs described as "massive for me", he suffered an injury setback, requiring a hernia operation in September 2013.

At the end of the 2013–14 season when Fulham were relegated to the Championship, Briggs was released from the club alongside eight other players.

Millwall

Briggs joined Championship club Millwall on trial in July 2014. He featured in a friendly against Dartford as manager Ian Holloway decided whether to make a move for the player. He also played in a 2–2 friendly draw with Stevenage, while Holloway said that "Briggs is growing on me". Briggs initially rejected the contract offered by Millwall, instead holding talks with Blackpool over a move. He decided against joining Blackpool, and instead signed a one-year deal with Millwall on 1 August 2014. Briggs revealed that his agent had also spoken to Blackburn Rovers and also received a contract offer from Huddersfield Town after spending a few days with the club. He added that his decision was swayed because he "wanted to stay in London as my friends and family are here".

Briggs made his debut on 12 August 2014 at The Den in a League Cup match against Wycombe Wanderers. It was a mixed game for Briggs, scoring on his debut to hand Millwall a 1–0 win, but he was sent off for a second bookable offence after 59 minutes. However, after making his debut, his opportunities in the first-team became limited, with Holloway making changes to his starting line-up, making just 12 appearances from his debut to the middle of January 2015.

Colchester United loan

On 22 January 2015, Briggs joined League One club Colchester United on loan until the end of the season. He went straight into Colchester's starting line-up in their 2–0 win against Leyton Orient at the Colchester Community Stadium on 24 January. While playing for Colchester, Briggs received a call-up to the Guyana squad to face Grenada in a friendly. Before making his international debut, Briggs was sent-off for the second time in the 2014–15 season when he received a second yellow card during Colchester's 2–2 away draw with Gillingham on 21 March. He made 18 appearances for the U's in the closing stages of the season as he helped the club remain in League One for another season, fending off relegation with a final day victory over promotion hopefuls Preston North End.

Following the expiry of his contract with Millwall, Briggs was released at the end of the 2014–15 season.

Colchester United

Colchester United signed Briggs on a permanent basis on 22 June 2015. He signed a two-year contract with the club following his loan spell at the end of the 2014–15 season. He made his second debut for the club in their 2–2 opening day draw with Blackpool on 8 August, playing 79 minutes before being replaced by Kane Vincent-Young. He finished his first full season with the club with 32 first-team appearances to his name.

A hip injury ahead of the 2016–17 season forced Briggs to undergo surgery which would leave him out of action for several months. He made a return to competitive action on 4 February 2017 in Colchester's 1–1 draw at Blackpool. Despite his injury, Briggs finished the campaign with 15 League Two appearances to his name.

On the expiry of his contract, he was not offered a new deal by Colchester and released on 10 May 2017.

In July 2017, Briggs joined Lincoln City on trial.

International career

Briggs is eligible to play for both England and Guyana. He qualifies to play for Guyana through his grandmother.

England under-16

Briggs was first called up to the England under-16 squad on 9 November 2006, where he played in England's 3–0 win over Northern Ireland in the Victory Shield. This was his only game for the under-16 side.

England under-17

Briggs played the first of 13 appearances for the England under-17s on 8 April 2007 during a 4–1 away win over their Norwegian counterparts. In his 13 games for the under-17s, he featured in sides that won seven, drew five and lost only once, with his final appearance in the age group against Israel on 30 March 2008, a game which ended 2–2.

England under-19

Briggs made his debut for the under-19s on 13 October 2008 in a 4–1 European Under-19 Championship qualification defeat by Serbia at The Showgrounds in Newry, Northern Ireland. Briggs was a key member of England's squad that reached the tournament final in Donetsk, Ukraine in 2009. He was a late addition to the squad, having to fly back from Fulham's pre-season tour of Australia to link up with his teammates in Ukraine.

Ahead of the tournament, Briggs had made a substitute appearance in England's 2–1 elite qualification win over Scotland on 1 June 2009 at Bramall Lane, Sheffield. He started in all of England's game en route to the final, including England's 1–1 Group A draw with Switzerland on 21 July, the 2–2 draw with Ukraine on 24 July, and he scored in their 7–1 thrashing of Slovenia on 27 July to secure their place in the semi-final with France. He played in the 3–1 victory on 30 July which put England in the final, which saw a rematch with Ukraine. England finished as runners-up to Ukraine after they were beaten 2–0 in Donetsk.

Briggs made further appearances for the under-19s in the 2010 elite qualifying round in the 1–0 win over Republic of Ireland in Kiev on 26 May 2010, and the 1–1 draw with Ukraine in Borodyanka on 31 May 2010. Briggs played only once in the finals held in France, starting in England's 3–2 win against Austria on 18 July in Flers, Orne. This was to be his final appearance for the under-19s.

England under-20

In September 2009, Briggs travelled with the under-20 team for the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Egypt. He made his debut in the starting line-up of England's 1–0 defeat to Uruguay on 26 September in Ismaïlia. He made his second and final appearance on 2 October in the 1–1 draw with Uzbekistan in Suez.

England under-21

Briggs played in two 2013 European Under-21 Championship Group 8 qualifiers in 2011, the first of which was a 6–0 win at Vicarage Road over Azerbaijan on 1 September, and his second and last England under-21 appearance came at Laugardalsvöllur in Reykjavík as England beat Iceland 3–0.

Guyana

Briggs was called up by the Guyana national team in March 2015 ahead of their friendlies against Saint Lucia and Grenada. He made his full international debut 29 March 2015 as the Golden Jaguars beat Grenada 2–0.

Career statistics

Honours