Matthew William Jay(born 27 February 1996) is an English professionalfootballerwho plays as anattacking midfielderforEFL League TwoclubColchester United.

Matt Jay
Personal information
Full name Matthew William Jay[1]
Date of birth (1996-02-27)27 February 1996(age 28)
Place of birth Torbay,England
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[2]
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Team information
Current team
Colchester United
Number 27
Youth career
2003–2013 Exeter City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2023 Exeter City 163 (41)
2014–2015Weston-super-Mare(loan) 5 (1)
2015Hayes & Yeading United(loan) 6 (2)
2016Truro City(loan) 20 (6)
2023– Colchester United 35 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 09:42, 18 September 2024 (UTC)

Early life and education

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Jay was born inTorbayinDevonand he attendedSouth Dartmoor Community Collegetogether withOllie WatkinsandJamie Reid.[3][4]

Playing career

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Exeter City

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Jay made his professional debut forExeterin a 2–0 loss toWycombe Wanderersin theFootball League TrophyatSt James Parkon 3 September 2013.[5]

On 22 November 2015, Jay joinedNational League SouthsideHayes & Yeading Unitedon a one-month loan.[6]

He scored his first goal for Exeter in anEFL Trophytie againstOxford Unitedon 30 August 2016.[7] Jay finally scored his first league goal on the 8th of April, in the 2017–18 campaign, away to Cambridge United in a game where Exeter came twice from behind to win 3–2. This came to the delight of many players and fans alike following a run of impressive games starting and from the bench.[8][9]

In 2021, Jay scored his first career hat trick in a 4–0 victory againstLeyton Orient.[10]After a month in which he scored five goals and got one assist, Jay received theLeague Two Player of the Monthaward for March 2021.[11]At the end of the 2020–21 season, he was named as the Devon side's Player of the Season,[12]and on 29 April 2021 was named in the2020–21 EFL League Two Team of the Seasonat the league's annual awards ceremony.[13]

Jay was awarded the Exeter captaincy following the departure ofJake Taylorin the summer of 2021 and was given the number 7 shirt. He continued his goalscoring form into the 2021–22 season, netting 16 times in all competitions. The most significant of these came in a 2–1 home win overBarrow,where he scored a late winner, chesting the ball down from aJosh Keycross and slamming home through the legs ofPaul Farmanon the volley to secure his boyhood club's return toLeague Oneafter a decade in League Two.[14]

Colchester United

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On 9 January 2023, Jay signed forColchester Unitedfor an undisclosed fee.[15]

Career statistics

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As of match played on 17 September 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season Division League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Exeter City 2013–14[16] League Two 2 0 0 0 0 0 1[a] 0 3 0
2014–15[17] League Two 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
2015–16[18] League Two 0 0 0 0 0 0 1[a] 0 1 0
2016–17[19] League Two 2 0 0 0 0 0 3[b] 1 5 1
2017–18[20] League Two 17 1 1 0 1 0 4[c] 0 23 1
2018–19[21] League Two 18 4 0 0 2 0 4[b] 0 24 4
2019–20[22] League Two 14 4 2 0 1 0 6[d] 4 23 8
2020–21[23] League Two 44 18 2 1 1 0 1[b] 1 48 20
2021–22[24] League Two 45 14 3 0 1 0 2[b] 2 51 16
2022–23[25] League One 18 0 2 1 2 1 3[b] 2 25 4
Total 163 41 10 2 8 1 25 10 206 54
Weston-super-Mare(loan) 2014–15[26] Conference South 5 1 0 0 1[e] 0 6 1
Hayes & Yeading United(loan) 2015–16[26][27] National League South 6 2 0 0 2[e] 0 8 2
Truro City(loan) 2015–16[26] National League South 20 6 0 0 2[f] 0 22 6
Total 31 9 0 0 0 0 5 0 36 9
Colchester United 2022–23[25] League Two 18 0 18 0
2023–24[28] League Two 17 1 0 0 0 0 3[b] 0 20 1
2024–25[29] League Two 0 0 0 0 0 0 1[b] 0 1 0
Total 35 1 0 0 0 0 4 0 39 1
Career total 229 51 10 2 8 1 34 10 281 64
  1. ^abAppearance inFootball League Trophy
  2. ^abcdefgAppearance(s) inEFL Trophy
  3. ^Three appearances in EFL Trophy, one appearance inLeague Two play-offs
  4. ^Five appearances and four goals in EFL Trophy, one appearance in League Two play-offs
  5. ^abAppearance(s) inFA Trophy
  6. ^Appearances in theNational League South play-offs

Honours

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Exeter City

Individual

References

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  1. ^"Notification of shirt numbers: Exeter City"(PDF).English Football League. p. 26.Retrieved19 October2019.
  2. ^"Matt Jay - Midfielder - First Team - Exeter City FC".Exeter City F.C.Retrieved6 October2022.
  3. ^"From the playing fields of South Devon to England and the World Cup – star footballer Ollie does mum and family proud".Torbay Weekly.Clear Sky Publishing. 25 March 2021.Retrieved8 April2023.
  4. ^"Alumni".South Devon Community College.
  5. ^"Exeter City: Matt Jay earns first professional deal".BBC Sport. 17 December 2013.Retrieved7 May2014.
  6. ^"City youngster with York Road club for a month".Exeter City F.C. 22 November 2015.Retrieved9 December2015.
  7. ^"Oxford United 4 (T Roberts 12, Maguire pen 36, Taylor 68, MacDonald 71), Exeter City 2 (Jay 43, McAlinden 61)".Oxford Mail.30 August 2016.Retrieved31 August2016.
  8. ^"Exeter City".
  9. ^"Cambridge 2-3 Exeter: Grecians battle to victory".
  10. ^"Exeter 4–0 Leyton Orient: Matt Jay hat-trick fires Grecians to victory".
  11. ^ab"Matt Jay wins Sky Bet League Two Player of the Month!".exetercityfc.co.uk.9 April 2021.
  12. ^abClark, Daniel (8 May 2021)."Matt Jay takes home player of the year awards as he reaches his 20 goal target".DevonLive.Retrieved24 April2022.
  13. ^ab"Football Manager EFL Team of the Season line-ups announced".EFL.24 April 2022.Retrieved25 April2022.
  14. ^"Exeter City win promotion from League Two".BBC Sport.
  15. ^"Colchester sign Exeter skipper Jay until 2025".BBC Sport.9 January 2023.Retrieved9 January2023.
  16. ^"Games played by Matt Jay in 2013/2014".Soccerbase.Centurycomm.Retrieved7 May2014.
  17. ^"Games played by Matt Jay in 2014/2015".Soccerbase.Centurycomm.Retrieved28 November2015.
  18. ^"Games played by Matt Jay in 2015/2016".Soccerbase.Centurycomm.Retrieved28 November2015.
  19. ^"Games played by Matt Jay in 2016/2017".Soccerbase.Centurycomm.Retrieved31 August2016.
  20. ^"Games played by Matt Jay in 2017/2018".Soccerbase.Centurycomm.Retrieved6 March2021.
  21. ^"Games played by Matt Jay in 2018/2019".Soccerbase.Centurycomm.Retrieved6 March2021.
  22. ^"Games played by Matt Jay in 2019/2020".Soccerbase.Centurycomm.Retrieved6 March2021.
  23. ^"Games played by Matt Jay in 2020/2021".Soccerbase.Centurycomm.Retrieved6 March2021.
  24. ^"Games played by Matt Jay in 2021/2022".Soccerbase.Centurycomm.Retrieved31 December2022.
  25. ^ab"Games played by Matt Jay in 2022/2023".Soccerbase.Centurycomm.Retrieved31 December2022.
  26. ^abc"M. Jay – Summary".Soccerway.Retrieved28 November2015.
  27. ^"Hayes & Yeading Utd 2 Eastbourne Borough 2 Match Report".Hayes & Yeading United FC.Retrieved9 December2015.
  28. ^"Games played by Matt Jay in 2023/2024".Soccerbase.Centurycomm.Retrieved18 September2014.
  29. ^"Games played by Matt Jay in 2024/2025".Soccerbase.Centurycomm.Retrieved18 September2014.
  30. ^Brent Pilnick (26 April 2022)."Exeter City win promotion from League Two".BBC Sport.Retrieved29 January2023.
  31. ^"Norwich City dominate with six players in PFA Championship team of the year".BBC Sport.3 June 2021.Retrieved15 January2023.
  32. ^"Mohamed Salah and Sam Kerr win PFA player of year awards".BBC Sport.9 June 2022.Retrieved15 January2023.
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