Matthew David Blinkhorn (born 2 March 1985) is an English semi-professional footballer who plays as a striker for Lancaster City.

Matthew Blinkhorn
Blinkhorn playing for Morecambe in 2008
Personal information
Full name Matthew David Blinkhorn[1]
Date of birth (1985-03-02) 2 March 1985 (age 39)[1]
Place of birth Blackpool, England
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[1]
Position(s) Striker
Team information
Current team
Lancaster City
Youth career
–2001 Blackpool
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001–2007 Blackpool 44 (5)
2004Luton Town (loan) 2 (0)
2006–2007Bury (loan) 10 (0)
2007Morecambe (loan) 12 (8)
2007–2009 Morecambe 52 (10)
2009–2011 Sligo Rovers 72 (22)
2012 York City 15 (1)
2012–2013 Hyde 30 (7)
2013AFC Fylde (loan) 2 (1)
2013–2018 AFC Fylde ? (?)
2018– Lancaster City 36 (6)
Managerial career
2018 Lancaster City (caretaker)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 3 December 2016 (UTC)

Career

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Blackpool

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Born in Blackpool, Lancashire, Blinkhorn started his career with hometown club Blackpool.[1] He played as a substitute in the victorious 2004 Football League Trophy Final.[2] On 22 November 2006 he was loaned to Bury, but Blackpool manager Simon Grayson included a 24-hour recall clause in the contract, which began 28 days into the loan period. The loan period was due to end on 22 February 2007, but Blackpool cut it short and he returned on 9 February.

Morecambe

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He was loaned to Morecambe of the Conference National for a month on 2 March 2007.[3] Blinkhorn made an immediate impact, scoring the first goal in a 2–0 victory over St Albans City. By the end of his loan stint he had scored eight goals in 12 games.

Blinkhorn joined Morecambe on a permanent basis on 28 June 2007,[4] for a fee of tribunal-set fee of £15,000, plus 25% of any future transfer fee that Morecambe were to receive for him.[5]

Sligo Rovers

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He was released by Morecambe in May 2009, and joined League of Ireland Premier Division side Sligo Rovers two months later. He made his debut for Sligo as a substitute in a 3–0 home defeat against Cork City at the Showgrounds on 12 July and scored his first goal for the club two weeks later in a 2–0 win over St Patrick's Athletic at home.[6]

After the signing of Shamrock Rovers striker Pádraig Amond in the pre-season of 2010, Blinkhorn had to be second choice for half of the season until Amond signed for F.C. Paços de Ferreira. On 25 September 2010, Blinkhorn scored the winner for Sligo in a 1–0 win against Monaghan United in the 2010 League of Ireland Cup Final.[7] He had to sit out Sligo's penalty shoot-out win over Shamrock Rovers in the 2010 FAI Cup Final on 14 November through suspension, along with recently confirmed PFAI Player of the Year, Richie Ryan.

York City

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Following the expiration of his Sligo contract, Blinkhorn returned to England after signing for Conference Premier side York City on a contract until the end of the 2011–12 season on 10 January 2012.[8] He scored four minutes into his debut against Salisbury City in the FA Trophy second round on 14 January 2012, having entered as a 65th-minute substitute, with York's fifth goal in a 6–2 victory.[9] His first and only league goal for York came with the winner in the sixth minute of stoppage time at home to Stockport County on 18 February 2012 after heading in Jamie Reed's bicycle kick.[9][10] Having been uninvolved for York in their play-off games, which concluded with League Two promotion, Blinkhorn finished the season with two goals in 19 appearances for York.[9][11] He was released on 3 July 2012.[12]

Hyde

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After trials with Barrow and Chester, Blinkhorn signed for Conference Premier side Hyde on 17 August 2012.[13][14] He scored on his debut for the club later that day, putting Hyde into the lead in a 2–1 defeat at home to Luton Town.[15] He finished the season with Hyde having scored seven goals in 30 games.[16]

AFC Fylde

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In April 2013, he joined AFC Fylde on loan.[17] Scoring two goals in three games including the opening goal against Hednesford Town in the Northern Premier League Premier Division play-off semi-final.[17] On 25 June 2013, Blinkhorn signed a permanent one-year deal with Fylde.[18]

Lancaster City

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Blinkhorn joined Lancaster City in June 2018.[19]

Coaching

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On 29 October 2015 while playing for AFC Fylde, Blinkhorn was appointed as the Lead Foundation Coach for the academy at Blackpool.[20][21]

In August 2018, he became a youth development lead coach at Fleetwood Town.[22]

Following the resignation of Lancaster manager Phil Brown on 10 September 2018, the club appointed Blinkhorn as caretaker manager together with Craig Stanley.[23] They were in charge for 6 games.

Blinkhorn returned to Blackpool FC as the youth academy's Head of Coaching in 2020, returning as part of Ciaran Donnelly's staffing structure after spending 2 seasons at Fleetwood FC's youth academy.

Career statistics

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Blinkhorn playing for York City in 2012
As of match played 21 November 2017
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Blackpool 2001–02[24] Second Division 3 0 0 0 0 0 1[a] 0 4 0
2002–03[25] Second Division 7 2 0 0 0 0 1[a] 0 8 2
2003–04[26] Second Division 12 1 0 0 0 0 4[a] 1 16 2
2004–05[27] League One 4 0 2 0 0 0 2[a] 3 8 3
2005–06[28] League One 16 2 1 0 1 0 1[a] 1 19 3
2006–07[29] League One 2 0 0 0 0 0 1[a] 0 3 0
Total 44 5 3 0 1 0 10 5 58 10
Luton Town (loan) 2004–05[27] League One 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 0
Bury (loan) 2006–07[29] League Two 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 0
Morecambe (loan) 2006–07[29] Conference National 12 8 0 0 0 0 12 8
Morecambe 2007–08[30] League Two 41 10 1 0 2 0 5[a] 1 49 11
2008–09[31] League Two 11 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 12 0
Total 64 18 1 0 3 0 5 1 73 19
Sligo Rovers 2009[6] LOI Premier Division 17 4 1 1 ? ? ? ? 18 5
2010[6] LOI Premier Division 26 6 2 0 ? ? ? ? 28 6
2011[6][32][33] LOI Premier Division 29 12 6 0 3 0 5[b] 0 43 12
Total 72 22 9 1 3 0 5 0 89 23
York City 2011–12[9] Conference Premier 15 1 0 0 4[c] 1 19 2
Hyde 2012–13[34] Conference Premier 30 7 0 0 2[c] 0 32 7
AFC Fylde (loan) 2012–13 NPL Premier Division 3 2 0 0 0 0 3 2
AFC Fylde 2013–14 NPL Premier Division ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
2014–15[35] Conference North 18 0 0 0 1[c] 0 19 0
2015–16[35] National League North 25 2 2 0 3[c] 1 30 3
2016–17[35] 22 3 0 0 2[c] 0 24 3
2017–18[35] National League 7 0 0 0 0 0 7 0
Total 72 5 2 0 0 0 6 1 80 6
Career total 312 60 15 1 8 0 30 8 365 69

Honours

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Blackpool

Sligo Rovers

Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Appearances in Football League Trophy
  2. ^ Three appearances in Setanta Sports Cup, two in UEFA Europa League.
  3. ^ a b c d e Appearances in FA Trophy

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2009). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2009–10. Mainstream Publishing. p. 50. ISBN 978-1-84596-474-0.
  2. ^ "Blackpool 2-0 Southend". BBC. 21 March 2004. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
  3. ^ "Morecambe take Blinkhorn on loan". BBC Sport. 2 March 2007. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
  4. ^ "Blinkorn seals Morecambe switch". BBC Sport. 28 June 2007. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
  5. ^ Gillatt, Peter (30 November 2009). Blackpool FC On This Day: History, Facts and Figures from Every Day of the Year. Pitch Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-1-905411-50-4.
  6. ^ a b c d "M. Blinkhorn". Soccerway. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
  7. ^ "Sligo Rovers 1–0 Monaghan Utd". RTÉ Sport. 25 September 2010. Retrieved 26 September 2010.
  8. ^ "York City sign Matthew Blinkhorn from Sligo Rovers". BBC Sport. 10 January 2012. Retrieved 14 March 2012.
  9. ^ a b c d Appearances and goals for this season are taken from:
    "Games played by Matt Blinkhorn in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
    Flett, Dave (16 January 2012). "Match report: Salisbury City 2, York City 6 – FA Trophy round two". The Press. York. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
    Flett, Dave (27 February 2012). "Match report: Grimsby Town 0, York City 1 – FA Trophy quarter-final". The Press. York. Retrieved 10 March 2012.
    Flett, Dave (12 March 2012). "Match report: York City 1, Luton Town 0 – FA Trophy semi-final, first leg". The Press. York. Retrieved 13 March 2012.
    Flett, Dave (19 March 2012). "Match report: Luton Town 1, York City 1 – FA Trophy semi-final, second leg". The Press. York. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
  10. ^ Flett, Dave (20 February 2012). "Match report: York City 2, Stockport County 1". The Press. York. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  11. ^ Maiden, Phil (20 May 2012). "Luton 1–2 York". BBC Sport. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  12. ^ Flett, Dave (3 July 2012). "Treble joy as Blanchett, Challinor and Doig sign up for York City". The Press. York. Archived from the original on 9 December 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  13. ^ "Hyde sign former Blackpool forward Matthew Blinkhorn". BBC Sport. 17 August 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
  14. ^ Wheelock, Paul (7 August 2012). "Chester FC 1 Fleetwood Town 1: Sean Clancy nets draw for Blues". Chester Chronicle. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
  15. ^ "Hyde 1–2 Luton". BBC Sport. 17 August 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
  16. ^ "Hyde FC player appearances 2012/13". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
  17. ^ a b "Blinkhorn returns on permanent deal". Pitchero. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
  18. ^ "Matty Blinkhorn Signs Permanent Deal". AFC Fylde. Archived from the original on 22 March 2014. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
  19. ^ The Dolly Blues sign Matthew Blinkhorn!, lancastercityfc.co.uk, 8 June 2018
  20. ^ Blinkhorn On Blackpool Academy Position, blackpoolfc.co.uk, 2 February 2019
  21. ^ Blackpool tweet on official Twitter account, twitter.com, 29 September 2018
  22. ^ Club Officials and Staff – Fleetwood Town, fleetwoodtownfc.com
  23. ^ Will Stan be the man for Lancaster City: caretaker boss Craig Stanley hopes to land job on permanent basis, lancasterguardian.co.uk, 20 September 2018
  24. ^ "Games played by Matt Blinkhorn in 2001/2002". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
  25. ^ "Games played by Matt Blinkhorn in 2002/2003". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
  26. ^ "Games played by Matt Blinkhorn in 2003/2004". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
  27. ^ a b "Games played by Matt Blinkhorn in 2004/2005". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
  28. ^ "Games played by Matt Blinkhorn in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
  29. ^ a b c "Games played by Matt Blinkhorn in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
  30. ^ "Games played by Matt Blinkhorn in 2007/2008". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
  31. ^ "Games played by Matt Blinkhorn in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
  32. ^ "Sligo Rovers 3 – 2 Pike Rovers". Extratime.ie. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2012.
  33. ^ "Player Profile". Airtricity League Stats Centre. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  34. ^ Appearances and goals for this season are taken from:
    "Games played by Matt Blinkhorn in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
    "Hyde vs. Barrow 1 – 1". Soccerway. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
    "Barrow vs. Hyde 1 – 0". Soccerway. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
  35. ^ a b c d Matthew Blinkhorn at Soccerway. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  36. ^ "Blackpool 2–0 Southend". BBC Sport. 21 March 2004. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
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