Spring: Matthew John (Matthew)

2004-2005 (Player Details)

Midfield

Born: Harlow: 17-11-1979

Debut v Plymouth Argyle (a): 14-09-2004

6’0” 11st 5lb (2007)

A star of the Luton Town youth team that reached the FA Youth Cup semi-final in 1997, Spring came through the youth ranks at Luton and made two hundred and fifty League appearances, scoring twenty-six goals for the Hatters in his first spell at Kenilworth Road. He made his debut in a 0-3 loss at Bristol City in 1997-98. During his first spell, he had an eventful home debut against Plymouth Argyle, in a welcome 3-0 win, which ended an eleven game winless streak for the club. However, the normally controlled midfielder was sent off late in the game for an impetuous tackle and was used sparingly for the remainder of the season. He was voted Luton’s joint ‘Young Player of the Year’ for 1997-98. He made an amazing fifty-two appearances in all competitions for Luton in the 1998-99 season, despite being only eighteen years of age. He missed only one of Luton's fixtures for the entire season, that being due to an injury. The 1999-00 campaign really saw him again excel. A virtual ever-present, he figured in fifty-two of the Hatters fifty-four matches and scored eight times. The 2000-01 season was a disappointing campaign as Luton were relegated to Division Three and Spring never quite fulfilled the promise of the previous three seasons. He was again an almost ever-present in 2000-01 as he made fifty-one appearances during the season, forty-one being in the League. He was yet again an automatic choice in Luton's midfield during the 2001-02 season, apart from the first month when he was injured. He came back in Luton’s eighth game of the season and it was his partnership with Kevin Nicholls, Nicholls with his fierce tackling and Spring with his ball-playing skills and long-range shooting, that gave Luton the edge in midfield. The Hatters stormed to promotion back to Division Two at the first attempt. It was his first taste of silverware as a Luton player, and it silenced his critics, who had criticised him during the relegation season. Out-of-contract at the end of the season, it looked as though he would leave the Hatters and join Matthew Taylor in signing for a CCCL club. However, he agreed to sign a new two-year deal that kept him at Kenilworth Road until 2004. Spring enjoyed another fairly good season during the 2002-03 campaign, which culminated in him netting eight goals as he was, once again, always a regular in the side in midfield alongside Kevin Nicholls. His form dipped somewhat towards the end of the season as Luton failed to achieve their play-off aspirations and finished in ninth position in Division Two. Spring made forty League appearances during the course of the season and a total of Forty-five in all competitions. Spring had a rather disappointing 2003-04 season as he missed the last three months of the campaign through injury. As always, he was an automatic selection in the centre of Luton Town's midfield until early January 2004 when he suffered an injury in a 2-1 FA Cup Third Round win at Bradford City, which forced him to sit out the following month's action. He came back too early and was then forced to sit out the rest of the season. He still made thirty appearances in all competitions during the season, of which twenty-four were in the League. He was out-of-contract at the end of the season and he took the opportunity to join CCCL side Leeds United on a Bosman free transfer. His record in his first spell at Kenilworth Road was two hundred and forty-three starts and seven more from the bench in the League and had scored a creditable twenty-six goals, while in the Cups and other competitions he made another thirty-eight starts, one more from the bench and netted four further goals, an excellent achievement at the age of just twenty-four. He became the eighth new signing for new Leeds United boss Kevin Blackwell, following in the footsteps of fellow new arrivals Clarke Carlisle, Danny Cadamarteri, Julian Joachim, Paul Butler, Jermaine Wright, Michael Ricketts and Danny Pugh. However, the move to Elland Road turned sour as Matthew endured lengthy spells out through injury. In August 2005, and after just thirteen League appearances and one goal for Leeds, he left the club in a £150,000 move to Watford. He helped the Hornets to the Premiership, but was unable to break into Watford's EPL squad on a regular basis. He was limited to just two EPL starts and four substitute appearances, together with a further three Cup matches. He left Watford after forty-five League appearances, including seven as a substitute and scoring eight goals. Spring re-joined Luton Town in mid-January 2007 for a fee of £200,000 that could rise to £300,000 depending upon his success at Kenilworth Road. Returning to the Hatters at the age of twenty-seven, he signed a two-and-a-half-year deal. In his second spell with Luton he was again a regular and had scored ten goals in fifty-eight League games and one further goal in ten Cup games before Luton were relegated to League Division Two at the end of 2007-08. On 31st July 2008, Spring joined Sheffield United on a year long loan deal, signalling the end of a disappointing second stint at Luton Town. He made his debut for the Blades in the first round of the League Cup, a home tie against Port Vale in August 2008. He was hampered by injury in his early days at Bramall Lane but by October he had started to feature regularly in the Blades first team. His first goal came in November at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers. His loan was cut short as he had fallen out of favour and he was released at the beginning of January 2009. He scored once in eight League starts and three games off the bench and he also started one League Cup game for the Blades. He signed for Charlton Athletic on 9th January 2009 on an eighteen month contract, scoring on his third appearance against Crystal Palace. He had scored twice in nineteen League starts and six games from the bench and made one start in the League Cup and two in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy, before he was released by Charlton at the end of the 2009-10 season. He signed a two year contract with Leyton Orient on 30th June 2010.