Huge boost for Rovers with signing of Welsh player
Shamrock Rovers have boosted their squad with the signing of Welsh International, Adam Matthews ahead of the 2025 season.
Adam began his career at Cardiff City and after making his way through the youth side, he signed a professional contract in January 2009.
He went on to make his senior debut at the start of the 2009/10 season when he replaced Paul Quinn during a 1–1 draw with Blackpool in August, scoring his first goal for the Bluebirds two months later.
Adam’s performances during his first season also saw him named as the Football League Apprentice of the Year for the Championship.
The right-back joined Celtic in July 2011, making an impressive debut in a 1–0 win over Aberdeen, and his European debut came against Atletico Madrid in September of that year.
Adam went on to score five goals in 150 appearances for the Glasgow club in all competitions, in four seasons at Celtic Park, collecting four league medals and one Scottish Cup.
The Welsh man then moved to Sunderland in the summer of 2015 but struggled to regain a place in the first team after suffering an ankle injury, spending one season on loan at Bristol City.
Adam signed for Charlton Athletic in 2019, who were relegated to League One in 2020, making 89 appearances.
In the Summer of 2022, he joined Omonia FC, reuniting with his former manager at Celtic, Neil Lennon.
Speaking to shamrockrovers.ie about this exciting signing, head coach Stephen Bradley said: “We’re absolutely delighted.
He’s one we’ve been working on for a while now and had many conversations.
We are delighted to get Adam in, with the level he has played at.
Stephen McPhail had actually played with Adam, so we knew quite a lot about him.
He will bring really valuable experience, and his ability on the pitch speaks for itself so we’re really looking forward to getting Adam in.
“As I said, he’s someone we’ve been working on for a number of weeks, been talking to Adam, also Stephen (McPhail) was talking to his agent.
“The conversations were really positive, but like anything, these things take time.
“So, we’re delighted to get it done and looking forward to working with Adam.”
“When you look at Adam and speak to people, you see the career he’s had, he’s played all five positions across the defence.
“He’s actually played mostly on the left-hand side of a back four or five.
“He’s very versatile and clever, which is also really appealing to us.
“When we were looking at Adam it was very clear he’s comfortable in any of those five defensive positions. That’s really important for us.”
Having lost Markus Poom, Johnny Kenny, Neil Farrugia and Darragh Burns, Matthews signing will be a big boost for Rovers.
The Hoops have already signed Ed McGinty, Michael Noonan and Danny Grant ahead of this season.
