Matthew James Howard (born 5 December 1970) is an English retired professional footballer who made one appearance in the Football League for Brentford as a right back. After his release in 1989, he dropped into non-League football and made over 100 appearances with both Boreham Wood and Hendon.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Matthew James Howard[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1970-12-05) 5 December 1970 (age 51) | ||
| Place of birth | Watford, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||
| Position(s) | Right back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 0000–1987 | Watford | ||
| 1987–1988 | Brentford | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1988–1989 | Brentford | 1 | (0) |
| 1989–1990 | → St Albans City (loan) | ||
| 1990–1991 | St Albans City | 59 | (1) |
| 1991–1992 | Boreham Wood | ||
| 1993 | St Albans City | 0 | (0) |
| 1995 | Hayes | 10 | (0) |
| 1995–1996 | St Albans City | 20 | (0) |
| 1996 | Boreham Wood | ||
| 1996–1997 | Chesham United | ||
| 1997–2000 | Hendon | 86 | (2) |
| 2000–2001 | Boreham Wood | ||
| 2001–2006 | Elliott Star | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
After beginning his career in the youth system at hometown club Watford, Driscoll joined the youth team at Third Division club Brentford in 1987.[1] He made his professional debut on the final day of the 1987–88 season, when he came on as a half time substitute for Roger Stanislaus in a 2–1 defeat to York City at Griffin Park.[2] He received a yellow card, as manager Steve Perryman had forgotten to inform the referee of the change.[3] Howard failed to make a first team appearance during the 1988–89 season, but was a part of the youth team which reached the semi-finals of the 1988–89 FA Youth Cup.[1] Howard departed Brentford in January 1990,[4] having made just a single first team appearance.[1]
After his release from Brentford, Howard had a long career in non-League football, playing for Isthmian League clubs St Albans City,[5] Boreham Wood,[6][7] Hayes,[8] Chesham United,[9] Hendon,[9] Leyton, Hitchin Town, Leighton Town and Aylesbury United.[10] He finished his career with Hertfordshire Senior County League Premier Division club Elliott Star,[11][12] for whom he made 24 appearances in his final two seasons.[13][14]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Brentford | 1987–88[2] | Third Division | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| St Albans City | 1989–90[15] | Isthmian League Premier Division | 40 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 12[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 53 | 0 | |
| 1990–91[16] | 29 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 7[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | 37 | 1 | |||
| Total | 59 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | 19 | 0 | 90 | 1 | |||
| St Albans City | 1993–94[17] | Isthmian League Premier Division | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1[lower-alpha 3] | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| St Albans City | 1995–96[18] | Isthmian League Premier Division | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 8[lower-alpha 4] | 1 | 28 | 1 | |
| Total | 79 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | 28 | 1 | 109 | 1 | |||
| Hendon | 1997–98[9] | Isthmian League Premier Division | 32 | 2 | 4 | 0 | — | 14[lower-alpha 5] | 2 | 50 | 4 | |
| 1998–99[9] | 31 | 0 | 6 | 0 | — | 14[lower-alpha 6] | 1 | 51 | 1 | |||
| 1999–00[9] | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 6[lower-alpha 7] | 1 | 29 | 1 | |||
| Total | 86 | 2 | 10 | 0 | — | 34 | 4 | 130 | 6 | |||
| Elliott Star | 2004–05[13] | Hertfordshire Senior County League Premier Division | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | |
| 2005–06[14] | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2[lower-alpha 8] | 0 | 13 | 0 | |||
| Total | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | 24 | 0 | |||
| Career total | 188 | 3 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 64 | 5 | 264 | 8 | ||
Hendon