On the trail of one of the former rising stars of League football, Nathan Carr considers whether Matt Tubbs has faded into a forgotten man…
Footballers can often disappear into the wilderness: Afonso Alves, Luke Young, Amr Zaki, Freddy Adu, Denilson, Darren Bent, Florent Sinama Pongolle.
Unfortunately it’s now time to add the name of Matt Tubbs to such a list.
Born and raised in the cathedral city of Salisbury, Tubbs began his footballing adventure with local team Bournemouth as a schoolboy. In 2003, he dropped into the lower echelons of the English football pyramid by signing for non-league Dorchester Town. However, the move never materialised and he moved onto the place he knew best: Salisbury.
It was there where Tubbs really kick-started his career. His goals – 107 in 248 appearances – contributed towards Salisbury’s ascent up the divisions and his sparkling form even reaped an England C call-up. He made two appearances, scoring in each one.
Understandably, Tubbs’ star quality infront of goal was attracting interest from higher tier sides. Leicester were apparently monitoring his progress but the striker stayed loyal. At the end of the 2006-2007 campaign he signed a long-term deal and the following season went onto net his 100th strike for the club and finish the leading goal-getter. Continue reading