Pennington: Matthew

2017-2018 (Leeds Player Details) (Player Details)

Central Defender

Born: Warrington, Lancashire: 06-10-1994

Debut: Bolton Wanderers (a): 06-08-2017

6' 1" 12st 2lb (2018)

The versatile defender, who joined Everton at the age of eleven and progressed through the Academy until he moved from the Under Eighteen to the Under Twenty-Ones in July 2012. In the 2011-12 season he had sat on the bench for the Under-Twenty-ones and after his debut as he came on as a substitute on 12th April 2012 in a 1-1 draw with Swansea City at home, he went on to play another short appearance as a substitute and also was unused six times. He made his run on debut for the Everton Under-Twenty-Ones on 3rd September 2012 when he played a full game in a 0-3 loss to Arsenal and went on to start five, in which he played a full game in each, and came on as a substitute twice and sat unused six times in the Premier League 2. He also found the net on 30th September 2012 in a 5-2 home win over Bolton Wanderers Under-Twenty-Threes when he made the score 2-2 after fifty-three minutes. He was also on the bench once in the Under-Twenty-One Premier League Knockout Stage and in the Premier League Qualifications Group 1 he started two, was a substitute once and unused four times. He made his debut for the England Under-Nineteens on 21st March 2013 in a 1-0 home win over Turkey Under-Nineteens at New Bucks Head Stadium at Telford in which he played for twenty minutes after replacing Calum Chambers in the seventieth minute. It was to be his only International appearance. He had his first taste of senior football in January 2014 when he joined League One team Tranmere Rovers on a month's loan, this was extended to the balance of the season 2013-14. He started seventeen full games after his debut in a 1-1 home draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers on 1st January 2014. While at Prenton Park he also scored two goals. His first, the only goal in a 1-0 home win over Crewe Alexandra on 25th January 2014 came from a header at a corner in the twenty- eighth minute.The second was in his final game on 3rd May 2014 as he opened the scoring in the seventh minute with a right-footed shot, but unfortunately, Bradford City prevailed 1-2 and Tranmere were relegated to League Two after finishing Twenty-first. in the first half of the season he had started twelve Premier League 2 games for the Everton Under-Twenty-Ones and completed every game. He had started six times for the Everton Under-Twenty-ones, playing a full ninety minutes in each and had scored once on 27th October 2014 in a 3-0 home win over Norwich City Under-Twenty-Threes, when he scored the last goal in the eighty-first minute. He was loaned to Coventry City on 27th November 2014 and he started twenty-four games in League One, completing all but one of them. He also played a full game in the Football League Trophy. He won the Coventry City Young Player of the Year award. After starting the 2015-16 season in the Premier League for the Everton Under-Twenty-Ones, he finished making eight starts, completing seven of them. He made his senior Everton debut on 26th August 2015 in a League Cup tie at Barnsley when he started but was replaced by Ross Barkley in a substitution at Half-Time. Everton went on to win the tie on penalties. Three days later he sat on the bench, unused in a 0-0 draw at Tottenham Hotspur. Pennington suffered an ankle injury which temporarily halted his progress. He returned to fitness and was signed by Walsall on loan on 24th March 2016 and after making his debut on 2nd April 2016 in a 0-2 loss to Sheffield United at Bramall Lane, in which he played the full ninety minutes and followed this with another four more, with a 0-1 loss at Oldham Athletic, a 2-1 win at Gillingham, then a 1-0 win over Southend United and a 1-1 home daw with Swindon Town, but was recalled after those five appearances as Everton sought defensive reinforcements towards the end of the campaign. More opportunities came his way later in the season and, indeed, he played in the final four Premier League matches. He played full games in the first three, and even earned the man of the match award in the 2-1 home victory over Bournemouth, and then two defeats by 1-3 at Leicester City and 0-3 at Sunderland. He played twenty-nine minutes in the 3-0 home win over Norwich City. Pennington adapted comfortably to the demands of the English top-flight and even earned the man of the match accolade in the 2-1 home victory over Bournemouth. He also came on as a half-time replacement for the injured Ramiro Funes Mori in the F.A. Cup in the 2-0 home win over Dagenham and Redbridge FC and was also unused in the Semi-Final defeat by Manchester United. Pennington played an important role for the Under-23s in 2016-17 as the young Blues were crowned inaugural Premier League 2 champions. Even though he missed the first twenty League games, two League Cup and one F.A. Cup tie with a hamstring injury, he did manage to start eight games in the Premier League 2 and also made three first-team appearances, the first of which provided a moment he will never forget - a maiden senior goal against Liverpool at the Kop end. It came in the twenty-eighth minute when his right footed shot made the score 1-1. He also came on as a substitute in a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford and played a full game in a 4-2 win over Leicester City at Goodison Park. On 19th July 2017, Pennington joined Leeds United on a season-long loan, for a reported loan fee of £500,000. Pennington made his Leeds United debut in the 3–2 victory against Bolton Wanderers, on the opening game of the season, 6th August 2017, he picked up an ankle injury in the match and had to be replaced by fellow debutant Conor Shaughnessy in the second half. He was unavailable until the latter half of September, when he returned to the bench. In October, following inconsistent results for the team, Pennington returned intermittently to the starting eleven. He started fifteen, was a substitute on nine occasions and was unused on the bench in nine games. He was also unused on the bench in the League Cup loss to Leicester City on 24th October 2017. On 18 May 2018, Leeds announced Pennington would be returning to his parent club upon the expiry of his loan. He returned to Everton to play in the 2018-19 pre-season under their new Manager Marco Silva and, on 11 May 2018, Pennington signed a new long term contract at the club keeping him there until the end of the 2021 season. On 31st August 2018 he joined Ipswich Town for the 2018-19 season and made his debut on 2nd September 2018 in a 1-1 home draw with neighbours Norwich City. He scored his first goal for Ipswich on 29th September 2018 when he gave Ipswich a 2-0 lead at Birmingham City with a goal four minutes before half-time. Things got worse after that as the home side pulled the score back to 2-2 and Penington was sent off after two yelllow cards in the eighty-eighth minute. Apart from the sending off Pennington had started and played a full game in six startsby early October 2018.