Ex-Celtic + Sunderland star completes transfer to new club and is backed to take teammates to 'another level'

A former Celtic and Sunderland star has made a move to a new club this January transfer window.

During four years at Parkhead, Adam Matthews made 150 appearances for the Premiership champions across all competitions, collecting four league title medals and one Scottish Cup. He moved on to Sunderland and featured 67 times for the Black Cats in his four-year spell.

After Celtic and Sunderland, having also featured for Cardiff City, Matthews turned out at Bristol City, Charlton Athletic and Omonia Nicosia. The right-back has now put pen to paper at Shamrock Rovers ahead of the new League of Ireland season and Europa Conference League clash vs Molde.

Stephen McPhail, sporting director of Shamrock Rovers, has also been on the case to sign Matthews alongside manager Stephen Bradley, who thinks Matthews can help take the group to a new level. The latter 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.

“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.

“We all know what you need to play at that level in terms of ability, so he’s obviously got that. Also, anyone you speak to, or worked with or played with Adam will tell you he’s a top-class professional.

He’s one we think is really important for the group. We’ve obviously signed some young players, so it’ll be nice to have that bit of experience and understanding around them. So, he’s one we think can help the group go to another level.

“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.”