Celtic & Rovers both have big demands..all that counts here is winning trophies!

MATTHEWS CAN SEE SIMILARITES BETWEEN BOTH HOOPS

- PAUL O'HEHIR

Shamrock Rovers v Galway Utd Tonight, 8pm, Tallaght Stadium

ADAM MATTHEWS and Stephen McPhail played in the same Cardiff City team 17 times during the 2009/10 and 2010/11 seasons, blissfully unaware they would be reunited at Shamrock Rovers over a decade later.

In the meantime, Matthews went on to play for Celtic, winning four SPL titles in-a-row and a Scottish Cup while also enjoying big Champions League nights against the likes Barcelona, with Neymar, Messi, Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets in their ranks.

Matthews later made his Premier League debut with Sunderland, had a spell with Charlton before moving to Cyprus in the summer of 2022 to join Omonia, who were managed at the time by his former Celtic boss Neil Lennon.

While his Rovers teammate Jack Byrne had a frustrating, injury-hit spell in Cyprus with rivals APOEL, Matthews played regularly and made over 70 appearances in all competitions, including Europe.

But when he left Omonia last summer, the harsh reality of professional football hit home as the phone wasn't ringing with offers — or at least not the right ones.

Wales international Matthews ended up training with Carmarthen Town, just to stay fit.

"Obviously it does happen in football," said the 33-year-old defender yesterday, ahead of tonight's clash with Galway United in Tallaght.

"It's happened to me before, not for that amount of time, but the older you get, the more you expect it to happen.