Wanderers prospect Luke Matheson on 'starting again' in loan spell in Ireland

THE League One season may be drawing to an exciting finale at Wanderers but for Luke Matheson there is a familiar feeling of starting all over again.

Though under contract at Bolton and tipped by Ian Evatt to make an impact on his return to the Toughsheet Stadium, he is now two games into a loan spell with Irish club Bohemians which runs until June.

Matheson arrived as a free agent last summer looking to press ‘reset’ on a promising career that had been badly stalled by injury. His half a dozen chances in the cup competitions have hinted at the sort of promise which once convinced Premier League Wolves to splash out on him as a League Two player with Rochdale.

But now, still only 21, the young defender with an old head on his shoulders is hoping to push himself and play into the summer with regular football in Dublin.

Even that relative simple target has been complicated by a change in manager but Matheson remains focussed on getting what he wants out of the move after a hellish few years.

“I’m 21, I’m young in this industry but I’ve been around it for six or seven years so I’ve already got so much experience,” he told the Irish Sun.

“I came here as I was grateful for the opportunity to get game-time as I haven’t had a run of games in two years now.

“My two seasons at Wolves both had season-ending injuries. I tore my LCL in my right knee while at Ipswich and then I tore my hamstring in December 2022 that put me out.

“Wolves were great with me, and then Bolton. And in January they said to get out on loan and get games, which led me here.”

Matheson came into professional football at such an early age at Rochdale it is easy to forget that he is only just into his twenties.

Earning his spurs under Boltonian boss Keith Hill, he went on to earn England youth caps at Under-17s and 18s level and had played more than 30 senior games before getting his move to Wolves in January 2020. One match in particular sticks out in the memory and seldom an interview goes by without a mention of his goal against Manchester United a year earlier in the Carabao Cup.

“I’ll never be tired of talking about that!” he said. “I was really young at Rochdale but it wasn’t like I just suddenly played and scored at Old Trafford.

“I’d been training with the first team for two years and in and around playing for a year. But for me, just being on the bus, as a 16-year-old, was amazing.

“Then to be told I was starting at Old Trafford and scoring, it was literally a little kid’s dream. It was the best day of my life.

“But it was back to earth the next day as I’d a test in school, in psychology. I don’t think it went that well. But the teacher gave me some slack.”

Matheson’s move to Wanderers came about after a string failed loan moves at Wolves, which meant he never got the opportunity to progress and prove himself at that level.

Injuries also played a major part in scuppering the moves that did show promise and when he arrived at Bolton last summer, a conscious decision was made to step into the B Team, allowing himself some time and space to establish himself and attain the right fitness levels.

With the B Team schedule slowing in the last couple of months, Wanderers had examined a few options in League Two for the defender to get regular game time. But when a solid move failed to progress, the prospect of playing in the League of Ireland, monitored by the club’s ear-to-the-ground, Eoin Doyle, was too good to turn down.

“I’ve had a few loan spells, some good, some not so good. So coming here, I did speak to people I trust,” he explained.

“There was a big Irish cohort at Rochdale, and Eoin Toal at Bolton, who was with Derry. I just asked them what’s the league like because I didn’t know what it was like over here. Everyone said the same thing, that it would be amazing, the fans are great, that it’s competitive and it’s getting better and better.

“And the Bohs squad have been amazing with me. It’s always a bit scary, it’s my first time outside England but everyone has been so receptive.”

Matheson has rarely been given a smooth ride in his formative football years, and that proved the case once again after signing for Bohs, who switched managers just a few weeks into the new season.

Signed by Declan Devine but given a debut last week – helping his new boss Alan Renyolds to a 2-0 win in Galway - and Matheson will now be hoping to keep his place in the side this Friday when they face early leaders Shelbourne.

“It’s always a scary time when the manager that signed you leaves,” Matheson said. “But it’s a trial for everyone to impress. I was grateful to get my chance and we got a good result. Hopefully there are more to come.”