You joined the Centre of Excellence here at Rochdale alongside your brother Daniel before you were offered a scholarship. How did it feel when you were told that the Club thought you was good enough to be offered a scholarship at a professional football club? “It was fantastic, what I’d always wanted. The fact it was Rochdale didn’t really matter to me. I wasn’t a tribal Oldham fan, I just wanted to be the best I could be and Rochdale gave me that opportunity”
In 2001 you were promoted to the first team but you probably knew that getting the number one jersey was going to be difficult as standing in your way is one of, if not the best goalkeeper (after yourself of course!) that Rochdale has ever had in Neil Edwards. Now normally I’d say here what Neil Edwards like to look up to as a young goalkeeper but I don’t think anybody ever looked up to the diminutive stopper! What was Taffy like as a goalkeeper? Did he influence you at all? “Neil was a far better goalkeeper than I ever was. I learned a lot off him. During training I’d just watch and learn. He was probably the best goalkeeper that I ever worked with. Him and Jussi Jaaskelainen were the biggest influences on me and my career”
You eventually dislodged Neil and became the first choice keeper here at Rochdale and became an ever present for a number of years. How proud was you of your own personal achievements at this stage having graduated from a youth team to become a full-fledged professional footballer? “Neil was starting to get on a bit which helped, in fact if he had been younger, I wouldn’t have taken over and my career could have gone differently”
In February 2003 Rochdale reached the FA Cup 5th round for only the 2nd time in their history having knocked out Peterborough, Bristol Rovers, Preston & Coventry, we then faced a trip to Molyneux to take on Wolves. Over 4000 fans made the journey from Rochdale, what do you remember about the size of that game, the atmosphere, the calibre of players that Wolves had playing that day? “I remember the size of the place, the noise. The biggest thing for me was it was the first time I’d played at a Stadium where the floodlights went across the top of the stands and I remember struggling to see the ball when it was hit high. Being at a lower League Club, these are things I just hadn’t thought about. They had some amazing players out that day with the likes of Paul Ince playing. They were technically far superior to us but we gave them a good game”
There were some great names in the sides you played alongside during your time here. Who do you remember being the standout players and do you still keep in touch with anybody from that time? “I’m terrible at keeping in touch with people so no not really”
Your contract ran out here at Spotland and you made the move to Carrow Road and Norwich City. What was it like for you moving away from the area you knew for the first time? “I absolutely loved it! Was amazing having my own place for the first time”
You spent 12 months at Carrow Road but failed to make an appearance, was that a frustrating time for you? “Not really no. I learned so much from the other goalkeepers at the Club such as David Marshall, who was absolutely amazing, at the time one of the best in the world in my opinion”
Your next move brought you back up North to Blackpool where you had the most success in your career. Initially in 2008 you were loaned out to Shrewsbury before you made the No1 jersey your own in the second season and via the Play Offs you helped the Tangerines reach the promised land of the Premier League having beaten Cardiff 3-2 in the Final. They say that winning promotion via the playoffs is the best way to do it but to win promotion to the elite League in English football, That must have been some feeling? “I hated it if I’m honest! The game wasn’t the greatest, I thought we played better in the semi final against Nottingham Forest. It was so hot that day too, we all felt like we’d got sunstroke. That evening you’d expect the party to carry on all night but I think we’d all gone to bed by about 11pm”
Blackpool only had one season in the Premier League, where you made 18 appearances seeing the highs and lows of playing against the best. A 4-0 win on your debut followed by a 6-0 defeat at the Emirates although that game wasn’t helped by a sending off of a man that would go on to become your manager at Bolton in Ian Evatt! What was it like lining up against some of the Premier Leagues best ever players in that season, World Cup winning players, top internationals? “It was a little surreal knowing we were in the top flight. We knew we’d struggle as the budget just wasn’t there. That game against Arsenal was something else, we were 0-5 down and I remember looking up at the big screen and we hadn’t reached the hour mark and I genuinely thought it would be 0-10 by full time-Jack Wilshere was only about 19 but he absolutely ran the midfield for Arsenal”
Playing in the Premier League brought about an unlikely International call up when the then Scotland manager, Craig Levein, enquired whether you’d ever eaten haggis or drank some Scotch whisky or something. How did you qualify for playing for Scotland. You played a handful of games including a World Cup qualifier against Macedonia. How proud did you feel to have made it onto the International stage? “I owned a Scottie dog so that how I qualified! No my Grandma was Scottish so that’s how. It was unbelievable going away on International duty. It’s like nothing else in football, especially for a lad that started at Rochdale. At every training session we’d get brand new training kit, none of it got washed and re-used. I brought everything home with me and was handing it out to other players. I still wear some of it now”
Following relegation back to the Championship, you continued with Blackpool for a few more seasons before leaving for Burnley and then Rangers, North of the Border. Was it your decision to leave Bloomfield Road? “Yes it was my decision. I’d been told that first team opportunities were going to be limited so I opted to move on and moves to Burnley and Rangers didn’t really work but the experience of all my moves helped me in some way”
You returned to the Championship with a spell at Wigan before joining Scunthorpe, Lincoln & Fleetwood before rocking up at Bolton helping them earn promotion from League Two, you joined Bolton as goalkeeper/player coach? “Yeah, I was needed to play more than I thought at Bolton but I enjoyed playing so combining the two was ok”
Was coaching something you always thought about going into following retirement. You held the Bolton goalkeeping coach roll up until recently when Ian Evatt was replaced, so what next for Matty Gilks? “I’m now at Barnsley as keeper coach. We got told on the Wednesday that we were leaving Bolton and on Thursday I got a call from Darrell Clarke at Barnsley asking me to go in there. I knew Darrell from our time here at Rochdale”
