Matheson on Old Trafford heroics, ‘torrid time’ as £1m teenager & McLeod death

Remember the 16-year-old who scored for Rochdale against Manchester United in the Carabao Cup?

In September 2019, defender Luke Matheson netted a famous equaliser at Old Trafford to force a 1-1 draw in a third-round tie that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side eventually won 5-3 on penalties.

The next day he was back to school studying for his A-Levels.

Fast forward to 2026 and Matheson is part of a Macclesfield squad riding the crest of a wave in the FA Cup and preparing to face Brentford in the fourth round on Monday.

The Silkmen have been catapulted into the public eye since beating Crystal Palace in the third round for one of the biggest shocks in the competition’s history – but the 23-year-old is no stranger to the spotlight.

“I was on the bus on the way to school the next morning with my mates,” Matheson recalled after his Old Trafford heroics. “Refreshing Instagram, there was a thousand [likes] here, another thousand there. It was one of the most surreal things I have ever been through.

“I remember the actual moment of the goal, I can picture it and tell you exactly what happened. It was more the aftermath I don’t really remember.

“Even being on that pitch and travelling to that game was enough for me. Then to score took it to another level. It’s definitely one of the best days of my life.”

Brentford will be the fourth Premier League opponent for Matheson, who also featured for Rochdale in a 1-1 home draw against Newcastle in the FA Cup in 2020, before his side lost the third-round replay 4-1 at St James’ Park.

He said being remembered as the teenager who scored against Manchester United is something he is proud of, not ashamed by.

“I love people coming up to me saying, ‘are you the kid that scored against United?’ They always recognise me because of my hair,” said the Manchester-born full-back.

“If that is the pinnacle of my career, it is the pinnacle of my career. Some players will dream about moments like that and I’m lucky that I got one at such a young age.

Four months after his goal at Old Trafford, the England Under-18 international made the step from League One to the Premier League as he joined Wolves in a deal worth £1m.

“It was a dream come true,” added Matheson, who made his Rochdale first-team debut at 15. “I had been in and around it going away with England – it would be your Manchester City boys, Manchester United, Chelsea, and then me from Rochdale.

“I was getting around £400 a month from Rochdale on my scholarship and £250 of that was going on public transport to get me to training. Then I sign for Wolves and they’ve got three drivers who can take me to and from Manchester every day. The difference was astronomical.”

By his own admission, Matheson’s football journey has been done in reverse to the traditional route.

After making more than 30 senior appearances for Rochdale, he ended up in the under-23 set-up at Wolves.

“In that sense, for me in my personal career, it almost felt like I’d taken a step backwards,” he said.

“A lot of the under-23s were trying to get out on loan into a first team. I’d gone from doing that to not doing that.”

Matheson’s time at Wolves was hampered by serious injuries and after loan spells with Ipswich, Hamilton Academical and Scunthorpe he was released at the end of the 2022-23 campaign without making a senior appearance for the club.

After a severe, high-grade hamstring tear, Matheson was told by surgeons he might never play again, which prompted him to consider a life away from the football pitch.

The son of two primary school teachers, he had always been passionate about education and recently graduated alongside ex-Newcastle keeper Tim Krul and former Watford defender Adrian Mariappa with a diploma in sporting directorship from the Professional Footballers’ Association’s (PFA) business school .

It was during Matheson’s rehab at Wolves that he also got to know Ethan McLeod, who he would later reunite with at Macclesfield.

On 16 December 2025, the 21-year-old forward McLeod died in a car accident while travelling back from a National League North match at Bedford Town.

Matheson was among the majority of the squad held up in gridlocked traffic after the crash on the M1. Not long after he arrived home the next morning, manager John Rooney called every player individually to confirm the sad news.

“You don’t realise how much a person almost saved you until they’re not there anymore,” said Matheson. “I was lucky that I had the pleasure of getting to know him for three-and-a-half years at Wolves, and then again as we both matured and got older here.

“Unfortunately we did spend a lot of time together in rehab, but I’m grateful and very lucky that we did because it definitely impacted my career in a positive way.

“Through some of the darkest days of my career, with his infectious smile he would walk in and brighten up every single day.”

Rooney signed Matheson 12 days after bringing McLeod to Macclesfield, but both players had a frustrating start to the campaign with injuries.

Matheson said the pair often talked about their hopes of sharing the pitch together again. Three days before McLeod’s death, they featured in their first and only game together when starting in an FA Trophy win at South Shields.

“That game on the Saturday, before unfortunately he passed, was special,” added Matheson. “We had countless conversations joking, saying ‘this is our last injury’ because we’ve had so many together.

In a touching tribute to McLeod after his death, Matheson vowed to carry his legacy forward.

He is finally injury-free and getting regular minutes for Macclesfield and Monday’s game is another chance for him to add to his unique footballing story.

“It would mean the world,” Matheson said of repeating his Old Trafford heroics.

“You can feel the buzz around the town. Everyone has got the Macclesfield badge on. You see it when we’re driving to the stadium, people walking their dog with the half-and-half scarves and their hats.

“To give back to the fans of this town is the proudest thing you can do as a footballer. For us to be able to give them moments like the Palace game and then another against Brentford brings us such joy as players.