One To Watch – Matty Fryatt

Vital QPR takes a look at the One to Watch, Leicester City top scorer Matty Fryatt.

Name: Matthew Fryatt

Date of Birth: 05-03-1986 (Nuneaton)

Former Clubs: Walsall, Carlisle United (L)

Appearances (Goals): 121 (73)

Fryatt came up through the youth ranks at Walsall, and impressed in the early stages of his career at the Bescott Stadium.

So much so that he was granted his debut from the bench against Bolton Wanderers as a sprightly 17-year-old in the Carling Cup. He replaced veteran forward Steve Corica in the 67th minute.

After making two appearances for the Saddlers he was loaned out to Carlisle United. He scored his first goal against Boston United, four games into his loan spell.

That was his only goal for Carlisle as he returned to Walsall following the two month spell. He played ten further games that season, scoring his first Saddlers goal, a second minute opener away at Preston.

He kicked off a new season in style with five goals in six games, including a brace against Oldham Athletic. He went on to score 15 goals that season including a hatrick in a 4-3 win against Huddersfield.

The 2005-06 season saw Fryatt set League One alight with 14 goals before Christmas. This prompted Leicester City to open their cheque-book and pay in the region of £350,000 for the young talent.

He underlined his threat scoring goals for the Foxes against Cardiff and QPR in the opening weeks of his Leicester career. His six strikes for the Foxes took him to 20 goals for the season.

Only four goals came in 2007-08 for Fryatt, despite his high billing before the start of the campaign, and a mere three goals the following season was a contributing factor to Leicester’s relegation.

Life in League One saw Ian Holloway replaced by Nigel Pearson, Fryatt’s seventh boss during his Leicester career. It was a wise choice however as Fryatt cited Pearson as his main inspiration.

Fryatt flourished from day one back in the third tier with a brace against Milton Keynes Dons with 32 goals coming during an eventful season for the Foxes.

This included back to back hatricks for the Foxes against Dagenham & Redbridge and Southend United in Cup and league respectively.

Leicester were promoted as run-away champions with 96 points in total, seven points clear of runners-up Peterborough, sewing up the title away at Southend United.

His new-found confidence was carried into the new Championship season with eight goals hitting the back of the net in all competitions.

Lately however he has hit the buffers with the 1-0 win over Reading seeing him complete six games without a goal despite a glut of chances at the Madejski Stadium.

He will be hoping to rectify this fact live on Sky this Friday night as the Foxes travel to play QPR – a place where he bagged one of his early Leicester goals.




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