Nationality: (? English)
Date of Birth: 12 October 1989
Previous Clubs: [None]
Position: Defender

Matthew Roome is a product of Villa’s Academy. He first started making occasional appearances during the 2005/06 season. His debut for the Reserves was on 16 January 2007 in a 2-2 home draw with Portsmouth (Patrik Berger and Tobias Mikaelsson got the goals for Villa in that game). But it was not until the 2007/08 season that Matthew became a regular in the Academy Under 18 team, plus making a few appearances for the Reserves. He usually plays at right back or centre back.

On 1 July 2008, Matthew was one of several Academy players that were given new contracts – in Matthew’s case, it was a one year contract.

On 22 July 2008, Matthew came on as a 74th minute substitute in one of the first team’s pre-season games – a friendly at Walsall, which Villa went on to win 3-2 with goals from Shaun Maloney (2) and Wayne Routledge.

[Frank Antram, 13 August 2008]