Eighteen-year-old goalkeeper Matthew Cox has today signed for Brentford after an impressive rise through the ranks since joining us four years ago.
Matthew has joined the Premier League club for an undisclosed fee, highlighting the rapid rise he made thanks to our academy coaches and first-team goalkeeper coach Ashley Bayes.
The deal with Brentford includes a sell on and also future appearance related financial bonuses.
England youth international honours were achieved during his time with us, recognising the Chessington-based keeper as one of the brightest young talents in the country.
Since joining us at the age of 14 after leaving Chelsea, we provided a platform for Matthew to develop and his single-minded dedication to training every day resulted in top-flight clubs keeping tabs on his progress.
Unsurprisingly, Robbo is sad to see a player we nurtured leave the club, but he feels proud of the part we played in his development.
“Obviously, we are disappointed to lose Coxy,” said our Head Coach. “Wherever possible, we want to keep our young talent and we tried to keep him, but Coxy felt going to Brentford was the right decision for the next part of his journey. Once that decision is made you have to respect it and support the lad in the right way, and that is what we have done.
“The Academy and Bayzo should be extremely proud of the work they have done with Coxy. If Brentford continue to develop him then it will be a fantastic outcome for all involved. Joe has worked hard to ensure the Club has been rewarded suitably for the huge development Coxy has made during his time with us. Coxy is a great lad and I know he is hugely grateful for what the Club has done for him. As a farewell gift he gave one of his England shirts to Bayzo with a lovely message on it. We wish Coxy all the very best and will keep a keen eye on his future development. Once a Don always a Don.”
Though Matthew did not make a competitive first-team appearance for us, he was on the bench for the first-team on many occasions and helped our academy to become national champions last year – our Under-18s winning the EFL Youth Alliance Cup.
All at AFC Wimbledon thank Matthew for his contribution and wish him all the best for the future.