New Contract for Matty Todd

Matty Todd has signed a new three year deal with the club that will see him contracted until 2026.

Dunfermline Athletic are very pleased to announce that Matty Todd has agreed a new three year deal that commits him to the club until 2026. The 21 year old has made 37 appearances under James McPake this season all but one of which were starts. A delighted Matty Todd spoke to the website after confirming his new contract:-

“My full focus has been on Dunfermline for this season and it will be until 2026 now. I will continue to work hard, keep my head grounded and focus on what I can get better at and keep on improving.

“I am absolutely delighted because it is my boyhood club, I’m playing here every week and I absolutely love it. I still had eighteen months left on my deal and have signed my new one until 2026. I just want to keep on improving and getting better working under James and Dave. That was the main point, they are here to stay and so am I.”

Matty has now made 81 appearances for Dunfermline, so by 2026 that could become a significant total. In his typically modest style he did not look too far ahead:-

“The target is just to play as many games as possible to be honest. I have played a lot of football this season and it was something at the start of the season that I wanted to do. I have certainly done that up until now and I just want to continue doing that.”

With a total of ten goals this season, seemingly each one more special than the previous one, even Matty has difficulty singling out his best:-

“I liked the one at Alloa away when I had to control the chip over the keeper and the one at Clyde away which sealed the victory for us. I really wanted to add more goals and assists to my game, it is something the manager always goes on about - he wants his midfielders to score goals. I’m delighted to have added that to my game but I want to keep on adding more and more to take it to another level.”

One of six players who moved up from Fife Elite Football Academy for season 2018-2019, the former Dunfermline High School pupil plays anywhere in midfield and was signed up by Stephen Wright for Dunfermline after turning down an offer from Celtic.

He played almost every under 20s match in season 2017-2018 before making his first team debut in the Challenge Cup match away to Inverness Caley Thistle on 14 August 2018. He made his league debut when he replaced Kallum Higginbotham late in the second half of the 3-0 win over Partick Thistle later that season.

Last season the midfielder was given a long run of starts by John Hughes after been given his chance to start against Morton under the joint caretaker management of Greg Shields and Steven Whittaker. After that Morton match Matty started 21 league and cup matches.

Matty revealed that he has spoken to Stephen Wright a couple of times since he left Dunfermline:-

“He is up at Dundee now but he was brilliant with me back in Academy days when he was Head of Youth at Dunfermline. He made his move but I have kept in contact with him here and there. He just says to me to keep on doing what I’m doing, keep on improving and this will come. It has and I just want to thank him for what he did when I was younger. He put a lot of effort into me and I just want to put that effort back into this football club as well.”

Another coach who Matty claims to have been a massive influence on him is the current Kelty Hearts manager, John Potter who he hopes to be up against on Saturday:-

“He brought me in as a young kid when I was sixteen year old and offered me that contract. I worked with him before he left the club to go to Sunderland but when Potts was here he was brilliant with all the young boys, great to work with.”

Above: Matty Todd scoring against Morton, 6th November 2021

In November 2021 it was Greg Shields and Steven Whittaker who brought Matty into the first team to become a regular ever since. He added:-

“They showed great faith in me when things weren’t going so well last year. I’m just grateful to Steven and Greg for putting that faith in me and showing what I can do on the pitch.”

After missing last week’s match away to Montrose through a dead leg injury he sustained against FC Edinburgh, Matty has jokingly said that if he was not fit for the match at Falkirk he would be in the away end! He stressed that he is one of several Dunfermline supporters in the squad at the moment:-

“We have got Paul Allan, Miller Fenton, Andrew Tod, Sam Young and Chris Hamilton. They are all Dunfermline fans and it is great to have that in the dressing room.”

That is something that Manager James McPake has also noted and he praised Matty’s performance and attitude since he has taken over:-

"He`s been great. He’s a player I did know before I came in and he’s played a lot of football for someone his age, first-team football. He`s been a big player for us this season, he`s had a good season so far but he needs to show it until the end of this season - and then hopefully over the course of the next three years.”

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