Matthew Booth (soccer)
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Matthew Paul Booth | ||
| Date of birth | 14 March 1977 | ||
| Place of birth | Fish Hoek, South Africa | ||
| Height | 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) | ||
| Playing position | Centre back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1982–1994 | Fish Hoek AFC | ||
| 1994–1996 | Cape Town Spurs | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1994–1998 | Cape Town Spurs | 92 | (5) |
| 1998–2002 | Mamelodi Sundowns | 114 | (6) |
| 2001 | → Wimbledon (loan) | 0 | (0) |
| 2002–2004 | Rostov | 51 | (1) |
| 2004–2009 | Krylia Sovetov | 107 | (7) |
| 2009–2011 | Mamelodi Sundowns | 38 | (0) |
| 2011–2013 | Ajax Cape Town | 40 | (5) |
| 2013–2014 | Bidvest Wits | 19 | (1) |
| Total | 448 | (24) | |
| National team | |||
| 1995–1997 | South Africa U20 | 18 | (0) |
| 1998–2000 | South Africa U23 | 35 | (2) |
| 1999–2010 | South Africa | 28 | (1) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Matthew Paul Booth (born 14 March 1977) is a South African football defender who plays for Bidvest Wits in the Premier Soccer League and internationally for the South Africa national team. Booth will be remembered as a fan favourite among South African fans when they chanted "Booooooth" when he touched the ball while British media outlets dubbed him as "The White Knight", as he was the only white player in the South African national squad.
Booth was born in Fish Hoek to Paul and Anthea Booth. His father Paul was an engineer at the Cape Town city council, a semi-professional footballer and administrator for Fish Hoek AFC, while his mother Anthea was a legal secretary. Booth started playing soccer for Fish Hoek AFC in 1982 at the age of five. In 1993, he played in the Bayhill U19 tournament for Fish Hoek, where he was spotted by Cape Town Spurs coach Richard Gomes, who saw a lanky youngster flying into tackles halfheartedly and towering above the opposition's attackers and invited him to train with the club's youth. In 1994, shortly after he turned 17, he trained with the senior squad, which went on to win the league and the BobSave Super Bowl. At the time, he worked at a sports shop in and would travel by train to Parow after work to train with the team at CR Vasco da Gama fields at the time, then travelled back to Fish Hoekb after training.
Booth started playing professionally in 1996, alongside experienced players like Shaun Bartlett and Craig Rosslee. Cape Town Spurs and Seven Stars were merged in 1999 to form Ajax Cape Town. He was deemed surplus to requirements at Ajax and wanted to sell him to newly formed Mother City. He fought back eventually joined Mamelodi Sundowns and stayed for three seasons.
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