Matt Gilks

Rochdale

Born in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, where he started out with Heyside Juniors, Gilks joined Rochdale at the age of 13. He was promoted from their youth team in 2001. After being coached by Fred Barber, he eventually replaced Neil Edwards in the first team, becoming a regular starter. He made a total of 198 appearances for the club in league and cup competitions, and by the time he was 24, he was the longest-serving player at Rochdale. Being an Oldham Athletic fan growing up, and living about a mile from Boundary Park, he states Andy Rhodes and Jon Hallworth as his heroes.

Norwich City

On 1 July 2007, Gilks signed a two-year contract with Championship club Norwich City, moving on a free transfer due to his contract with Rochdale having expired. He was unable to break into Norwich's first team, spending most of the 2007–08 season sitting on the substitutes bench. He also had a spell out of action with ligament damage after twisting his ankle in training in November 2007.

Blackpool

In the summer of 2008, and without having made a first-team appearance for Norwich, Gilks signed for fellow Championship club Blackpool as makeweight in a part-exchange deal which saw Wes Hoolahan go in the opposite direction. He made his debut on 12 August 2008 in a 2–0 League Cup defeat by Macclesfield Town. After failing to break into the first team, and considering quitting the game due to lack of opportunities and a self-perceived lack of ability during a…

On 22 August 2010, the Scottish FA confirmed that manager Craig Levein was considering Gilks for a call-up to the Scotland national squad for their upcoming UEFA Euro 2012 qualifiers against Lithuania and Liechtenstein. Gilks qualifies to play for Scotland through his Scottish grandmother. Levein said of Gilks: "He is one we became aware of a while ago and have kept track of his progress. Obviously he was a key figure in Blackpool's promotion to the Barclays Premier League and while I will not name my squad until tomorrow, he is one I think we need to take a closer look at. He comes highly recommended, is playing regularly for his club and the next logical step is for our goalkeeping coach to work closely with him." Two days later he was selected in the Scotland squad, joining fellow Blackpool player Charlie Adam. On his call up Gilks said: "My grandmother was Scottish and they've traced the roots back and checked it. I'm eligible and it's great to be in the squad. Everybody knows that I am English but England doesn't come knocking on the door of Blackpool Football Club and I think that's a problem. They look at the bigger clubs. To be honest it was nice of Scotland to come and have a look at me and find out about me." In November 2010, Gilks had to withdraw from the Scotland squad through injury. He again withdrew on 10 August 2011, hours before kick-off in a friendly against Denmark, with an ankle injury. On 15 August 2012, he made his debut for Scotland as a first-half…

On 6 August 2020, Gilks signed for Bolton Wanderers as a player-goalkeeping coach. On 22 January 2025, manager Ian Evatt left by mutual consent — with Gilks leaving his role as well. In February 2025, Gilks joined Barnsley as goalkeeping coach. He departed the club at the end of the 2024–25 season.

Club

As of match played 5 October 2021

Notes

International

As of match played 10 September 2013