Matt Oakley

Southampton

Born in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, Oakley joined Southampton's youth training scheme, and made his debut at Everton at the age of 17 on 6 May 1995, whilst still a trainee. He turned professional soon afterwards. His skilful displays for Southampton were star studded that he would watch video clips of himself in action. He played for Southampton in the 2003 FA Cup final against Arsenal, finishing runners-up as they lost 1–0. He became a regular first team player in the 1996–97 season, when he scored three goals in 28 games as the Saints avoided relegation in 16th place. He would remain a regular player for most of the next decade. Oakley's injury woes began in September 2003 when he suffered damaged knee ligaments in a 1–0 defeat to Middlesbrough, sidelining him for six weeks. However, he had to undergo an operation in November after aggravating his injury during rehabilitation, keeping him out of contention for the rest of the 2003–04 season. Oakley felt he was "very lucky" after he recovered in May 2004. He aggravated his injury again during Southampton's trip to Sweden, missing out on the start of the following season. His injury proneness nearly cost him two years of football in his last seasons at Southampton. Oakley spent majority of the 2004–05 season recuperating on the sidelines, suffering another setback along the way, while Southampton struggled for form. In January 2005, Rotherham United offered to sign him on loan in an effort to help him…

Oakley has three caps for the England U21 team. He showed tremendous promise as a teenager and Gordon Strachan tipped him for the England squad in February 2003. While he was rumoured to be under serious consideration, he was not named in the first squad of 2003 for the friendly against Australia.

After a year coaching at Exeter City, on 6 June 2018 Oakley moved with manager Paul Tisdale to Milton Keynes Dons as assistant manager. After achieving promotion with MK Dons from League Two at the conclusion of the 2018–19 season, Oakley's contract with the club was terminated along with manager Paul Tisdale on 2 November 2019 following a poor run of results.

Southampton

FA Cup runner-up: 2002–03 Derby County

Football League Championship play-offs: 2007 Leicester City

Football League One: 2008–09 Individual

PFA Team of the Year: 2008–09 League One