Matthew Thomas Martin Connolly (born 24 September 1987) is an English professional footballer who last played as a defender for club Cardiff City. Having started his career at Arsenal he went moved to Queens Park Rangers, going on to win the Football League Championship in 2011. It would be the first of three titles in four years, as he won the same division again on loan at Reading in 2012 and Cardiff in 2013, whom he had joined permanently one year previously. Career Arsenal Born in Barnet, London, Connolly started his career as a youth at Arsenal, eventually making the reserve side. In September 2006 he was made captain of Arsenal's reserves. He made his first-team debut for Arsenal on 24 October 2006, starting a League Cup third round match against West Bromwich Albion. On 23 November 2006 Arsenal announced he was going on loan to AFC Bournemouth until 2 January 2007. In total he played seven games for Bournemouth (five in League One and two in the FA Cup), and scored his first goal at senior level in a 2–0 win over Nottingham Forest, on 5 December 2006. He returned to Arsenal as scheduled at the start of January 2007, and came on as a substitute for Armand Traoré against Liverpool in the League Cup Quarter-finals on 9 January. On 9 July 2007 Arsenal announced he would be spending the whole of the 2007–08 season on loan to Colchester United, although he eventually was recalled midway through the loan on 2 January 2008. Queens Park Rangers The same day, his transfer to Queens Park Rangers was announced, after a lack of first-team opportunities were offered by Arsenal. His debut came on 5 January, in a 1–0 loss to Chelsea in the FA Cup. He scored his first goal for QPR against Blackpool on 16 January 2010. In the meantime, in November, he received his first call-up to the England U-21 squad, where he joined Arsenal teammate Theo Walcott. His second goal came on 6 March against West Bromwich Albion in a 3–1 win. During the 2010–11 season, Connolly played a part in QPR's Championship title win playing 36 out of 43 games. He joined Reading on a loan on 31 January 2012 until the end of the 2011–12 season. He made his debut on 11 February 2012 in a 2–0 win against Coventry City. He only played 6 times