Matthew Brooke Jansen (born 20 October 1977) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. He started his career with hometown club Carlisle United, and also played for Crystal Palace, Blackburn Rovers and Bolton Wanderers as well as a loan spell with Coventry City. A goalscorer in Blackburn's League Cup victory in 2002, his career declined after a near-fatal motorcycle accident later that year. He won six England under-21 caps and was called up once to the senior national team. After three years out of contract, Jansen went into non-league football with Wrexham, Leigh Genesis, and Chorley. He later went on to manage Chorley from 2015–18. Early life Jansen was born in Carlisle, Cumbria. He supported Newcastle United as a boy. He attended the independent Austin Friars school in Carlisle, where he played scrum-half for the school's Rugby union team, before completing his GCSEs and taking an A-level at Newman Catholic School. Football career Carlisle United A creative player, Jansen's career started at his home town club of Carlisle United, where he scored 10 league goals. In 1997, he was part of the Carlisle side that earned promotion to the Second Division after finishing third. During the same season he also won his first piece of silverware as he came on late in extra time at Wembley for Carlisle's win against Colchester United in the 1997 Football League Trophy Final. Crystal Palace His performances at Carlisle had heads turning in higher leagues and he turned down the chance to join Manchester United before signing for then Premier League club Crystal Palace in 1998 for £1 million. Blackburn Rovers His impressive displays at Crystal Palace earned him a move to Premier League side Blackburn Rovers for £4.1 million. Jansen showed signs of things to come when he scored against Tottenham Hotspur on his debut in January 1999. Blackburn were relegated to the First Division in Jansen's first season, but he was the star of the team which won promotion back to the Premier League in the 2000–01 season, finishing as the league's second top scorer, after Fulham's Louis Saha, with 23 goals. He continued to impress in the following season, scoring the first goal in Blackburn's 2–1 League Cup final victory against Tottenham Hotspur in 2002. His good form led to an England call-up for the friendly game against Paraguay. However, he missed out on what would be