Matty Barlow returns to the Wild (Photo by David Tattum)
The Widnes Wild NIHL team have announced that popular forward Matty Barlow has rejoined the club for the rest of the season.
This is actually Barlow’s third stint with Widnes as he played 32 games as part of Ollie Barron’s Laidler Division play off winning team in 2017/18 and then spent a further 3 seasons at Widnes in the post-covid Moralee Division from 2021 to 2024.
He moved to join the Leeds Knights team during the summer, joining fellow former Wild players Alex Mitchell and Harrison Walker, but only played 1 National Division game and 6 Moralee Division games, scoring 7 goals and 1 assist.
Barlow was the Wild’s top goalscorer in the Moralee Division last season with 10 goals - and second top points scorer overall in all competitions with 17+20, just 4 short of Joey Coulter, having played 7 games fewer due to injury earlier in the season.
In total in his two previous spells with Widnes, Barlow made 128 appearances, scoring 55+60 with 145 penalty minutes.
Commenting on Barlow’s return to the Wild, Widnes Player Coach Tom Jackson said:
“Matty is a massive piece to be returning to the team, during the summer he was initially in my plans for this season but an opportunity to play in the national league enticed him over to Leeds for the start of the season. He is my closest friend living 100m from my doorstep and when things weren’t going the way he wanted them to at Leeds I reminded him the door is always open for his return home.”
“Matty is a piece that the team has been missing so far this season, he can change the game himself and while doing so can help guide the younger guys on the team. He has had a few weeks off to sort out his personal life and get his new home up and running but will be joining the team on the ice for the foreseeable future.”
