Barnet Football Club are delighted to announce the signing of goalkeeper Matthew Cox on a season-long loan from Premier League Side Brentford.
The 23-year-old joins the Bees in between the sticks for the 2026/27 campaign.
The shot-stopper’s career began in Chelsea’s Academy at the age of eight and he spent six years with the Blues before being picked up by AFC Wimbledon, where he signed his first professional contract on his 17th birthday.
Cox played a crucial role in the Dons’ EFL Youth Alliance Cup winning side, saving several spot-kicks throughout the tournament and even finding himself on the scoresheet on a couple of occasions.
After four years with Wimbledon, Cox made the move to West London and joined Brentford’s B team, before going on to be a substitute on ten occasions in the Premier League during the 21/22 campaign.
The following season, the London-born shot-stopper appeared on the bench 21 times for the Bees, while also making seven appearances for the B team, contributing to their Premier League Cup win.
Cox’s first loan saw him join Bristol Rovers for the 2023/24 season, who were in League One at the time and he went on to make 34 appearances in all competitions.
More experience in League One saw the new Bees’ goalkeeper join Crawley Town for the second-half of the 2024-25 campaign, with his most recent stint seeing him make 18 appearances for Shrewsbury Town in the latter stages of the 2025/6 campaign, including an appearance in the 0-0 draw when Barnet visited Croud Meadow in February.
Cox has also represented England at multiple age groups and played a part in the u19s Euros win in 2022 in Slovakia.
On bringing Matthew to the club, Manager Dean Brennan said:
“I’ve been a long-term admirer of Coxy and Craig, as a goalie coach wanted two strong goalkeepers, so we’ve managed to do that this year like we did last year.
He’s a distributing-type goalkeeper. He was magnificent against us last season when we played against Shrewsbury and he was man of the match in that game.
It’s a positive deal for everyone and it’s a big loan for him and his career. He needs to be successful during this loan and I feel like we’re getting a hungry goalkeeper with lots of ability, an ex-England youth goalkeeper and he’s played a significant amount of EFL games, even if the next division.”
Cox added:
“I think this is a very good club and a really ambitious club that’s definitely been heading in the right direction.
Obviously following and seeing results and the way the club’s been playing over the last few years is very attractive for me to come to and want to impact this club and help achieve its dreams of going up the leagues and playing good football.”
Welcome to Barnet, Matthew!
COYB
The deal is subject to the usual FA and League clearances.
