Matty Cash – Biography, Age, Family and Polish Roots

Who is Matty Cash?

Matthew Stuart "Matty" Cash was born on 7 August 1997 in Slough, Berkshire, England. He is a right-back who has played for Aston Villa since September 2020 and for the Poland national team since November 2021. Villa's supporters once dubbed him "the Polish Cafu".

Early life and youth football

Cash grew up in Iver, Buckinghamshire, and attended St Joseph's Catholic High School in Slough. He came through the Wycombe Wanderers academy but was released at 14, when the club's financial problems forced its youth teams to disband. He then spent 16 months at the FAB Academy at Bisham Abbey, and worked at the Daniel department store before joining Nottingham Forest.

Nottingham Forest: from winger to right-back

Cash joined Nottingham Forest in October 2014. His first senior football came on loan at League Two side Dagenham & Redbridge, where he scored 3 goals in 12 games. He made his Forest first-team debut in August 2016 in a 4–3 win over Burton Albion.

He started out as a midfielder and winger. In 2019–20, manager Sabri Lamouchi moved him to right-back, the switch that transformed his career. Forest supporters voted him their Player of the Season for 2019–20.

Aston Villa

On 3 September 2020, Aston Villa signed Cash for a reported £14 million, rising to £16 million. Villa supporters voted him Player of the Season for 2021–22. In August 2023 he marked his 100th Villa appearance with two goals at Burnley. He won the UEFA Europa League with Villa in 2025–26, and in October 2025 extended his contract until 2029.

Polish roots and the national team

Matty's mother was born in the UK to Polish parents. His grandfather, Ryszard Tomaszewski, was a Sybirak, a Polish refugee from Soviet captivity during the Second World War. His grandmother Janina was born in Brańsk in north-eastern Poland.

His Polish citizenship was confirmed on 26 October 2021 in Warsaw, and on 12 November 2021 he made his Poland debut in a 4–1 win over Andorra. He went to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. More: Matty Cash and the Poland national team.

Family

• Father: Stuart Cash, a former professional footballer.
• Sister: Hannah Cash, a CBS Sports reporter in the United States. She interviewed her brother after Villa's 2025 Champions League quarter-final against PSG.
• Brother: Adam, a school-level football coach.

Off the pitch

Cash is a keen snooker player and has appeared on Stephen Hendry's "Cue Tips" YouTube channel. In February 2022, after scoring at Brighton, he revealed a shirt message supporting his Poland teammate Tomasz Kędziora and his family, who were in Kyiv.