Bio
Goalkeeper Matt Ingram brings a wealth of shot-stopping experience to The Hawthorns after joining Albion from Oxford United.
The 32-year-old has made over 300 professional appearances across the English football pyramid and will look to translate every page of his know-how across his two-year deal, as he settles down in B71.
Born in High Wycombe, Ingram’s football journey began as an academy scholar with Wycombe Wanderers, where the highly-rated shot-stopper’s career swiftly fired into action.
When just 16, and still just in the first year of his scholarship, Matt was parachuted into the matchday squad for the first time, as he deputised for glovesman Nikki Bull for a 2-2 draw at home to Shrewsbury Town in 2010.
Despite his early appearance in a squad, a series of senior loans were seen as the best dose of development for the youngster, before his first-team debut in March of 2013.
Temporary spells across the non-league football scene followed, with Lewes (work experience loan) in 2012, prior to switching to sixth-tier Hayes & Yeading United and Oxford City during the 2012/13 campaign.
And these experiences on the senior stage proved to be the springboard Matt needed to earn his maiden professional contract with his hometown club until the summer of 2015.
Sometimes in football, those first-team opportunities can fall kindly to those who wait patiently for them, which was the case when Wycombe's first-choice ‘keeper, Jordan Archer, was recalled by parent club Tottenham Hotspur - leaving Ingram, who had gained plenty of experience in non-league football, best-suited to take his place.
His EFL debut came away at Accrington Stanley as both sides claimed a share of the spoils, but the 19-year-old could consider himself unfortunate not to have kept a clean sheet on his maiden start, having conceded a 94th-minute equaliser in the 1-1 draw.
It was just the start Matt needed in senior football, as he made the Chairboys’ No.1 spot his own across the next 140 matches before a move to the capital via QPR.
The lure of Championship football, two divisions above his current standing, saw Rangers boss, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, take a chance on the young goalkeeper.
Ingram struggled to make his mark on the second tier at Loftus Road, and after four years, which included a loan spell at Northampton Town, and an emergency return to Wycombe - he moved to Hull City.
Relegated from the Championship in the same year as Albion’s last promotion out of the division in 2019/20, Ingram’s Tigers were eyeing an immediate return the following year.
And he played an integral part as Grant McCann’s men won the League One title with two games to spare, with Ingram appearing between the sticks on 38 occasions across that term - playing a vital part in their promotion - the first of his career.
After falling out of favour with his parent club during their first season back in the Championship, Matt joined Luton Town on an initial seven-day loan to cover for James Shea - who had just suffered a season-ending knee injury with just two matches left to play and the possibility of the play-offs still within reach.
Ingram played the season-ending games for the Hatters and also featured in both play-off legs against Huddersfield Town, which they went on to lose.
He returned to the Tigers afterwards, and the following three seasons would hand Ingram the opportunity to play in the second tier regularly, and by the time his chapter at the Tigers came to an end, he’d made over 100 appearances for the club.
Ingram then moved to Oxford United, where he was second choice to Jamie Cumming, making seven appearances, mainly across domestic cup competitions.
But now Matt’s time has come to use his second-tier expertise to strengthen the Baggies’ goalkeeping union across the 2026/27 season.