Matthew Ronald Sparrow (born 3 October 1981) is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder Sparrow made 440 appearances in the Football League across his 17-year-long playing career, notably 369 over two spells with Scunthorpe United, also appearing professionally for Brighton & Hove Albion, Crawley Town, Cheltenham Town and Lincoln City.

Born in Wembley, London, Sparrow spent 11 years of his professional career at Scunthorpe United, playing in the bottom three tiers of league football for them.

He formally signed for the club as a 16-year-old and played in the FA Youth Alliance final for Scunthorpe at the old Wembley stadium against West Bromwich Albion.

Also involved were Jack Cork, Alex Calvo Garcia, Jamie McCombe, Jamie Forrester, John Eyre, Lee Ridley, Paul Wilson, Steve Housham, Andy Butler, Mark Jackson, Martin Carruthers, Steve Torpey, Lee Hodges, Paul Harsley, Wayne Graves, Lee Turnbull, Tony Daws, Andy Crosby, Ian Baraclough, Cleveland Taylor, Chris Hope, Kevin Sharp, Kevin Pressman, Paul Musselwhite, Justin Walker, Ross Hyslop, Brian Quailey, Sam Beagrie, Des Comerford and Simon Elliott – plus managers Brian Laws and Nigel Adkins.

[6] Sparrow made his Crawley debut only two days later on 12 January, coming on in the 67th minute as a substitute replacing fellow midfielder Dannie Bulman, in a 2–0 defeat against Tranmere Rovers.

[12] On 24 June 2015, he signed a one-year deal with Conference Premier club Lincoln City and make his debut in a home game against Cheltenham Town.