[1] He made his first team debut as a substitute in a 3–1 League Cup second round defeat to Bolton Wanderers at the Reebok Stadium on 24 September 2003, replacing Steve Corica after 67 minutes.

[5] On 18 December 2003, Fryatt moved to Third Division Carlisle United on loan for a month to gain vital first team experience.

[7] Twelve days later, Fryatt's loan was extended by another month,[8] and he returned to Walsall on 23 February after playing ten games.

[11] He scored 15 goals in 36 appearances across the season, including a hat-trick in a 4–3 win over Huddersfield Town on 29 January 2005, being assisted on the winner by player-manager Paul Merson.

[17] A concrete offer was made by Danish club Odense Boldklub, which was managed by Bruce Rioch, but Fryatt had no intention of moving to Denmark.

Fryatt signed a three-and-a-half-year deal with Leicester City for an undisclosed fee on 9 January 2006, while Walsall would receive a share of the profit should he be sold in future.

On 6 February 2006, Fryatt admitted he was a bit shocked when manager Craig Levein was sacked within 16 days of his arrival, after a run of poor results.

[22] Fryatt was picked by the BBC as Leicester's key player for the 2006–07 season, remarking that he "has the attitude and talent to play in the Premiership".

[25] Fryatt was further frustrated by a foot problem during the second half of the season, forcing him to use an insole in his boots to take some pressure away from his ankle.

[27] Fryatt nonetheless attracted interest from Wolves in July 2007, whose £2 million bid was turned down by then-manager Martin Allen because "the offer was nowhere near high enough.

"[28] His form worsened in the 2007–08 season, scoring only two goals in 30 league games and receiving one red card as Leicester were relegated from the Championship.

"[54] He was strongly linked with a move to Hull City that month, which manager Nigel Pearson denied, saying he's "a very important member of our squad and we want to keep hold of our best players.

[58] On 6 February 2010, Fryatt assisted Dyer's goal against Blackpool in a 2–1 win, helping Leicester to their first away victory at Bloomfield Road in 73 years.

[59] On 9 February however, he suffered a broken jaw after colliding with Brian Stock in a 0–0 draw against Doncaster Rovers,[60] and was taken to a hospital in an ambulance.

[70] On his 25th Birthday, Fryatt scored his 100th career league goal and his 7th since joining the club in the 1–0 victory over Nottingham Forest at the City Ground.

[74] On 1 November 2011 against Barnsley at the Oakwell Stadium, Dele Adebola chested the ball down nicely into the path of Fryatt and the striker fired home into the bottom corner from the edge of the area.

[76] On 26 November 2011, against Burnley at the KC Stadium, Cameron Stewart received the ball tight to the left touchline, beat Kieran Trippier for skill and pace before crossing low for Matty Fryatt to finish from close range at the near post.

[81] Fryatt's first goal for the Owls came at Brighton & Hove Albion, when he took a right-footed shot from the centre of the box to beat Tomasz Kuszczak.

[83] On 13 April 2014, he scored Hull's second goal in their 5–3 FA Cup semi-final win against Sheffield United at Wembley Stadium.

[89] In June 2020, it was announced that Fryatt was suing Nottingham Forest, claiming that his career was ended prematurely due to negligence by the club in treating his injury.

[90] In December 2020, Nottingham Forest Football Club confirmed that the legal claim brought by Fryatt and his solicitor, Barrington Atkins, had been amicably settled.

Fryatt made his debut for the England U19 team on 9 September 2004 against Republic of Ireland, coming on as a half-time substitute and assisting a goal in a 2–0 win.