Former Aston Villa, Sheffield United and Burnley star makes shock transfer to non-league club

Former Aston Villa defender Matt Lowtown has made a surprise move to a non-league club.

Albion was released by Burnley this summer, and was linked with various clubs across the three tiers of the Football League, and there was numerous clubs lining up to sign him.

Earlier this year, Lowton was invited to train with Aston Villa’s inter-city rivals Birmingham City. Blues opted not to offer him a deal and instead signed Cody Drameh on loan from Leeds United.

Lowton was on trial at Stockport County in September, but didn’t end up signing for them despite playing one game for the League Two outfit.

The 34-year-old however has finally landed a club, and it will come to the surprise of many. Lowtown has played more than 200 times in the Premier League, and for the first time in his career he will play semi-professional football.

Witton Albion announced the signing of Matt Lowton on Monday night in a brief statement. A brief statement read: |We are delighted to welcome Former Burnley and Aston Villa defender Matt Lowton to the Albion.”

Witton Albion play in the Northern Premier League Division One West which is the eighth tier of English football. At the time of his arrival, Albion are currently 13th, and six points off of the play-offs. If fit, he could make his debut against Newcastle Town on Saturday, November 11.

Lowton came through the academy at Sheffield United, and made 89 appearances for the Blades before joining Aston Villa for a reported £3m back in 2012. He played 82 times for Aston Villa and got seven assists and two goals across three seasons at Villa Park.

The experienced right-back was bought by Burnley for £1m in the summer of 2015, and it was at Turf Moor in which he played most of his career. He was contracted to the Clarets for seven seasons, and made 203 appearances for the Lancashire outfit and won the Championship title in 2016.

The move to Witton Albion comes as a surprise given he was playing Championship football with Huddersfield Town earlier this year.