Matthew Gould, the nephew of Bristol City CEO Richard Gould, has been called up by New Zealand ahead of their upcoming games against Jordan and Uzbekistan following Stefan Marinovic's withdrawal due to a positive Covid-19 result.
Gould is on loan at Nantwich Town in the Northern Premier League from Altrincham. He is also the goalkeeping coach for Wigan Athletic Under-23s and Under-18s.
The 28-year-old, who has previously played for Spennymoor Town, Stourbridge, Livingston and Stenhousemuir, is the son of former Celtic and Scotland international goalkeeper Jonathon Gould - Richard's older brother - who played in the Premier League with Coventry City.
His grandfather is former Bristol City striker and Bristol Rovers manager Bobby Gould, who won the FA Cup as a player with West Ham and as a manager with Wimbledon.
Following a positive Covid-19 test result, former City goalkeeper Marinovic, now of Israeli side Hapoel Nof HaGalil.,was forced to withdraw from the national team squad for the two friendlies.
Marinovic has an ill-fated spell at Ashton Gate in the second half of the 2018/19 season as he was signed as an emergency free transfer following an injury crisis between the posts.
In his only appearance for City, Marinovic delivered an error-strewn kicking display in a 1-1 draw with Ipswich Town in which former head coach Lee Johnson remarked, "he had his boots on the wrong feet".
Gould, who is currently uncapped, has since joined the squad in Abu Dhabi ahead of their fixtures against New Zealand face Jordan this Friday and Uzbekistan on Tuesday, February 1.
Gould was born in England but qualifies for New Zealand after moving to the country in his teens and becoming a citizen.
“Obviously first and foremost we wish Stefan a speedy recovery. Luckily he isn’t experiencing any major symptoms and is vaccinated so I’m sure he will be back on the pitch soon,” head coach Danny Hay, formerly of Leeds United, said.
“The situation also now gives us the opportunity to bring Matthew Gould in for the first time, someone who has been on our radar for a while.”
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