Blackpool hero recognised by EFL Community Heroes Campaign
A Blackpool football coach has been recognised as an EFL Community Hero for his work in developing young players as part of his role at Blackpool Community Trust.
Dan Matthews, who was presented with this EFL Community Heroes pennant at Saturday’s game against Crawley Town, said: “It was great to spend the day with my daughter, go to the game and be recognised in this way.
“I recently, lost my dad so for me it is about the opportunity to create memories with my daughter with something that she will always remember. It was a moment that will always special between us.
“It was an amazing atmosphere and just being able to spend one-to-one time with my daughter, that is the most important thing.
“She will always remember it, I'll always remember it and this moment will be something special between us.”
To be recognised in this way was unexpected for Mathews, he added: “I just love what I do, and I love coaching and being around highly talented coaches in an environment where everyone has the same mindset and passion for what you want to do.
“If I could coach every hour of every day, I would and I think that's maybe why it's kind of led on to being recognised as a Community Hero because I'm happy to help other coaches’ sessions.
“The Community Trust have been amazing and given me massive opportunities that I didn’t think I would get.”
His work with the Blackpool Community Trust started after he took his daughter to a development session which introduced him to the work of the Trust, where he would later take on both paid and voluntary roles within Blackpool FC’ Girls U14s, U16’s Emerging Talent Centre and grassroots U15s teams.
He has also taken on a UEFA B License which he hopes will equip him with the skills to inspire and support the next generation of female footballers.
Following a serious knee injury, Matthews had to retire at the age of 23 from a professional playing career, but managed to stay in football with his role at Blackpool Community Trust, he explained: “I did my first coach badge at 26 and didn't really have anything to kind of jump in to following my retirement from playing.
“My daughter really wanted to get to football about two and a half years ago, and there weren’t many opportunities for her to play.
“I started taking her to games and fell in love with the female game and supporting her and the Lionesses have been a huge influence.
“Everything I’d done sparked a bit of a passion that I was kind of looking for with regards to coaching.”
Trevor Birch, CEO of the EFL, said: “Community is a fundamental part of the EFL and its 72 Clubs’ identity. The work undertaken by Clubs has a hugely positive impact on the participants of the various programmes and in the towns and cities where people live.
“Football Clubs are trusted in their communities, and this can help to remove barriers for accessing support. Clubs are successfully addressing challenges linked to health, wellbeing, education and employment as well as helping to keep communities connected. We look forward to celebrating and recognising this incredible work in front of match-going fans during the Community Weekends.”
The EFL Community Weekends build on the success of the recent EFL Week of Action in November – where the League and its Clubs shone a light on the significant social impact Club community work has on towns and cities in England and Wales.
This was valued at over £1.24 billion a season in the latest community impact report found here.
During the 2023/24 season, EFL Football Club charities delivered 438,033 sessions across 801,661 hours with an average of 6,084 sessions and 11,134 hours of support per Club.
For more information on the EFL Community Weekends and the impact of EFL Club community work please visit efl.com.