Tuesday night saw the world’s oldest football club Sheffield FC honour its longest serving player and record appearance holder Matt Roney. Matt joined the club 13 years ago and has gone on to make nearly 500 appearances, becoming a legend not only at his club, but also within the City’s footballing community.
Matt’s career at the club has provided many unforgettable memories however, there is one that sticks out in particular – “It’s a no brainer, playing at Bramall Lane in front of 25,000 ten years ago for the 150th anniversary against Inter Milan, as a 23 year old. That’s something that still stands out”
Ahead of the game, we also spoke to Sheffield FC chairman Richard Tims, who believes that Matt’s achievement is something that is unlikely to be repeated – “Loyalty these days is not well known in football so this is a rarity and it’ll be interesting to see, whether it be in the professional game or the non-professional game, how many players after Matt Roney will make 500 appearances at one club.”
To mark the occasion Matt enlisted the help of his close friend Chris Wilder, who brought a full strength Sheffield United squad to the Coach and Horses following their impressive opening to the Championship season. The Blades side featured the likes of Billy Sharp, David McGoldrick and Paul Coutts, who was making his long awaited return from injury.
Also taking to the field were a host of retired pros including the likes of Michael Brown, Ritchie Humphreys, Rob Kozluk, Matt Duke and Derek Geary. Another famous face joining Matt’s Sheffield FC XI was close friend and former England cricket captain Michael Vaughan, who describes Matt as “Sheffield’s finest”.
Wilder’s men approached the game very seriously, looking to keep the momentum of recent weeks going. The Blades ran out 11-2 winners on the night, David McGoldrick helping himself to four goals. It was Roney who had the final say though, dispatching a penalty with the last kick of the match after pantomime villain and Sheffield Wednesday fan Vaughan was comically brought down in the box. Roney’s goal provided the biggest cheer of the night from the packed out Coach & Horses crowd.
As well as honouring Roney, the evening was used to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support, which is a cause that is very important to both Matt and his family. This included auctions for the match shirts of Billy Sharp and Paul Coutts, both of which brought in substantial amounts of money for the charity. To find out more about Macmillan and their incredible work, click here.
On behalf of Kitlocker.com- massive congratulations to Matt on a great evening and a fine career in the game.