Welcome back everyone, this time I am introducing you all to Matt who gives up his own time to help out his local side.

Like many others the work he does is selfless and vital to the running of the club, the club in question? Berks County FC.

Here we can find out the work Matt undertakes, what made him want to give up his time to help and what he hopes the future holds for his club. 

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Name – Matt Newman
Age – 36
Favourite team – Chelsea & Berks County 
Occupation – Car parts distribution & Parish Councillor 
Thing I love about football – If we're talking non league then everything! There is nothing like the buzz of match day. You meet people you wouldn't normally meet, you can have good banter with the away fans and at the end of the match you buy each other a drink and disect the game.
My football pet hate – V.A.R. I'm so glad non-league football doesn't have all that rubbish?

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What first got you involved with Berks County FC?

I see a Facebook post from Berks county asking if anyone would like to be a ref. As I had given up football not long before, I decided this was something that I may enjoy and would keep me in the game

How did you become a trustee at the club?

After around 5-6 years of being just a ref, u took over looking after the clubs refs, making sure they are upto date with the current laws of the game and assigning games, it's just grown from there. It's strange how it happens really. You never go into it thinking you will end up taking quite an important role in the club one day.

What does being a trustee involve on a week-to-week basis?

Being a trustee does not involve running the club on a day to day or week to weekz we look after the year to year stuff. We have some great staff that do the day to day stuff. We have Charlee who runs the day to day & Kids side of the club then we have Steve Kay our chairman who runs the adult side of the club. Honesty, with out these two, Berks county wouldn't be! The trustees generally meet once every 3 months. The trustees make decisions that affect the club over the season for example, we will look at costs and fees for youth teams, arrange ground sharing agreements, look for sponsorship, arrange fund raising events, arrange the summer awards day and much more.

What are the biggest priorities for the club right now from a trustee’s perspective?

I would say there is three main priorities. To keep the club running for many more years to come, to keep yearly fees as low as possible and to have our own ground one day. We currently ground share with Ascot United, who have fantastic facilities at the Racecourse ground. We count ourselves very lucky to be able to play out of there but it would be nice to call somewhere our home one day.

Matthew (right)

How would you describe the culture and community around Berks County FC?

It's a nice family club with a very good vibe. Although Berks county has only been going since 2009, we have an averag of around 80-100 spectators a game but nice weather always helps

What makes the club special compared to others you’ve been part of?

To be honest, this is the first club I've ever had this much to do. I played Sunday league football but we were just one team who played out the local pub. But the most special part for me has to be the supporters.

How do you see the club growing over the next few years?

We will hopefully add some new teams to a few of the age groups and why not another Sunday league team, that would make 4 !

What’s the most rewarding part of being involved behind the scenes?

Getting to see how the mechanics of a football club work. So much goes on behind the scenes that you just would even imagine happens. It's like a big puzzle but when it comes together it's great.

What challenges do you face balancing long-term planning with day-to-day operations?

The biggest challenge is to keep player fees as low as possible. We do a fun day / awards day which helps towards yearly costs.

How did you take on the role of referee secretary?

I would say I am quite fair. Im the familiar face that they can approach if there is any problems. Being a referee secretary also meant dealing with problems that may have arison from a game and caused things to get out of hand. It's surprising how often these events happen in kids football.

What are the main responsibilities of a referee secretary at a non-league club?

We currently have 37 teams. Most of these are youth teams ranging from U7s to U18s. My role as ref secretary has been looking after our refs, making sure we have enough refs and assigning the games out each week. This season we have a new secretary Charlee. She has taken over assigning games and is doing a great job! We did have a miss hap at the start of the season where we forgot to send one ref his games (my fault really ) so there were 2 matches with no ref that morning.

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