Classy footballer Matty Prudence, a well-known local player, takes centre stage in Gavin Caney’s weekly column in Your Local Paper this week.
Previous clubs: Wisbech St Mary, Redgate Rangers, Swaffham Town, Downham Town, Parson Drove, Heacham
Honours (selected): Thurlow Nunn First Division North winner (2018-19), Thurlow Nunn First Division North play-off winner (2022-23), Norfolk Senior Cup winner (2023-24)
Matty was really into boxing when he was a kid and had quite a few bouts. He even trained and competed in Manchester, where Amir Khan had his gym
Throughout his early teens, he actually played in goal. It wasn’t until he was 16 and signed for Terrington Reserves that he started playing outfield again
Matty went cage diving with sharks in Queensland and got a job in scaffolding, despite the fact that he can’t actually swim and is scared of heights
On a weekly basis, he devours a family-sized fudge cake in one sitting. He absolutely loves chocolate, a little too much, so his wife, Georgie, has to hide most of the food shop from him and his daughter, Lyla. She also shares the same addiction
Prudence, a keen sportsman, opened batting and bowling for St Clements High and played tennis, squash and basketball at college
The first thing that pops into my head is Clenchwarton u5-9s. Several years of playing with school friends at the weekend and wearing the Sheffield Wednesday kit to training every week.
Somehow, I can still remember parts of our first 11-a-side game. Other early memories date back to when I was nine or 10, training with my brother Ian and his team, who were five years older than me.
Nigel King was in charge, and my dad (Neil) used to train and warm up Jake (King, goalkeeper).
I tagged along and I think held my own at times, joining in with the sessions most weeks. It taught me a lot.
Terrington was where it all started for you in men’s football on a Saturday and a Sunday. Why the Tigers and what did playing in the local leagues teach you?
Mostly Ian, he’s the reason for Terrington. I’d already watched Terrington for years before I turned 16 as I’d go up to the Rec with mum (Sharon) and watch them play.
Ian already played for Terrington firsts with Ash (Nelson) in charge at the time. I remember him saying the classic: “Get your head down and play well for the reserves and you’ll be with the first team in time.”
Playing for Raz (Gordon Rasberry) was great, he didn’t accept losing and we had an incredible team looking back. Raz stuck me out wide at the time.
Back then, the local leagues were at a very good standard. There were plenty of teams and many players who could have easily played much higher, and some did.
Sundays were different, and I loved the feeling, like most, of just having two competitive games on a weekend. Again, I was part of another solid Terrington side for years.
Sundays always let you play freely, which I loved. Being one of the young ones, I just listened. I always tried adapting and looked at certain players’ strengths. I tried my best to take that and place it into my own game.
After some dual registration stuff for Wisbech St Mary and a stint with Redgate in the Ang Com, you took your first serious long-term step up with Swaffham. How did you find playing in Thurlow Nunn Division One North?
2018-19 was a memorable one for the club. I’d been at the club a few times prior to 2018-2019, where we had gained promotion on a couple of occasions.
I think it was the 2013-2014 season when we beat Wisbech Town in the FA Cup, and the 2014-2015 season when we finished second to Long Melford in the league. They stick out for me too.
It was difficult at the start, trying to break in and become a regular starter. There was so much talent in the squad, especially in CM, where I eventually played.
Learning the game and watching players like Mikey Thompson, Jack Redhead and Rory Harper helped so much. Once I was settled, you didn’t want to drop back down again.
Match days were like no other once you made the step-up. The 2018-2019 title-winning season was class. I played the back half of it and they were flying. It felt great to come back in and be a big part of it all again.
For a number of years, you played for a mix of Terrington and Swaffham, especially when the latter was managed by Paul Hunt. What was so special about your connection with Hunty?
Simply, he just understood and always backed me. I’ve got so much respect for Paul. Any little pattern or problem I’d seen in a game, he’d have the answer for me and explain each and every detail and I loved that.
If you were unsure about anything, he was there. He’d coached me from an early age with the PDC (player development centre) and Norfolk squads.
I was always an overthinker in football and Hunty always settled that. I used to really struggle with mindset and self-belief.
Paul always had a way of getting me out of that zone and back to believing again. When work didn’t get in the way, playing for Paul at Swaffham meant I’d learn so much.
The training sessions and patterns he’d sort were like no other.
Connection-wise, you just always wanted to give 100% for him; he’d want you to train exactly how you would expect to play on a Saturday – 100% commitment and leave nothing out there.
Thurlow Nunn First Division North promotion and Norfolk Senior Cup success with Downham Town came during a couple of memorable seasons with the club. How did you find your time there and do you ever wish you’d have stuck around longer?
Downham were class under Dicko (Craig Dickson) and Dale (Stokes). Again, it was another unbelievable side I was lucky enough to play on and help promote.
The play-off final was one to remember. I feel looking back, everything I’d learnt from Hunty over the years had now finished and it allowed me to go and play with freedom at Downham.
I played more in a ’10’ role in the first year, which really suited me, and it was a lot more possession-based football, which I loved most. Having Jacko (Joe Jackson) ahead of me made everything easy.
Obviously, playing with him at Swaffham over the years, I learnt to always know where he would be. It wasn’t just Jacko – Birdy (Simon Bird), GWS (George Watts-Sturrock), Franks (Matty Franks), they built a winning mentality and took it into every game.
I don’t regret leaving when I did. Players came in, players went out and I was one of them.
Your last spell in the Thurlow Nunn set up was with Hunty at Heacham. What made you call time on playing at that level?
I just had to have one more go with Hunty, and I was at a stage where I was just seeing if I could still compete. Age, fitness, and injuries really brought it to an end for me, along with family commitments and having a young daughter.
I wanted to travel less and play more locally, which would have meant only going to Terrington for me. I was struggling at the back end with my calves all the time too.
Spasms and cramps constantly got the better of me. Once that’s in your head and you know that you can’t produce what you once could at the level, you know it’s time to drop down.
Terrington moved into the Ang Com in the summer and is flying. Are you hoping to be part of a Redgate-like project moving up the leagues swiftly?
It’s been great for the club and it should have happened years ago. I believe it can happen, and there’s no reason why Terrington can’t be competing in Ang Com Divisions Three or Two in the years to come.
The youth sides and young players we have in the team currently have bags of talent and right now it’s at a perfect level for them all to learn and ease their way in, like we did back in the day with Regdate.
Terrington lead Ang Com Division Four North, have a home Norfolk Junior Cup semi-final against Mulbarton Wanderers Reserves on March 7 to look forward to and a CS Morley Cup final against Attleborough Town Reserves on April 2. Is it fair to say you boys are hoping to get at least one or two trophies this season? What’s the mood in the camp?
Yeah, the boys are flying at the moment. We obviously take each game as it comes, but that’s the aim: to at least come away winning something.
Recent form has been great and the morale is high, that’s all you need going into each game.
The Junior Cup semi-final is going to be tough, but you know, anything can happen on the day. We want to play (the final) at Carrow Road so it’s just about believing now.
You’ve flicked about a little bit over the years, often back and forth between clubs on multiple occasions. Could you see yourself settling at Terrington now until you hang up your boots? Or could the right opportunity entice you away or back up the pyramid?
Yeah, just a little! It’s either going to be this year, or the next, as my last season. If Scott (Brammer) and Sam (Loomes) only have the one season (running Terrington), I’ll most probably leave it there.
It would be great to finish up with some silverware. I won’t be playing anywhere else. I would struggle to commit because of the travel.
Not only that, I realised very quickly, while playing for Heacham, that I’m not capable of playing at that level anymore. It’s nice to finish off at the club where it all started.
To play with Terrington in the Ang Com feels great. It’s nice to see the club there now.
Finally, away from football, you’re quite the handy single-figure golf handicapper and darts player. What do you enjoy about both sports, and can you see either taking over from football, or will you be one who plays into their 40s?
Ha! Yeah, I’m really into both sports, golf more so, as I’ve only just properly started out with darts competitively.
I won’t be playing football into my 40s, absolutely not, and I really don’t know where golf and darts will take me. Golf, I’m only playing socially yet still competitive with it, so we’ll see.
Having more time available with no football may well allow me to get the handicap down, we’ll see what the missus allows.
I enjoy the different types of release that come with golf and darts; it’s an instant buzz for you. Every shot matters, as you know, in both sports, which is the opposite of the team game in football.
Golf is a game of misses, and how well can you miss on the day – as is darts with the standard I currently play at.
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