In the autumn of 2006 Matt Goodwin’s seven year association with Leicester City came to an end when he retired from the game aged only 17.
Matt who had progressed through the junior and youth ranks to the Foxes reserve side was given the shattering news last October having already battled back from one knee operation for Osteochondritis.
Going in to the 2nd year of his Apprenticeship Matt who had recovered from one serious knee problem believed that his injury troubles were finally behind him. Sadly it soon became apparent that his damaged cartilage could no longer take the rigours of full time training or playing, and following advice from an orthopaedic consultant Matt was left with no option but to retire from the game.
Assistant PFA Chief Executive John Bramhall ensured he secured a £20,000 payout from the Accident and Insurance fund and he has since made the transition to into full time further education.
LFE Regional Officer John Barton takes up the story,
“Matt obviously had a major disappointment to get over but he needed to quickly assess what his next best option was. He is academically capable so it became evident that the best move forward in the short term would be to transfer him from the National Certificate to the Diploma to shore up his educational options.”
Matt now looks set to take up a place at Loughborough University studying sports science and he states:
“Thanks to the support of the club and LFE I’ve managed to get over the disappointment of my injury and get a full time place at college so that I could achieve my new goal of attending university after the summer.”
“They have helped to guide me through the exchange when it was quite hard for me and I can’t wait to hopefully attend Loughborough University which I’ve been looking forward to since I left playing football.”
Russ Grocott (Head of Education at Leicester City) added:
“Matt has shown the benefits of developing high levels of emotional intelligence. The first few weeks back in full time education were difficult for him but his ability to look at situations realistically enabled him to look beyond initial difficulties.”
“Matt’s success is a lesson to all young players who often fail to appreciate the vast array of life skills and career opportunities the two year football apprenticeship programme gives them.”
