The whole world smiles Posted 18 February 2016 Posted 18 February 2016 Really good interview with Matty Piper on the official site, felt a bit emotional reading it, what a criminal waste of talent. probably the best young prospect I have ever seen down the city and could have easily gone on to play for England without the horrendous injuries. Still like he says he scored the last ever goal at Filbo and nobody can ever take that away from him. I remember reading in the Merc a few years ago that he is completely broke which is a shame as he would have been on mega bucks at sunderland but there is more to live than being rich and it sounds like he is having a nice life still working in the game at the club. Thanks for the albeit much to brief memories Matty and I wish you every happiness in the future (Even though his old man is one of the worst Sunday League refs I have ever had, once booked me for spitting ) http://www.lcfc.com/news/article/former-player-remembers-matt-piper-2959510.aspx Earlier this season, Matt Piper talked to Club Historian John Hutchinson about his time at Leicester City and Sunderland. Matt, a Leicester-born right-winger and England Under-21 international, made a great impression for Leicester City during the 2000/2001 season. He also entered Leicester City folklore by scoring the last goal at Filbert Street. The Club was forced to sell Matt for a big fee to Sunderland in an attempt to avoid going into administration, but 14 operations on his knees ended his very promising career prematurely. "When I was eight and playing for Beaumont Town, I was scouted by Nottingham Forest and trained with them, even though I supported Leicester. I then had a letter from David Nish, Leicester’s Academy Manager, saying that I had been recommended by the Leicester scout who had taken Julian Joachim and Emile Heskey to the Club, so I went to Leicester. Jon Rudkin was my under-11 coach and he took us through the age groups. Matt Heath and Jon Stevenson were in the team. Kevin MacDonald and Steve Sims assisted. Chris Tucker and Nev Hamilton were also a massive part of my development." "When I was 18, the manager Peter Taylor told me I wasn’t in his plans, but Garry Parker, the reserve team manager told me to keep going and that if ever there was a change of management and someone in the Club took over for a few games, I might get my chance in the first team. After Peter Taylor had gone, Garry gave me my first team debut against Leeds. Rio Ferdinand who had signed for Leeds £24 million, told me at half time that he wanted my shirt because I was going to be a top player. He was substituted after 82 minutes but he was waiting for me in the tunnel. However I didn’t want to give him my debut shirt and he understood. We lost 6-0 but I was Man of the Match. After the game about fifty fans had stayed behind, singing my name. "Dave Bassett and Micky Adams, who had been earmarked as the new management team, were in the stand that night. Dave Bassett told me I’d played really well. Our next game was at Chelsea. I thought I’d be playing, so I phoned all my friends and family but on the coach driving to the ground, Micky Adams told me I wasn’t even going to be on the bench and that I was going to be loaned out to Mansfield. He said I wasn’t tough enough yet to be a first team regular. I thought I would use the three months at Mansfield to prove I was tough enough. Five minutes into my first Mansfield game I went up for a header and one of their players smashed me in the face with an elbow, knocking out a tooth. He leant over me and said, 'Welcome to League Two. This isn’t the Premiership!' "After the game I had stitches in my cheek. I loved it there. We had to wash our kit and train on a school playing field which we had to leave when the kids came out for lunch! I was recalled in January for an FA Cup game against West Brom, when I came on as a sub. I started in the next game which was at Anfield. Heskey, whose boots I used to clean, scored their winner. I was in the side for the rest of the season. The side was struggling but it wasn’t difficult for me. If the crowd was getting other players' backs it took the pressure off me. Brian Deane would pull me aside in training, talk to me after training and ring me in the evenings. Dickov and Scowcroft were good to me as well, as were Akinbiyi, Impey, Taggart, Elliott, Muzzy (Izzet), Collymore and Savage. Dennis Wise was brilliant with me!’ Matt has gone down in Leicester City history as the scorer of the last competitive goal at Filbert Street, when he scored the winning goal against Tottenham Hotspur on May 11 2002. "My dad had said, 'Make sure you score', and when I did I pointed towards him, my mum and my brother out in the crowd to celebrate. At the time I didn’t realise how big that goal was. It was great that it was scored by a Leicester boy’. "It only sunk in a couple of hours later when loads of fans were asking me to sign things they had torn out of the stadium! I started to think about all the great players who had played at Filbert Street. It makes me a bit emotional. It’s a nice thing to have. It means I can be happy with what I did in football, despite having to finish early." Matt has kindly loaned his boots from that game to the Club. They are on display in the Reception area of King Power Stadium, together with a signed shirt from the game (loaned by the Foxes’ Trust) and the matchball. Appropriately, they are displayed directly opposite Mick Bates’ remarkable model of the old Filbert Street ground. Matt had no idea at the time that the game against Spurs would be his last home game for Leicester City. "The night before the first game of the next season, I was ill .Micky Adams told he wouldn’t risk playing me because on Monday there would be bigger and better things for me. I thought I’d been selected for the England under-21 side. Instead, on the Monday, he told me that the Club had accepted a £3.5 million offer from Sunderland. I was amazed! I know now that the Club was trying to sell who they could to stay out of administration. I went to Sunderland, met Peter Reid and was offered five times what I was earning at Leicester but I turned them down. It wasn’t about the money. It was about being at Leicester City since I was eight, scoring the last goal at Filbert Street and wanting to be part of the team that would go back up after relegation. "Micky Adams wasn’t pleased, and told me I lacked ambition as I could be showcasing my skills in the Premier League. When he told me the next day that the Club had accepted a bid from Southampton a million pounds lower than Sunderland’s offer, I knew then that I would have to go. I met Southampton’s Gordon Strachan. I held out for another four days but I was told if I stayed a lot of people would lose their jobs, so in the end I accepted Sunderland’s offer. The good thing was Sunderland was a great club. I got on well with Peter Reid. Soon after the move I was selected for the England U-21 squad, with players like Gareth Barry, Shaun Wright-Philips, Jermaine Pennant, Jermaine Defoe, Jermaine Jenas and Peter Crouch. Paul Konchesky was the captain." "I’ve had 14 knee operations, seven on the left and seven on the right. The problem with my knees, (and this is why it is easier to accept when I had to finish) was that I was born with a condition called lax ligaments. When you are twisting and turning, the ligament doesn’t stop the knee capsule from moving more than it should. The first time it happened was when I was in the youth team. Then it was OK until I went to Sunderland. What really ended it for me when I was hit hard in a tackle. That’s when I had the first of my three trips to Colorado to see the top guy in the world, Dr Richard Steadman who had treated Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods and the Olympic skiers. I had an operation called a micro-fracture. I was in a brace for four months whilst my body regenerated itself. I played again but it was never the same. "I then went on a pre-season to America with Sunderland. Mick McCarthy, a great manager, told me he wanted me to be the team’s driving force. But in America nearly all the pitches were plastic and Dr Steadman had told me not to play on astroturf. "I started the season well but after eight games the knee went again. I flew out to see Dr Stedman and he told me that if he kept operating on me, I wouldn’t be able to walk when I was 40. Also playing wasn’t enjoyable anymore because of the pain.’ Matt finally retired from top flight football in February 2006. "It took me a couple of years to come to terms with not playing. Jon Rudkin and Chris Tucker asked me to coach at the Training Ground because they felt the kids could learn a lot from me. I also helped a friend who had a business coaching in schools. One day I got a call out of the blue from Nigel Clough at Burton asking me to play for him. My knee was feeling better, but I rang Dave Rennie, Leicester City’s head physio, to check me out. I trained for about three weeks with Leicester. I was brilliant! But every night my knees were really sore. I didn’t go to Burton It was very frustrating." Read more at http://www.lcfc.com/news/article/former-player-remembers-matt-piper-2959510.aspx#wp8uSbiWthH22SbR.99
Durnerz Posted 18 February 2016 Posted 18 February 2016 I had my first season ticket the year Matt made his debut, thought he was going to be an awesome player for years to come. It's a shame how some things turn out.All the best to him though.
Finnegan Posted 18 February 2016 Posted 18 February 2016 I can't read that without hearing his voice in my head and wanting to self harm.
Tuna Posted 18 February 2016 Posted 18 February 2016 I was gutted when he left as he was such a fantastic prospect, I think as I recall he didn't want to go but we had no choice. He had to endure such injury misery over several years and you have to say what a shame it was that his career was so short. Also Chris Tucker and Nev Hamilton were also a massive part of my development."
Soar Fox Posted 18 February 2016 Posted 18 February 2016 I remember my dad buying me a shirt with PIPER 29 on the back. Ended up getting a refund from the club when they sold him.
Domsdad Posted 18 February 2016 Posted 18 February 2016 Don't wish to be pedantic but as I recall Rio Ferdinands debut saw us beat Leeds 3-1!
Izzy Posted 18 February 2016 Posted 18 February 2016 He could have been a real contender. A special talent and we all had such high hopes for him. Shame how it all panned out but the best of luck to him.
AyewJoking Posted 18 February 2016 Posted 18 February 2016 didnt we still go into administration though?
ithuriel Posted 18 February 2016 Posted 18 February 2016 Remember seeing him play and thinking what a player for his age, then we were relegated, sold him to Sunderland and the injuries began, shame really.
fuchsntf Posted 18 February 2016 Posted 18 February 2016 Perfect example, why young players or new stars, grab the chance like Sterling to go for the big one early. Piper, was one that really could of gone to the top......shame!!
ramadaone Posted 18 February 2016 Posted 18 February 2016 Saw him at Arsenal away with his kids Top bloke
pazzerfox Posted 18 February 2016 Posted 18 February 2016 Played against Matty as a kid a couple of times. Once when he played for Ratby & Groby and once when he was at Leicester Academy. You could tell he was a talent from a young age. Just a shame his career ended so soon.
Foxile Posted 18 February 2016 Posted 18 February 2016 Remember both his first and last game. A genuine talent, the likes of which we hadn't seen so since Julian Joachim. The same buzz hit the stands when he got the ball. Remember his debut well. Parker and, I believe, Walsh took the team. Back in the days where that was possible. Humbled against a good Leeds side.
The Quick Brown Fox Posted 19 February 2016 Posted 19 February 2016 I remember taking him out when playing in the football aid game last year. After the game we had a chat and he's a nice bloke.
Aus Fox Posted 19 February 2016 Posted 19 February 2016 Don't wish to be pedantic but as I recall Rio Ferdinands debut saw us beat Leeds 3-1! This is talking about Matt Pipers debut, not Rios
Aus Fox Posted 19 February 2016 Posted 19 February 2016 If anyone ever wonders how bad a manager Peter Taylor was for us read this article. Here we have an England u21 international, who many Leicester fans agrees at the time was one of if not the best prospect they had seen. He moved to the premier league for 3.5 mil after relegation and Mick Mcarthy wanted to build a decent Sunderland team around him. Yet old Tator pearler told him he didn't want him at 18. Was a joy to watch him that season, something big was just around the corner and you could see it every time he walked out on the pitch. Wish him all the best!
The Doctor Posted 19 February 2016 Posted 19 February 2016 If anyone ever wonders how bad a manager Peter Taylor was for us read this article. Here we have an England u21 international, who many Leicester fans agrees at the time was one of if not the best prospect they had seen. He moved to the premier league for 3.5 mil after relegation and Mick Mcarthy wanted to build a decent Sunderland team around him. Yet old Tator pearler told him he didn't want him at 18. Was a joy to watch him that season, something big was just around the corner and you could see it every time he walked out on the pitch. Wish him all the best! Much as Taylor was dreadful, that's a bit of a rubbish argument against him - there were a couple of years of development and first team football between Taylor saying not yet to an eighteen year old and Mccarthy wanting to make a twenty something his attacking fulcrum.
Aus Fox Posted 20 February 2016 Posted 20 February 2016 Much as Taylor was dreadful, that's a bit of a rubbish argument against him - there were a couple of years of development and first team football between Taylor saying not yet to an eighteen year old and Mccarthy wanting to make a twenty something his attacking fulcrum. The point is about Taylor being unable to see potential in a player that clearly everyone else with in the club could, potential that was clearly there, hence Parker giving him his debut the minute Taylor walked out the door.
Soar Fox Posted 20 February 2016 Posted 20 February 2016 The point is about Taylor being unable to see potential in a player that clearly everyone else with in the club could, potential that was clearly there, hence Parker giving him his debut the minute Taylor walked out the door. To be fair though there's a bit of a difference throwing in an 18 year old when your in a relegation battle in the premier league and someone handing him his debut in a 3rd league cup game.
Countryfox Posted 21 February 2016 Posted 21 February 2016 Worked with his dad for many years ... great bloke. Can still see that big smile now ! Got a pic somewhere of us winning a 5 a side tournament ... must look it out.
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