Jobs4Football meets Mathew Towns
Six years ago, English goalkeeper Mathew Towns was diagnosed with testicular cancer and wondered whether his career in the game was over. Since then he has gone onto to play in Australia and Malta, with the latter being where he is building up his reputation in the world of coaching.
It was confirmed last week that Towns would take over as the U21’s Head Coach for Maltese side Sliema Wanderers FC after previously being the assistant last season, this will be alongside his current role as the Head of Goalkeeping for the entire club.
It marks the latest chapter in the 39-year-olds time in Malta as he looks to build on from his already successful time in the region with Maltas most successful club and one of Towns former teams.
When discussing his current role, Towns said: “ Whilst winning is of course important, I feel like at the younger ages the coaching should be more focussed on the development of the players, and so this is a philosophy I would like to implement because creating better players now will lead to them being even better in the future.
“As well as this I’m also the goalkeeping coach for the whole club and I’m really looking forward to the responsibility that’s comes with my two roles at the club because I feel I have the experience and work ethic to really help improve the players and make them the best they can be.”
Alongside his current roles, Towns is also the founder of Premier Performance Goalkeeping, which is based in Malta, with the goal of developing the next line of goalkeepers ready for first team football.
The former Macclesfield Town has already obtained a number of experiences in coaching in Malta as both a U19s coach for Pembroke Athleta and a player coach for a number of teams, with the former being where Towns helped the team to their highest place finish in eight years.
“Although I have my own philosophy, I also go into any job with an open mind because you can never be set on a style of play as sometimes you may not have the tools or budget to implement it, so you have to be flexible and adapt to any circumstances as a coach and that’s something I believe I can do.
“I think as a coach it is important to get as many tools in your toolbox as possible, so my experiences of playing in England, Malta, Australia and Iceland have helped me a lot because they have shown me a lot of different cultures and different ways of doing things when it comes to football. This along with my previous experiences in coaching have put me in good stead for my current role and the future but I know I can always keep learning and improving.
“When it comes to my role for the future I’m also open minded in that aspect, because I have a passion for both goalkeeping and coaching, so I will see where the future takes me but I believe in myself and I feel I have tools to do both roles to a high standard.”
The UEFA A license coach has had to overcome a number of obstacles away from the football pitch to get the point he is at now, from battling cancer in 2016 to being involved in a car crash which meant he couldn’t sign for Wrexham, the road hasn’t been smooth sailing for Towns.
Despite these setbacks Towns has always managed to overcome any issues that have come his way and believes his off the field experiences are a driving factor for him to continue to succeed in the world of football going forward.
“I don’t feel I have to prove anything to anyone, but I do feel it’s a good example of showing to people that you can do anything. There have been a lot of experiences that have helped make me who I am today, six years ago I thought my career was over then 10 weeks later I was on a flight to Australia to play again.
“I’ll choose the right choices for me and my family and my own career.”
