Born in Cardiff, Matthew Myers first joined the Nottingham Panthers while studying Real Estate Management at Nottingham Trent University. Now captain of the team for the 2022-23 season, the forward is aiming to push his side back to greatness. After a difficult start to the current campaign, we talk to the 37-year-old about his new responsibilities, playing in an arena and wanting to let go of the past…
First off, congratulations on being named the captain for the 2022-23 season. How are you feeling about that?
It’s great. It was a vote by the players who are essentially my peers, so it feels especially good to get the support from those guys. Last season I was stand-in captain but I’ve never been a full captain before, and that goes for anywhere I’ve played. I do think that I’ve always naturally been a leader even without the title though, so in this way I’ll be much the same. But in practical terms I’ll be liaising more with the coach and on the ice I’ll liaise more with the officials.
Speaking of change, you also have a new head coach this year in Gary Graham…
Yeah, a new coach - and actually everything is pretty much new within the organisation. Gary Morgan, the general manager, very sadly passed away last year and a lot of others have left the organisation recently, so there’s been big change starting right at the top. In terms of players, there were only five guys that have re-signed, so that also speaks to the massive upheaval. There are a lot of new faces.
With all these changes, what’s the atmosphere like within the team?
The atmosphere is fairly good, though obviously we’re losing at the moment and not playing great, so that doesn’t help. We aren’t pushing the panic button yet, but it would be nice to put together some better performances. We can deal with losing if we play well, which might sound odd but sport is sport and you can’t always win, but if you play well then at least you’re doing the right thing. Yet if you’re playing poorly then you have to address it, and I do think we have some things to address. So, the morale is fairly good but it would be better if we were winning.
Sport is sport and you can’t always win, but if you play well then at least you’re doing the right thing
It seems like the team is quite close and spend time together off the ice…
Yeah, I think the first week we were here we went axe throwing as a team-building activity, which was good fun. But nothing builds the team like practising and then having a few beers together when you win. That always brings the team closer together.
There’s such a strong ice hockey culture in Nottingham as a whole. Do you feel that affects your games?
We have great support in Nottingham and the club is fairly well known throughout the city. Even people who don’t come to games tend to know about the Panthers and they may know some players, so we all know it’s very well-supported and that’s great. But I don’t really feel any pressure from that because as a sportsperson you’re always playing to win, whether there’s thousands of fans in the building or no fans at all, like during COVID. Maybe the management or coaching staff feel more of that pressure, but as players we don’t really feel that - especially because when we’re down on the ice, nobody can really pass their views onto us.
Do you have much interaction with fans generally?
We do have some fan events. I think last year we did a quiz night which was quite good, and a sponsors barbeque at the start of this season. But with this being an arena it can be a bit more difficult. In the Cardiff building, for example, the fans are much closer to the playing stand, and they can go into the rink bar with the players. Here, we don’t really have a bar area where fans can mingle after games and where players can go on good nights. I think that’s the same for all arena teams like Belfast, Sheffield, and probably Glasgow.
Would you prefer to have more access to fans?
I don’t really have a preference. On a good night someone tapping you on the back to say ‘good win’ is great, but on a bad night where you’ve played poorly you just want to get out of the doors and forget about hockey. And in arena teams if you’ve had a terrible night you can change, jump in the car and get out of there, you don’t have to see anybody. So, like with everything, there are pros and cons.
We would never take on the burden of a past team, just as we would never take on their successes
I know you said that you’re really focusing on a win. Do you think there’s any extra pressure on the team because of the past few years?
I think as we’re a largely new group, we aren’t feeling that burden, because a lot of the players haven’t witnessed the loss that this organisation had last year, so we can’t take on what’s happened for past teams. We just have to come in this year and try to be successful. But as I say, we would never take on the burden of a past team, just as we would never take on their successes.
Looking back, what was it that first drew you to ice hockey? Was it part of your family culture?
Kind of. I’m close to my uncle in age and we grew up like brothers. We’re six years apart so we could play together a little bit and we used to play roller hockey out on the street. Then when the rink was built in Cardiff, my parents got really into it and took me and my siblings there. I’m lucky that my whole family got involved, because it takes such a lot of commitment and practice can be late at night - so if you’re a parent with a few children it’s easier to bring everybody along. And you still see that now - there are often players with their younger siblings also on the ice with them.
And finally, what are your hopes for the future?
Immediately, we really do need to start winning more hockey games. Essentially that’s all it comes down to, because this is an entertainment and results-based business, so if you’re not winning then you’re not entertaining. The more you win, the easier it becomes to win again and the more fun it gets. I know that sounds really simple but it’s true. And then personally, of course, I want to be good at my job and to contribute to the team's success. Realistically you can only change your own play, and I know this might sound like a typical answer but I need to focus on what I can do well, and if everyone else on the team does the same thing, it works. We are a jigsaw of the things we can individually do well.
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