Terras Conference South Winning Hall of Fame Inductee Matt Bound joined Ben & Josh for Terras Podcast #12
You can hear the whole podcast also including Mark Molesley & Trevor Challis HERE
Ben Ashelford: Matt, I’ve had the pleasure of commentating on the recording of the Nottingham Forest game this week. You had a good game…
Matt Bound: Yeah, certainly the first game more than the replay but it was an amazing cup run and an amazing day out for the fans. We obviously really enjoyed it to play at a really historic stadium and club and to get a result there was awesome.
BA: How did you prepare going from the chase for the Conference South title chase to the Forest game, was it nerves or excitement and anticipation?
MB: Definitely not nerves, more excitement, we knew we had nothing to lose, we were massive underdogs. We were all very excited but very focused and relaxed about it, we knew we could go there and give them a good game as we had some real good experience in our squad, and as it proved that’s exactly what we did.
BA: Looking at your experience on your profile and you’d played nearly two hundred games for Swansea, you’d played for Stockport, Southampton, Hull City, did that give you confidence going into the Forest game?
MB: Well yes experience, as the old saying goes, you can’t buy it, and it does help. The more experience you’ve got and the more situations you’ve been in, good bad and indifferent. So, it definitely helped in terms of preparation what to expect and dealing with the crowds and I’m sure the rest of the lads that had played five or six hundred games would say the same.
BA: You were at Oxford previous to joining the Terras, was there a particular draw? And what were your first experiences when you joined the club?
MB: Well OK, I was at Oxford under Ian Atkins and I’ll be perfectly honest I’d had enough of professional football, I didn’t like it, I didn’t like him or the way he treated players and I’d become very disillusioned with it and then he left and Graham Rix came in until the end of the season. We had a good enough squad to get promoted but he decided to play a completely different style of football to what we had been successful with up until then and the wheels kind of came off and I just decided that I’d had enough of full-time football. So part of the appeal with Weymouth was that at the time it was part-time, I wanted to move back to the South Coast where I’d started my career so for me when Steve Claridge phoned up at the end of the season it was quite an easy decision. I was genuinely excited because it allowed me time to go back to college and do some business courses.
But then when I signed, we pretty much went full time straight away. So all my plans of having spare time went out the window but I still managed it anyway so it was good and I was really excited to join.
Josh Barton: Just to take you back to what was another massive game of that season when Weymouth played St Albans that we won 3-2 in front of a massive crowd in what turned out to be the Southern League title decider and you nearly took the net off with your penalty, talk us through that experience.
MB: We were well aware that it was the title decider and the pressure was on us as the big hitters in the league. I remember that they really came at us in the first twenty minutes of what was a really topsy-turvy game, obviously, we came out on top eventually. The atmosphere that day was brilliant, and it was kind of like the culmination of all our hard work coming out the right side of it. Whereas if we hadn’t won that game I think we would have all been devastated, so it was just brilliant to celebrate with everybody really.
JB: We went up to Bishop Stortford and won 2-0 but everyone was thinking are we champions or are we not, what was the feeling knowing that the potential points deduction could potentially cost the title?
MB: It was really strange actually. There was an odd feeling about the squad. Although we had won the game we were kind of a bit deflated. We felt “in limbo” that’s probably the right expression so we didn’t really know how to react, it was odd, really odd. So when we were given the Championship against Lewes that was brilliant.
JB: That must have been a tough game to prepare for, not knowing whether you needed three points, a single point or what to be in control of your own destiny.
MB: Absolutely, but we prepared as we always would, that we were going to go for the win. By that point, we were so focused we were never going to lose that title.
JB: You scored a lot of the goals that we all remember. You ended up taking the penalties and often nearly taking the roof off the net, how did that come about.
MB: Well they say there’s nothing quite like scoring a goal, whether you’re a defender, centre forward or right-winger, whatever you are its always a great feeling to put the ball in the back of the net, so I always put myself forward for penalties whichever club I was at and usually a forward takes them but when someone misses you’d move on to the next penalty taker, I was always number 2 or 3 in the pecking order so invariably it would eventually fall at my feet and I was always happy to step up and I think I only ever missed two (which I’m still a bit gutted about but there you go). It is just something I enjoyed doing, to take on the responsibility, stick it in the back of the net and hopefully win a game for your team.
BA: I don’t think I can hear your name now without hearing “oooh Pile Driver” in my head!
MB: Yeah it was never a subtle finish, was it?
BA: What have you been doing since leaving football, you set up in business didn’t you?
MB: Yes we moved back to Swansea where my wife is from and took over a holiday cottage business which we sold last year just before Christmas and now I’m involved with a Sports Tour business called Team Tours ( teamtours.co.uk ). Taking teams all over the world to play football rugby, hockey, netball. All age groups I really enjoyed it.
JB: We had Garry Hill on the podcast last week what was it like to play for him?
MB: I really liked him, I liked his man-management and Kev too (Kevin Hales) who obviously did most of the coaching and the gaffer used to chip in when he felt the need to.
But Garry let us get on with it, he trusted us to do the right things. I kept in touch after I left football, he’s a good guy.
JB: What was it like in the time of Martyn Harrison was the owner, when we came so close to league football and you were captain of that group, what was the club like to be around.
MB: Well it was a great time to be there, I was only there for two years in the end but there were so many changes; we started off with Steve Claridge, then Steve Johnson, then Garry Hill came in, and each threw up different challenges. There were always things going on, players coming in and going out.
JB: Have you managed to keep an eye on the recent progress of the club from afar?
MB: Yeah I always do, as I say I have fond memories of being at Weymouth so I always look out for the result, always have a look at the league and see where they are standing.
JB: A lot of the players that we’ve had on from your era have said that they didn’t realise the size and potential of the club before they joined would you say that’s a fair reflection of Weymouth as a non-league club?
MB: Yeah definitely, the potential there is massive. The football club is massive for the community of Weymouth and the town. If they can sustain some success the potential is massive. It’s a great club to play for and I really enjoyed it.
BA: Do you have any last thing to say to the fans or the club before we let you get on with your day?
MB: Just to thank the fans and everyone for making my time down there so enjoyable down there, I loved it. And to wish the club every success in the future. Hopefully to more promotions and on to league football, that would be awesome.
