David Joseph Matthews (17 April 1937 – 19 June 2019) was an English

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

flanker who played a record 502 games for

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its home ...

from 1955 to 1974 as well as for

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

, Midlands Counties (East) and the

Barbarians A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice. A "barbarian" may ...

. At Leicester he was also a coach, director and was a life member.

Playing career

Matthews joined Tigers direct from

Oakham School Oakham School is a public school (English fee-charging boarding and day school) in Oakham, Rutland, England. The school was founded in 1584 by Archdeacon Robert Johnson, along with Uppingham School, a few miles away. They share a common b ...

making his debut as an 18 year old on 3 September 1955 against

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...

at Welford Road. He took a while to establish himself in the club's first team playing only 9 matches over the next 2 seasons but became a regular in the 1957/58 season playing 32 games. Between 1961 and 1963 Matthews played in a record 109 successive games, including every game of 1961/62 and 1962/63 seasons. Matthews was the club's leading try scorer in 1962/63 with 11 tries and set a record for a forward in 1968/69 when he scored 21 tries in 43 games, this was Matthews third ever present season a club record. Matthews was club captain from 1965–1968. Matthews scored his 100th club try against

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

at the

Memorial Ground The Memorial Stadium, also commonly known by its previous name of the Memorial Ground, is a sports ground in Bristol, England, and is the home of Bristol Rovers Football Club. It opened in 1921, dedicated to the memory of local rugby union pla ...

on 5 April 1969 and ended his career with 119 tries; a record for a forward until

Neil Back Neil Antony Back Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, MBE (born 16 January 1969) is a former international rugby union footballer for England national rugby union team, England and the British & Irish Lions who also played ...

broke it in 2005. He broke the club's all-time appearance record against

Broughton Park Broughton is a suburb and district of Salford, Greater Manchester, England. Located on the east bank of the River Irwell, it is northwest of Manchester and south of Prestwich. Historically in Lancashire, the former manor house, Broughton Hall ...

on 21 April 1973 with his 492-game and became the only player to make 500 appearances when he played against

Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...

on 23 February 1974. Matthews played in three England trials in 1965–67 without gaining a cap but did face

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and, despite anti-apartheid protests, against the

Springboks The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabhokobhoko) is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...

with Midlands Counties (East). Matthews' career lasted 18 years and 187 days, spanning 779 Tigers games in 19 seasons. On both counts this is the second longest Tigers career after Graham Willars. In February 2011 Matthews was named 56th in Leicestershire's 100 Sporting Greats by the ''

Leicester Mercury The ''Leicester Mercury'' is a British regional newspaper for the city of Leicester and the neighbouring counties of Leicestershire and Rutland. The paper began in the 19th century as the ''Leicester Daily Mercury'' and later changed to its pre ...

''.

Coaching and administration career

Matthews was first team coach at Tigers from 1988–91 leading the side to the final of the 1988-89 Pilkington Cup, where the side lost to

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

. In 1997 Matthews became a non-executive director of

serving until retiring in 2007. From 2001–03 Matthews was club president and in 2005 was awarded life membership.

Sources

Farmer,Stuart & Hands, David ''Tigers-Official History of Leicester Football Club'' (The Rugby DevelopmentFoundation )
M for Mathews

References

1937 births 2019 deaths People educated at Oakham School English rugby union players Leicester Tigers players Rugby union flankers Rugby union players from Rutland Sportspeople from Oakham 20th-century English sportsmen {{England-rugbyunion-bio-1930s-stub