Matthew Hugh Calland (born 20 August 1971) is an English former

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s, and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

ed in the 2000s and 2010s. He played at representative level for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, and at club level for the

Rochdale Hornets The Rochdale Hornets are a professional rugby league club from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, competing in the League 1, the third tier of European rugby league. The Rochdale Hornets are one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs tha ...

(two spells),

Featherstone Rovers Featherstone Rovers are a professional rugby league club in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Post Office Road and currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. Featherstone ...

, the

Bradford Bulls The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, and compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. The club have won the League Championship six times, the Challenge Cup f ...

Hull FC Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Hull play their home games at the MKM Stadium and compete in Super League, the t ...

and the

Huddersfield Giants The Huddersfield Giants are an English professional rugby league club from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. Huddersfield play their home games at the John Smiths Stadium and compete in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league sy ...

, as a or , and coached at club level for Halifax.

Background

Matt Calland was born in

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2021–2022 United Kingdom censuses, 2021 census had a population of 62,400. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, England.

Playing career

Rochdale Hornets

Calland started his professional

career with

, signing from Oldham St Annes in 1990. He played in Rochdale Hornets 14–24 defeat by St. Helens in the

1991 Lancashire Cup It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

Final during the 1991–92 season at

Wilderspool Stadium Wilderspool Stadium was a rugby league stadium in Warrington, England. The ground was Warrington RLFC's old ground before moving to the Halliwell Jones Stadium. History In 1898, Warrington RLFC moved to the Wilderspool Stadium. A 10-year l ...

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

, on Sunday 20 October 1991. He joined

in September 1993 for a transfer fee of £30,000.

Bradford Bulls

In November 1995, Calland was signed by

from

as part of an exchange deal which saw Deryck Fox and Roy Powell transfer from Bradford to Featherstone. Calland played at in Bradford Bulls' 32–40 defeat by St. Helens in the

1996 Challenge Cup The 1996 Challenge Cup was the 95th staging of the Challenge Cup tournament. Known as the Silk Cut Challenge Cup due to sponsorship from Silk Cut, it was the first Challenge Cup of the summer era. The tournament featured 40 teams playing 42 g ...

Final at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on Saturday 26 April 1996. and was a substitute in Bradford Bulls' 22–32 defeat by St. Helens in the

1997 Challenge Cup The 1997 Challenge Cup, known as the Silk Cut Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the 96th staging of the Challenge Cup, a European rugby league cup competition. The competition ended with the final on 3 May 1997, which was played at Wem ...

Final at

on Saturday 3 May 1997.

International honours

Matt Calland won a

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

for

while at the

in 1996 against France (sub).

Coaching career

Calland began coaching at Hopwood Hall College in 2003. He was named the assistant coach at Halifax in June 2006. Martin Hall moved upstairs in October to take up the post of director of football. He was then named the new head coach of Halifax. In 2010, he coached the team to victory in the Championship Grand Final against favourites

. They came back from 4–22 down to win 23–22 in extra time. It was the first trophy Halifax had won in 23 years. In May 2019, he was named as head coach at

. He left the club by mutual consent in August 2022.

References

1971 births Living people Bradford Bulls players England national rugby league team players English rugby league coaches English rugby league players Featherstone Rovers players Halifax Panthers coaches Huddersfield Giants players Hull F.C. players Rochdale Hornets coaches Rochdale Hornets players Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Widnes Rugby league second-rows Rugby league wingers {{England-rugbyleague-bio-stub