The man who has been at the helm of Costessey Sports for over 10 years has stepped down having helped grow the club into arguably one of the best development football clubs in the region.

Martin Matthews has lived in Costessey all of his life and became involved with the club as an assistant coach when his son joined some 15 years ago. Encouraged by his peers when the role became available Martin held the position of Chairman and, along with the support of a number of key coaches and committee members, took the club from just a handful of teams to almost 30 teams today.

The ‘traditional’ responsibilities of a Chairman sometimes only extend to, as the name suggests, chairing meetings, however Martin gave so much more than would be expected on a regular basis. Helping out the groundsman marking out pitches, sourcing and collecting materials, building a presentation stand, painting and general maintenance are just a few of these things.

And it was at our tournament over the last ten years where perhaps he and his family have given the most. Following weeks of planning and preparation with colleagues he would collect from suppliers, store, build and construct ahead of the weekend and then work tirelessly on the days before and over the weekend. He even recruited his family to run the BBQ which is always the busiest area off the pitches!

Martin has been supported by his wife Deborah who is also the Club Secretary - another role which takes on hours and hours of their family time. It can’t be underestimated how much Martin has given to the club and we wish him the very best and pass on a huge thank you for the time and effort that he has given over the years.

Costessey's new Chairman, Dan Henry, was voted in at the club's AGM held for the first time using the Zoom app.

Married to Jenny, they have two sons in the club, both of which started at under 5s. Dan has been a familiar face at Costessey Sports since 2013 and starting helping out initially with another coaches team before setting up his own team, Costessey Eagles from U5s (will be U10s next season). He is arguably one of the most passionate and respected coaches and is also FA Level 2 qualified.

In the last 12 months Dan put together a 'Respect' video which has been widely shared and applauded throughout the football community. He has also run the club's social media channels for the past two seasons.

Asked about his new role Dan said “I want to continue the fantastic work Martin has done as chairman, supporting our teams and helping reinforce the foundation of the best club in the county.”