Black History Month Players: Matthew Rush

As October is Black History Month in the UK, I will spend this month publishing threads on X (formerly Twitter) on certain players who have been part of a long and distinguished line of Black representation at West Ham United. With this being the second year I have undertaken this exercise, I thought it would be fair to publish a blog post for those who don't have X or find threads on the platform difficult to read. Feel free to read last year's threads, via this link,  but this post and today's thread on X is on Matthew "Matty" Rush. 

Born as a twin alongside his brother Marcus in Dalston, London in August 1971 to an Irish mother and a Trinidadian father, Rush moved around a bit when he was little, moving to Silwood as a baby before settling in Deptford in South London at the age of 5.

As a child, Rush was the perfect blend of sporting and intellectual prowess where he would captain a variety of sports including football, cricket, basketball & athletics, whilst following intellectual pursuits such as chess and science. In fact, science and aeronautics were Rush’s true love as Rush had no inclinations of going in football, instead wanting to do his A-levels and then earn his degree and qualifications to get into aviation as his career path. Rush admitted in 2018 that: “West Ham wasn’t my childhood club nor dream and neither was football but it was something I was very good at and there were clear pathways as a junior to develop through the ranks and systems, so I went with it and it all happened very organically.” In the same interview, he elaborates on his love of science: “I was looking towards doing the exams which were required to get into aviation. I was a little bit of a geek, going to the science lectures after school at the Royal National Institute, not your typical player.”

Rush would follow the sporting path, signing with West Ham’s youth academy at the age of 11 alongside his twin brother Marcus, although interest in the brothers came from near enough every London club. Moreover, both brothers were offered youth team contracts at the age of 16. Matthew was the only one to sign them as Marcus decided fashion was his calling. Matthew would eventually sign professionally with West Ham in March 1990 at the age of 18, claiming it was “the best day of my life”. Rush would only have to wait 7 months after signing professionally to make his debut for the club, appearing as a sub in a dominant 7-1 win over Hull City, with Rush breaking through at a time when academy prospects were not as regular as they’d been in the first team.

Rush would make 6 appearances in all competitions that season as he found his feet in football where he was nurtured by the likes of Tony Gale & Alvin Martin (more on their relationship later). His few promising performances earned him international recognition. Qualifying for Ireland through his mother, Rush made 4 appearances for the Irish Under 21 team between 1991-1992, although sadly his international career started and ended at this point.

Over 5 years, Rush would make 52 appearances for West Ham in all competitions where his youth was often overlooked for experience as West Ham looked to consolidate themselves in the new Premier League which had launched in 1992. Any ideas if it took off? With first-team opportunities limited, Rush went on loan twice. Firstly to Cambridge United in 1993 and then to Swansea in 1994, where his performances earned him a new contract at West Ham, although it also attracted interest from others, including Newcastle and Kevin Keegan.

Looking back now, we’d all say that Rush was mad not to sign with that Newcastle team who mesmerised us in the mid-90s, but being advised by Andy Cole that Newcastle wasn’t always the friendliest place in terms of race relations, he personally made the right choice for himself. Sadly, Rush’s career at West Ham didn’t last much longer, which wasn’t helped by the fact he’d had a falling out with one of his mentors in Alvin Martin in 1993. Although both men have buried the hatchet since then and are friends, with Rush moving to Norwich in August 1995.

Norwich was where Rush’s injury problems began to plague him. After only 3 days at the club, Rush’s knee was injured and ruled him out of football for 16 months, making only 3 substitute appearances for Norwich in his entire 2-year stay with the club. To try & regain some fitness, Rush went on loan to Northampton where a promising loan spell couldn’t be made permanent as Northampton sadly couldn’t afford to do so. So rush instead moved to Oldham in 1997, where Rush had a great season scoring 14 goals in 25 appearances.

Sadly, this couldn’t carry on as Rush would once again suffer a serious injury, tearing the ligaments in his knee and would retire far too early at the age of 27, after being advised to do so on medical advice. Although Rush would continue casually playing non-league football. In 4 years between 1998-2002, Rush would play for a variety of non-league clubs including Dulwich Hamlet, Dagenham and Redbridge as well as Ashton United and Droylsden before retiring for good to begin a career in teaching.

Earning his degree in Sports development from the University of East London in 2001, Rush immediately got a job at a sports college in Manchester, teaching there for 6 years before leaving in 2007 to support his daughter Lana, who had become a promising young tennis star. Rush would relocate to Barcelona to allow his daughter to follow her dreams, which culminated in two appearances at junior Wimbledon in 2012 and 2013. Aside from Sports, Rush is also a supporting husband to his wife Caroline, currently the head of the British Fashion Council.

Having his career taken from him at such a young age, Rush has found a new purpose in teaching and supporting the two most important women in his life. He often attends events to support his wife who can often be found in the company of royals, celebrities and influential figures. Speaking about Caroline, Rush stated “She has been incredibly successful and achieved an awful lot. I am incredibly proud of what she’s achieved but I don’t want to be involved, I am much happier to be on the side”, although let’s be honest, he was always handy on the wings.

Rush is an example of how life can be productive in a post-football world. In an age where this has become a concern, Rush has become a success story, using his talents to support and inspire family and students to be the best versions of themselves.

Thanks for reading today's post!

My sources today were: Brian Belton’s book 'The black hammers'  

This interview with Rush in 2018 from Football365: https://www.football365.com/news/careers-cut-short-talking-to-ex-hammer-matthew-rush

And this interview from the 'My Hammers XI' series from youtube: