Insider Sport’s Matchday Programme offers a personal look at what sporting moments and figures have inspired industry stakeholders. Through candid reflections, the programme delves into the stories behind the inspirations that have shaped their perspectives and fuelled their passion for sports.
In this edition, Matthew Wojciow, Matchday Media Assistant at Brentford Football Club, reflects on the thrill of European football, calling Spurs’ Champions League semi-final against Ajax the pinnacle of his time as a supporter. He recalls the electric atmosphere of that night in Amsterdam, where Lucas Moura’s last-minute goal completed an improbable comeback, sending Spurs fans into euphoria.
Which athlete do you think demonstrated the best winning mentality throughout their career?
Not sure if this is an unusual choice but I am going for Roger Federer. Federer always displayed just the ability to pull victories from the jaws of defeat at so many tournaments over the years. Also when you talk about consistent winners, Federer is just in a league of his own, still holding the record for consecutive weeks at the top of the ATP rankings and holds the record number of wins at what I think is the most prestigious major in tennis, Wimbledon.
He also had this sort of aura and class that his fellow top players didn’t. Novak Djokovic always had this irritating level of arrogance because he knew he was that good, and Rafael Nadal had more of a loud personality on the court than Federer. Federer just let his tennis do the talking, and his trophy cabinet speaks for itself.
Who was your childhood sports hero and why? Which of their sporting achievements had the biggest impact on you?
As someone of Polish descent, my choice is Jakub Błaszczykowski. This might stretch the term childhood, as I was around 13 when he hit his prime. However, when I think of a sportsman who is a true inspiration to lads who love football in Poland, I can’t look past Kuba.
For those who don’t know his harrowing background, I highly recommend finding an English version of his biography to learn his story. Now, let’s move on to what makes him my sports hero.
Let me take you back to UEFA EURO 2012, played partly in Poland and the hosts are welcoming arch-enemies Russia to the National Stadium. Now, Poland finds themselves 1-0 down after an Alan Dzageov opener and in the second half Kuba cuts in from the left and fires a bullet strike into the top corner to send the stadium into delirium. At that moment, you can see Kuba’s love for his country, which typifies what a teenage Matthew wanted to see in a sporting idol.
Little shout-out that four years later, Kuba got the winner against Ukraine in the group stage and the opener in Poland’s first-ever Euros knockout game against Switzerland.
Might not be a big achievement but Kuba’s link-up with fellow Poles Robert Lewandowski and Lukasz Piszczek at Borussia Dortmund that carried that team to the 2013 UEFA Champions League final was something to behold. That team’s results against Real Madrid and that dramatic win over Malaga was something to behold.
What sports team do you follow the closest? Is this a family team or local side etc, and what has been the biggest moment in your history of supporting this club?
I support the mighty Tottenham Hotspur. This is a mixture of a family team and a local team as growing up it was the local Premier League team to where I grew up (the actual nearest team was only just founded in Enfield Town). I also started supporting the club in the main part due to my dad, who has been following Spurs since the early 70s.
As a Spurs fan, I think there can only be one moment that I would consider the biggest achievement. The 2019 Audi Cup…only joking.
It has to be that night in Amsterdam when we completed (and I say the greatest) Champions League comeback against Ajax. Being 3-0 on aggregate with just 45 minutes left of the tie, no one gave us a chance. Two things I remember at half-time were Every Little Thing by Bob Marley playing in the stadium, as Ajax fans thought it was all done and dusted and Gary Linekar saying “We’ve seen some crazy things in this season’s Champions League, but if Tottenham turn this round I’ve seen just about everything”.
And in words immortalised above the space where I am writing, these words state: “Here’s Lucas Moura…Ohhhhh, they’ve done it”. Still, to this day and, I know my Fiancee will kill me for saying it, but that was the best night of my life.
Is there a team manager from any sport, whether that be football, rugby, NFL, NBA etc, who you think demonstrated the best leadership qualities?
As someone who is not well versed in the great coaches from outside of football, I have to go for someone like Carlo Ancelotti. The amount of trophies that man has won in multiple countries without trying to be a pantomime villain like Joe Mourinho is astounding.
Also, you know you’re an incredible coach when all the motivation your players need is a raised eyebrow, which shows the generational talent Ancelotti has.
What sports tournament do you think consistently provides the biggest thrills? Which moment from this league stood out to you the most in recent memory?
This is a tricky one as sticking in football, I would say something like the Champions League, but in all honesty, since 2019, I feel the competition has become stale. However, it has provided some incredible memories that I still talk about with friends to this day.
Despite this, though and sort of triggered by the trend earlier this year of ‘Barclays Men’, it has to be the Premier League. No league on Earth provides the drama that the Premier League does.
I would like to say a moment in recent Spurs history here but honestly barring Kane’s record-breaker nothing stands out.
My left-field pick is Vincent Kompany’s winner in May 2019, which has to be the best modern Premier League moment. A centre-back not known for his goal-scoring ability, or even then his long shot ability, rifling it into the top corner against Leicester to essentially hand City the title is just a pure historic moment. I think Gary Neville was right on the night, “Where do you want your statue, Vincent Kompany?”.
If you could travel back in time to any historic sporting moment to watch it then and now, which would it be and why?
It might have to be the one I mentioned earlier, Lucas Moura’s winner against Ajax as a pure moment.
If I were able to select a full game, I would actually choose the previous round against Manchester City, a game that had everything: goals, drama and VAR. Again, I will never forget Llorente’s hip goal to send us through, and the commentary of “referee Cüneyt Çakır is listening to Massimilano Irrati and it’s been disallowed for an offside against Agüero”.
The billion-pound-plus team was knocked out by little old Tottenham.
Away from football, I’d love to go back and experience the Super Over between England and New Zealand at the Cricket World Cup in 2019. The drama of it all to come down to the number of boundaries, was truly incredible viewing.
If you could go out for dinner with any sporting figure, current or historical, who would it be, and what would you want to learn from them?
I’m not sure I’d want to learn anything from this man, except maybe how to take a free kick, but I’d love to spend an evening at a curry house with Paul Gascoigne.
The bloke defined the term maverick. Beyond talented, yet he seemed like an everyman in the way he acted. Unfortunately, some of his vices got the better of him, but I bet he could still regale you with tales that would make you laugh, cry, and do everything in between.
I will never forget “I’m now away to get me suit measure….What about your start to the game? It wasn’t bad was it.”
To read the last edition of the Matchday Programme, featuring Neil Rowe, Head of Commercial at Cambridge United Football Club, who shared his reasons for why the FA Cup remains the greatest tournament in English football, click HERE.
