Q and A with Matt Fannon

Matt Fannon was named the fifth head coach in the history of the BGSU women's soccer program in December of 2016. Fannon comes from Wittenberg University, where he compiled a 40-26-10 record in four seasons as head coach of the women's soccer program.

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Name: Matt Fannon
Sport: Women’s Soccer
Hometown: York, England
Major: Davis & Elkins College

Welcome to BGSU and Bowling Green. How has the first eight months on the job and moving to BG gone for you and the family?
Thank you! I absolutely love it here! The team and department immediately made me feel welcome, and now that my family has settled in town, we are incredibly happy.

With any coaching change, the team can be nervous about the new coach. How has the team reacted to your style of leadership?
So far very, very well. I am a very personable coach and want to get to know each personality and what makes them tick, to try to get the best out of them. I feel so lucky that they have been willing to let me do that, and lucky that they are all such great people.

How does a young man from York, England land at Dutchess Community College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. and then Davis & Elkins College in Elkins, W.Va.?
I was told the answers could be brief! The short answer is soccer; I’ve played or coached in some form in six countries and around 30 different states. I was coaching in Connecticut when I started seriously pursuing playing in college, so I played at Dutchess in the hope of earning a scholarship. From there, D&E was a very different but great experience for me. The opportunity for young people in this country brought me here, and makes me excited about my wife and I raising our children here.

What is one thing that the Falcon faithful needs to know about your team?
We will be exemplary ambassadors for the University in everything we do.

Why are scholarships important for you and your team?
Competition. If we are going to win we need the best players, and the best players go to the universities that take the best care of them. It is easy for me to sell BG; one day on campus and any recruit falls in love with the people and the beauty we have here. But we are competing with so many other schools that we need to offer them more than that. If we can, I know we will be successful on and off the field.

If you could have dinner on campus with 3 people, who’s invited?
I hate to be boring, but it would be our women’s soccer staff. Cian, Lex and Ivi (and I’d sneak in our student volunteer assistant, Bren, too!) I think we probably have the youngest staff in DI soccer, but they are so passionate, hard-working and fun, and they all consistently impress me. Which is good because I see a lot more of them than I do my family!

What do you miss the most about England? And who is your favorite English Premier League team?
Two things; firstly, I miss watching the big soccer matches with my friends and dad. The atmosphere in England when there is a major soccer tournament happening is like nothing I can explain, especially when England is winning games (which doesn’t happen often enough!) Or a big Manchester United match (to answer the second part of the question). Secondly, bacon! The American version falls way, way short!

Be sure to catch Head Coach Fannon and the women’s soccer team this year at Cochrane Stadium. Check out their schedule here: http://www.bgsufalcons.com/schedule.aspx?path=wsoc

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