A tribute to Matt Beard from Liverpool FC Women captain Grace Fisk

Hearing about the loss of Beardy was devastating news and something that we could never have imagined.

He held a special place in all of our hearts and was different to any other manager I’ve worked under.

He treated us like family and we treated him like family. I’ve known him for many years and he’s pretty much the reason why I am where I am today.

He was the reason I went to West Ham and the reason why I came to Liverpool, so he’s pretty much carved out my whole career. You only needed one or two conversations with the man and he had you, completely invested and trusting of what he said.

His character and warmth was the best part of who he was, and you knew when you signed for him he was always going to look after you.

Football aside, he was always asking: ‘How’s your family? How are your dogs? You watch the Millwall game?’ He was always asking about those kinds of things and he was just so much more to people than a football manager usually is.

He was such a caring and lovable man and I can’t express how much my thoughts are with Debbie, Harry, Ellie and the rest of the family at this incredibly difficult time.

It’s rare for a football manager to be so loved by so many players. He coached hundreds of players but had interactions with many more and he just had this way of drawing people to him.

We saw how competitive he was on the sidelines, so loud, rowdy and shouting your ears off one minute but then joking with you about it 20 minutes later.

He just had this warmth about him and he cared so much about people. If you were playing badly or had a bad training session, he’d make you feel like your worries were just silly. I think the effect he had on everyone was really special.

The amount of people who maybe didn’t even play under him or know him that have expressed such gratitude for what he’s done for the women’s game tells you everything.

His impact is incomparable because he’s led so many clubs and people to where they are today. He packed so much in and had so many experiences and special moments, winning trophies and other accolades.

It was just over a year ago that he won Manager of the Season and that’s something that not many people achieve.

People have described Beardy as larger than life and happy-go-lucky and the life that he had was large. He achieved so much and had so many special connections with people, as we’ve seen from the tributes and love shown to him and his family in the last few days.

He’s gone far too soon but what he achieved in his time and the mark that he’s left on the game is special.

The mark he’s left on the people that he met and the mark he’ll leave on me, on us Liverpool girls and all the other girls he’s coached is some legacy and he’ll never ever be forgotten for what he’s done for everyone.

RIP Beardy

This piece is adapted from a number of tributes to Matt that feature in the match programme for LFC Women’s game against Sunderland at St Helens Stadium on Wednesday night.

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