Biggleswade RUFC

The life and achievements of an extraordinary man are to be honoured at a special charity event taking place at Biggleswade Rugby Club.

The club has organised a memorial game to remember former Biggleswade minis and youth rugby player Matt King, OBE, who passed away at the age of 33 earlier this year.

The game will take place on Sunday 2 January 2022, kicking off at 11am at Biggleswade’s Langford Road ground.

All proceeds from the day will go towards Variety, the Children’s Charity. Entry will be free but the club is asking for a £5 voluntary donation to help raise money for a great cause.

Matt ‘Milton’ King was a much-loved and influential young player, who joined Biggleswade RUFC at U7s level and was part of a team that grew in skill and stature as they went up the age grades, winning local and regional festivals and honours along the way. Matt later played for Bedfordshire and East Midlands county youth sides and was signed up to the London Broncos professional rugby league side’s academy squad. It was during his debut professional academy league game at the age of just 17 that Matt sustained a serious neck injury, which left him paralysed from the neck down and unable to breathe independently.

The devastating injury did not stop him from achieving great things - as well as getting married and becoming father to two children, he was awarded an OBE at the age of 25 for services to charity and those with disabilities, having raised tens of thousands of pounds for the Rugby League Benevolent Fund and having also worked as an advisor and trustee to several other charities.

He became an inspirational public speaker, author, and a successful and talented mouth artist, gained a First Class honours law degree and worked as a solicitor for a top London law firm, specialising in personal injury claims. He was the first paralysed athlete on a ventilator to ski and also the first to complete a marathon in New York, steering his motorised wheelchair with his chin. In 2012 he was chosen as one of the torchbearers for the London Olympics.

The club would love to see as many people as possible turn out to show their support and admiration for Matt, a true legend.